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  • Eastown was created for you! Eastown’s lifework is for anyone to experience Jesus, belong in community and love your neighbor. 

    It is specifically designed for people to explore faith without feeling rushed or judged in the process. It’s a place for the skeptic, those who have “tried church,” and those who aren’t even sure if there’s anything to believe in. It is also specifically created for those that have placed their faith in Jesus and want to be a part of a community committed to loving our neighbors and impacting the world around us, as a response to God’s great love for us. 

    We hope this will be a place you feel seen and loved, build community, and are inspired to care for those around you. Plus through it all, we aim to experience a whole lot of fun together!

    • Loved No Matter What - Demonstrated by our desire to create a safe place for anyone to feel loved, experience authenticity, and find belonging. Because we believe that everyone is made in the image of God and loved by Him, we will strive to create a culture that exudes God’s love, provides an opportunity for genuine relationships, and invites everyone to pursue Jesus at their own pace.

    • Relationships that Strengthen - Demonstrated by the intentional opportunities we provide for anyone to experience community combined with an invitation to grow in their faith journey no matter where they are at. We believe that through community, individuals can find encouragement, direction and accountability as they discover all God has in store for them.

    • Freedom in Jesus - Demonstrated by the life change that takes place as we follow Jesus and experience healing and growth from addictions, broken relationships, and chains that have held us back from stepping into the life that God has for each person. We will provide a culture that listens to the stories of others, provides opportunities and resources that point to freedom in Jesus, and celebrates life change in the lives of others.

    • Impact Where we Live - Demonstrated by acknowledging the location in which we are strategically placed and identifying opportunities to pursue relationships, bring joy, and serve others in those circles. We will strive to lead by example in our own communities and provide resources for anyone to have impact in their neighborhoods and communities.

    Justice in Action - Demonstrated by our willingness to acknowledge and lament where our complacency and silence has contributed to systemic racism in our country and the church. We will discover ways to listen, learn, and give to people of color in our local and greater communities as we go on the journey of racial reconciliation. We will identify and provide tangible ways to advocate for and serve the oppressed in the Bay Area.

  • We know many people have different perspectives of Christianity, but Eastown is a Christian Church, focused on Jesus' teachings and actions, like loving others and serving those in need. Instead of focusing on institutional regulations, we emphasize finding freedom in Jesus because of the love and grace He has for each one of us. We also believe that love and grace is always meant to be shared with others right where we live. You don't have to be Christian to be part of Eastown; it's a welcoming place for exploration and questions, regardless of your beliefs.

  • We have always loved the Bay Area; the people and culture are incredible. We believe the Bay Area is home to many of the most diverse, creative, hard-working people in the world. It is also one of the most influential places in the world. Yet, at the same time, we have experienced the pressure, intensity and fast-paced living that is also true of this culture.  Broken families, depression, anxiety, and dissatisfaction are very present. Statistically, the Bay Area is the most unchurched and de-churched population in the U.S.! In light of all of this, we believe the church can provide a community that shows the healthy rhythm Jesus designed for our lives and the freedom He offers from these struggles we all face. 

  • We believe that faith without action is hypocritical. If we have experienced something great, then why wouldn’t we share it? We never want to be a church that is only concerned with what happens within our own community. We want to be a church that loves our neighborhoods and cities well and does whatever we can to strengthen them. 

    This is why we are committed to keeping Eastown simple. We don’t want to take people out of their homes and communities multiple nights a week. The opposite is true. We want the people of Eastown to be accessible to their neighbors and make an impact where they live, work and play.

  • We believe our greatest impact starts right where we live. You will see and hear phrases like this around Eastown: “Start where you live”, “You are strategically placed”, and “My neighborhood My responsibility.” We want to make a difference in our community and mess up people’s perspective of the church through love. We know that many people have a distorted definition of the church for many different reasons… hurtful experiences, media portrayal, misconceptions, irrelevance and more. We also know that thousands upon thousands of people throughout the East Bay will never step foot in the doors of a church. However, we believe the way we love people like Jesus would love, matters! We would love it if a person’s first interaction with Eastown was not an invitation to come to a service, but an act of love shared with them for no reason at all through a neighbor or co-worker.

  • Through Love Local, we are able to resource and partner with kingdom and community focused organizations in the Bay Area and around the world, including:

  • As a start up, we have a great team of volunteer leaders who serve with their time and talents to make Eastown happen each Sunday and for everything in between. Eastown is a staff-led church with oversight and accountability by both an external Board/Management team and an internal Strategic Team.

  • We believe that generous people live better lives, and we encourage everyone to be generous with both their time and resources. We understand that for some this is a brand new practice and for others there may be circumstances that have caused you hesitation in trusting the church with your finances, and that is ok. At the same time, we believe generosity is a heart condition and a journey of trust. Jesus recognized the significant challenge of money and consumerism, and taught that our time and resources should be used for God's glory and the advancement of his kingdom. We believe the church is the vehicle that delivers the love of Jesus Christ both locally and globally. This includes the giving of discretionary time and money to support the mission of Eastown and our love local partners. We seek to live out the truth that we were designed to be the solution to the broken and hurting places in our world.

    If you would like to further explore generosity in the bible, these scriptures are a great place to begin:  

    • 1 John 3:16-18 

    • Acts 20:35 

    • Luke 11:13

    • Matthew 6:19-21

    • Malachi 3:10-12’

  • As a person follows Jesus, and seeks to model the generosity of Jesus, we believe it is beneficial to define where you are on the generosity pathway. As a community we also regularly consider how God might be asking us to take a next step in the pathway. 

    • Step 1 Pre-giver: “I’m not sure or I’m not ready.” 

    I may occasionally put cash in as an anonymous giver but up to this point I have not been ready for any further step in generosity.

    • Step 2 Periodic: “I like giving to good causes, and this seems like a good one.” 

    I am a registered giver and make contributions to the church, but have not built this rhythm into my life - I am not giving in a recurring and consistent way yet.

    • Step 3 Proactive: “I regularly give out of gratitude for what I’ve been given.”

    I consistently give to the church – either weekly, monthly or in some pattern as a recurring giver. I hardly ever miss when it comes to consistent contributions.

    • Step 4 Percentage: “I calculate a percentage of my income and give it consistently to the church because of my faith and gratitude.”

    I have decided not only to give consistently and in a recurring way, but I have calculated my giving as a percentage of my income that I am gradually increasing toward 10%.

    • Step 5 Partner: “Beyond my regular giving, I want to be invited to fund additional needs and initiatives related to mission impact.”

    I am consistently giving at least 10% of what God puts in my hands to the church and desire to increase my generosity beyond that to the additional work of God in the world.

    Ways to Give: Eastown.church/give | Eastown App. | Generosity Box