When Exurb first ran a feature interview with Pastor Brad Johnson in June 2009, he was actually barista Brad. After stepping down from the helm of a suburban megachurch where he preached to thousands, he’d taken a job at a local Starbucks. Even for the Los Angeles area, it was an unusual scenario and a community curiosity. After our initial interview with Brad, we invited him to contribute to Exurb. He’s been posting regularly to Fresh Faith, his blog on faith, spirituality and renewal. Now there’s big news with Pastor Brad. He’s recently ditched his green apron and become pastor of Calabasas-based Life Change Community Church. We’re rooting for Pastor Brad. But, still,  Victoria Clayton asks him a few tough questions…

1. I know you’ve had some excitement and changes in the last few months, including launching Life Change Community. Can you tell us about the new church? Also, why start a new church?

Life Change Community Church is really a church for unchurched, or for those desiring to try again.   It’s an accepting church with the motto: Come as you are!  You don’t have to dress up.  You don’t have to be any particular age.  We couldn’t care less who you voted for in the last election.  And please, don’t feel the need to pretend about anything.  Life Change Community Church is a place where God meets seeking people who are far from perfect.  That means anyone is welcome, no matter where you are on your spiritual journey.  So learn at your own pace.  Ask questions.  Seek.  We believe you will find what you are looking for.  You’ll learn how to relate to God.  You’ll experience Christian community.  And here’s the big thing—you will change.  Join us as we seek God together.  Just come as you are.

So, why a new church?  Well, not to over spiritualize, but God opened this door.  By arranging an amazing set of circumstances, gathering the right people, and the right resources at the right time, God showed that this was His desire. Wanting to make sure I was thinking this through carefully, I spent a lot of time in prayer and the decision was confirmed by many conversations with people who know me best.

2. Cynics might say it’s not appropriate to start new churches. I’ve heard people talk derisively about people who start churches, they compare them to the actress Della Reese or they put it down by saying it’s “the church of what’s happening now.” You’ve operated in the mainstream church culture so I assume you’ve heard these things in your past — or maybe even thought them. Your father is a traditional pastor in the midwest. You may even have to deal with some judgment there. Can you give us a comment about your thoughts on this (and, if you’ve had negative feelings in the past, your change of heart)? Would you ever think of Life Change as a fringe church or yourself even as a fringe or “out there” pastor? What qualifies somebody to start a church?

First, ‘new’ is a good word in God’s vocabulary.  We are told that He makes us new people, He asks us to sing to Him new songs.  One day He will create a new heaven and a new earth.   He delights in ‘new.’

If you think about it, all churches were once new. To suggest new isn’t good is to suggest we have enough churches.  The truth is, it takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people and no one church reaches everyone.  Also, we are in L.A. County where only 10% of people attend church on a regular basis.  There is not only a need for a new church, we believe there is a need for this particular type of church, that allows people to come ‘just as they are,’  where they are accepted in a safe, loving environment from the first day and allowed to seek, question and develop a relationship with Jesus Christ at their own speed.

Am I fringe or mainstream?  Ha. That depends on where the person asking the question is standing.   I have 30 years experience in church leadership at some of America’s largest congregations.  I earned my Masters and Doctorate from a Theological Seminary.  So, some would call that ‘mainstream.’  Our message of hope– that God accepts you just as you are and loves you– is a mainstream, biblical message.  BUT because we will be a place where spiritually messy people, questioning people, people far from God and some a bit closer will all gather, well, some might call us fringe.  Jesus was heavily criticized by the “institutional religious people” of His day for spending way too much time with spiritually messy people (people who were humble enough to admit they didn’t have it all together and sought answers from Christ). They were on the spiritual fringe but in a wonderful spiritual process.  We will be like that.

3. I went to the initial service. I didn’t think I was looking for a church but I left thinking, Ok, I’ll come back here. There was something refreshing to me about listening to someone address the congregation and you already know that person isn’t claiming to be on a higher plain really. As I thought about it, I also felt, hey, at least I’m not sitting somewhere listening to someone who is probably up to no good and I don’t even know it. At least I know this guy is admitting he’s screwed up etc. etc. Of course, that doesn’t mean that just because you’ve had issues before you won’t have them again. Are there measures in place at Life Change to try to keep you and perhaps other church leaders above board/accountable?

First, let’s be honest. We all have issues.  The difference may be in degree or visibility.   I used to keep my issues private and deal with my stuff on my own.  In effect, I appeared to be smarter, stronger, more spiritual and more confident than I was.  I didn’t want to let people down. They expected that kind of strength, etc.

The result of not being authentic with my own issues was eventually an implosion.

With years of soul searching and reflecting behind me, I have learned to be comfortable in my own skin and honest in my struggles.   Such authenticity is now important in my life.  I think it will be important to watch me process my stuff in a personal relationship with Jesus.  I think I’m able to lead from a better place than ever before.  Many people have said they can relate to me and they believe I can now relate to them in ways that I could not or didn’t before.

As to guards to help me and other leaders avoid future catastrophe, first, everyone close to me now knows my weaknesses.  They’ve journeyed with me, seen me grow and stumble and grow and progress and grow and heal.  They know my life inside and out.

I have two guys who are board members with me, who are in that category of close proximity, trust and accountability.

I continue in a professional relationship with my therapist, and hope to do that the rest of my life, for feedback, check-ins, and reflection.   I wish I had gone 10 years ago.

But a guard that exists because I chose to stay in this community, is that every where I go, people know my story.  They see my daily life.  If I’m out with friends, if I’m on a date, if I’m at the movies, people are watching.   And I know that.

I love this community and know I’ve been given a unique opportunity to show God’s rebuilding power.  The watchful eyes of a community give me an opportunity to do well and offer a good guard on my life.

4. Here’s another cynical issue: money. Doesn’t the success or failure of churches demand ultimately on how much money they bring in? If not, how do you gauge success? Do you think you’ll have problems with funding Life Change? Will people be leery of a new church or even you at the helm?

5. The initial service, I have to admit, was also a little surreal in a way. It was in the Edwards Cinema in Calabasas. Tell us about the space and how you came to have it there. It’s movie seating, so the congregation is looking down on you instead of up. Did that appeal to you? Also, what’s up for the upcoming Christmas church service?

As you have already noted, we are a non-traditional church and people seem to like that.  Either they have tried church before and it didn’t connect with them, for whatever reason, or, they are trying it for the first time.   Our church offers a fresh way to think about church.  By meeting in a theater, we are offering a safe, familiar setting right in the heart of Calabasas.   The space is user friendly, the staff at the theater is hospitable, there’s a ton of parking, lots of restaurants nearby for lunch after services….it’s actually a cool venue.  Inside, the acoustics are great, and the line of sight to the screen for our videos, music and speaking is terrific.

Our COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS SERVICE, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13 at 10:00 a.m., is going to be a hope-filled, festive experience.  We will have great Christmas music and I’ll bring a message based on the hope that infuses this season.  We will have CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING for babies through 5th grade.  And remember…come just as you are!  We love you that way…and so does God!

I turn 50 the day after Thanksgiving.  It’s not a good thing.

I passed 30—no problem.  Took 40 in stride.  It was fine.  But 50…dreading it, hating it, loathing it.  You with me?  Sense my feelings here?

Don’t get me wrong, it being Thanksgiving and all, I want to be thankful, but I ‘m just sort of not.  So, I began the task of unpacking my emotions, dug through the crud of my psychology and culled out some reasons. I wanted to find those bad seeds planted in the soil that gave rise to my persnickety attitude.

Bad Seed number one, on why turning 50 sucks:  I’m out of shape.   When I hit my thirties, I was a runner and lean.  You could have called me, “Fly like the wind guy,” though nobody really ever called me anything like that.  Point being—I was in shape.  I felt healthy and fit and well…immortal.

I hit my forties having run four marathons during that decade, I was lifting a few weights, I had a three-year stint of vegetarianism (that, by the way, gave way to a western BBQ, bacon cheeseburger one decadent night and the rest…as they say…is history).

I’m going into my fifties plump, winded by the steps up to my bedroom, I have an affinity for carbs (the potato chip kind) and feel magnetically pulled toward the sofa earlier and earlier each evening.  Not so good.

Bad Seed number two:   I don’t have peace in my family.  For my thirties and forties, I was married with children.  I was living the American dream.   As I face plant into the mid-century mark, I’m divorced. On my actual birthday, my ex is introducing my daughters to her new boyfriend.   It seems like I should get to be with my kids on my birthday.  But ah, that is not to be.   I’ll likely be in a dark theater alone, being pelted in the back of the head by a half-chewed gummy bear hurled by somebody else’s kids.   C’est la vie.

The last third of my 40’s found my family reeling from wounds I caused, broken from decisions I made, hurting from disappointment I inflicted.  Though we are coming out of that, forgiveness and healing are still more of a hope than a reality, thus far.

Bad seed number three:  My career is hanging by a thread on the bottom rung of the food chain.   For a 30-year career in ministry,  my responsibilities grew progressively as the churches I lead grew year after year after year.   More impact in the world, more lives changed, more good bestowed, more faith developed….it was one step after another up the rungs of influence.  And I felt good about my part in all that.

Corresponding to that, financial security built.  For 30 consecutive years, I earned more every single year.  I never had a year where either I earned the same or earned less than the previous year.  It was like a delirious, delicious dream.

Because of my moral free fall, I spent the last third of my forties watching financial security evaporate.  (Note to self:  It can disappear fast).  I went months unemployable.

And as I hit 50, I am poorer than I was as a kid, just starting out.

So, let’s review just for kicks:  At 50, I am an out of shape guy, with a fractured family unit, financially gasping and facing the prospect of only about 25 more years on this planet…If I am afforded an average lifespan.

What to do? Like Botox injected into a fallen face, like steroids injected into flabby muscles, it seems I need a major injection of my faith.  You see, my faith suggests that God can work in all the messes of my life and bring about good.  It’s one thing to give God good stuff and ask Him to make better stuff out of it.  It’s another to give Him everything—wreckage and all—and watch Him bring good from that!

It’s what He does.  It’s who God is.  My faith says He will take everything I give Him and bring beauty from it.

So, what would a perspective of faith look like when laid over the facts of my life?

First, my health can be salvaged, should I choose.  In fact, three weeks ago, I dusted off my 24-Hour gym membership and have begun a slow program of cardio and weights.  I’ve lost four of the fifteen pounds I want to lose and actually have begun to appreciate once more the chemical charge of post-exercise endorphins.  Makes the potato chip eating more pleasant.

With my family, I see God’s beautiful hand of healing taking place.  Just yesterday, the UPS guy delivered a box of Birthday gifts from my two adult daughters.   Included was a list of over 35 memories of their upbringing with me.  I cried and laughed and thanked my God for such a personal, thoughtful gift.  Other parts of the box included items of creativity and love.    As a guy who digs being a dad, such a touch from my family was a treasure that surpasses material things.

And on the career front, after two and half years of healing, lots of time with Christian leaders, my counselor and dear friends, it seems God has ‘fit’ me for ministry once more.  I’m beginning again.  I’m in that club that most of us are in:  People of the Second Chance.

So, I’m part of a small group of people starting a new church for people just like us—coming to God or coming back to God for the first, second, third….or um-teenth time.  You  can hear my story on video at www.lifechangecommunity.org

I know this about the new church:  No Perfect People Will Be Allowed!  We don’t have time on this planet to confront nor contend with self-righteous types, squeaky clean types.  They, apparently, already have their collective ‘stuff’ together.  This church is for those of us who don’t;  Beginning Again Types!

I’m profoundly thankful that I came from a place where a few years ago I didn’t even want to live, now to a place of a fresh start with God…a fresh start with family…a fresh start with me.

Yes, I’m turning 50, but that is not the biggest turn.  The biggest turn is from staring at all my loss to facing the bright sunshine of my future;  from failure to hope;  from sadness to gladness.

I am turning 50.

I am turning.

I am!