Mosaic, a church that holds services in both Los Angeles and Pasadena, provides visitors and members a spiritual experience with creative and contemporary services that draw from the arts.
Meredith Rodriguez
News Assistant
Oil paintings, salsa dancers, information tents, a breakfast café and a live band — where can all these crafts and commodities be found in one place? These can all be found at a typical Sunday morning service at Mosaic. That is right. It is a church.
On a recent Sunday morning, following a comedic skit depicting a rough-edged football coach ironically inspiring band-nerds to “play-hard,” Erwin McManus spoke to a diverse theater full of people. McManus, the full-time pastor of Mosaic, sat on a bench, garbed in jeans and a t-shirt. Instruments from the contemporary worship service lay strewn about him, and his face was projected onto a large screen.
Though to a visitor, this may seem anomalous, to Mosaic staff it is just another Sunday morning.
This unique service rightfully aligns with its unique name, which, “…comes from both the diversity of our members, and from the symbolism of a broke and fragmented humanity which can become a work of beauty under the atful hands of God,” according to the church’s Web site, www.mosaic.org.
The Los Angeles Times reported recently that Mosaic leaders aim to contemporize church life, making it relevant to our 21st century culture, while still remaining true to its conservative Southern Baptist roots. Mosaic, however, does not subscribe to all Southern Baptist stances. It, for example, has women pastors.
McManus was a key player in Mosaic’s development and attention-grabbing growth. He started an alternative service to the now-closed church on Brady, six years ago. Since then, it has grown from fewer than 100 members to nearly 2,000.
On a recent Sunday, using popular video-clips, jokes and Bible verses, McManus preached relevance to this large Los Angeles crowd. He emphasized that passion and sacrifice are both interchangeable and vital aspects of the Christian life. This passion and sacrifice seems to reflect the nature of many staff members at Mosaic.
“Passion is the key word,” said Bethany Bovine, 18, one of the seven interns for Mosaic. She is only a recent high school graduate, yet she exudes an unmistakable joy and maturity beyond her years. Her parents have held leadership positions in the Assemblies of God throughout her life.
“Being in the church for that long … behind the scenes … you see a lot of religiosity,” Bovine said.
Bovine said she believes that conflict in the church often results when Christians are focused inward. Stagnant and visionless, they are infected from the inside, she said.
“It seems like lots of Christians have built a subculture,” Bovine said. “They have their own t-shirts, movies, radio.”
In attempts to escape such a subculture without denying her Christian faith, Bovine found Mosaic.
“Mosaic is here to raise people, realize what each is called to, what each person is passionate about and use those passions to heighten the standards in our culture.”
Mosaic caters to a culturally diverse and young crowd. The average age is 24, and about 80 percent of its members are single. Mosaic also represents 57 nationalities, half being Asian and the rest being a mix of latinos, whites, blacks and others.
“Mosaic’s vision is where my heart is,” Bovine said. “We (Christians) have found freedom through Christ, and we are called to give our freedom to other people, not just keep it for ourselves.”
Mosaic aligns with Bovine’s views by sending missionaries throughout the world, including places like Germany, Spain and Scotland. It has formed alliances with churches in the United States as well. Its “sister” communities can be found in San Francisco, Seattle, Manhattan, Atlanta and Nashville.
“It is not so much about our own agenda here at Mosaic,” said Bovine. “People are passionate about people here.”
Perhaps this is why Mosaic does not own a church building. Leaders do not want to focus on a building, rather they want to focus on the body of believers, Bovine said. Instead, the congregation meets at William Carey International University in Pasadena and at a rented salsa club called The Mayan in West Los Angeles. McManus speaks at all three services.
“When a church is out, moving, it is alive, healthy and growing,” Bovine said. “Love God and your neighbor. That is what it’s all about — Jesus’ sacrificial love. It becomes real when you see it touch your own life. Everything should center around that mission.”
Upon entering a Sunday morning service, every visitor is encouraged to fill out a Connections Card.
“Someone will call you if you fill out a card,” said Bovine, either the Monday or Tuesday following the service. “Follow up is huge here.”
This is another way Mosaic emphasizes that people are important. Bovine has only been with Mosaic since late September, yet she said she was “blown away” with the way that no one slips through the cracks at Mosaic.
Aside from the elaborate Sunday morning services, Mosaic offers small group sessions throughout the week. From men and women to teen and family sessions, there are groups that meet individual needs. Among these scattered small groups are various dance classes — salsa, hip-hop, stomp and ballet. There is also a Tuesday night session for college students at UCLA.
Bovine’s passion is shared by other Mosaic members as well.
“I have always been a cheerleader for people,” said Tom Fuentes, a Mosaic member. On the way to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, he described what Mosaic has meant to him. He and seven other young adults spontaneously decided to celebrate Los Angeles culture together after an intimate Tuesday night Mosaic session at UCLA.
Fuentes eagerly described how Mosaic had changed his life in the past six months. He had been going to Mosaic for three years, walking in and out of the service, still stagnant in his own faith. He plugged into the community only six months ago, after which he said, “I was catapulted spiritually forward.”
Though a professed Christian for 21 years, Fuentes had never had a “walk with God.” In the past six months, however, “I’ve been running with God. I never knew how much of a blessing God could be in my life.”
Fuentes spoke of his recent history of clubbing, partying and Ecstasy use. He described how drugs lowered his inhibitions and allowed him to connect and collaborate with people on exceptional levels. However, soon after, he realized he “was empty.”
“The thirst for community I felt in the club,” Fuentes said, “was made complete by me coming back to Mosaic.” Before, “I was using my gifts for the wrong reasons,” he said.
Fuentes said Mosaic has helped him expand his gifts in practical and useful ways. He spoke of indicator tests, such as the Strengths Finders Test that he and other leaders took. “Mosaic facilitates processes so that we can use them to glorify Him (God).”
He then spoke of his test results. “I am an Activator. I’m 32 and I am just finding this out,” Fuentes said in disbelief.
Fuentes now leads the Connections Team on Sunday mornings and evenings. “I became accountable to a community.” In turn Fuentes said he finds creative ways to plug interested people into the Mosaic community.
Most college students attend the 5 o’clock Sunday evening service at The Mayan.
McManus and other dedicated members, such as Fuentes and Bovine refer to themselves as “staff.”
“This term more accurately reflects the high level of commitment we hold each other to,” reads the extensive Frequently Asked Questions section on the Mosaic Web site, www.mosaic.org. The Web site also features the Mosaic mission in detail as well as addresses, times and upcoming events.
The Web site continues: “Mosaic is a community of followers of Jesus Christ, committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope.” It explains its name, then it finishes: “We welcome people from all walks of life, regardless of where they are in their spiritual journey.”
01-13-2005
