North Phoenix Pastors Pray for a New Church Planter
Josh Watt started a church in North Phoenix in January 2021. He hadn’t originally intended to plant in North Phoenix. And he certainly hadn’t intended to launch in a world-wide pandemic.
Before planting Redemption North Mountain, Josh was on staff at Redemption Gateway, a church in the East Valley. God began to nudge Josh and his wife, Aubrey, alerting them that he had something new for them. Aubrey suddenly felt open to moving. Josh felt courage to step into a senior pastor role, a position he had previously decided wasn’t for him. A friend had a vision of planting a church with Josh. And so Josh and Aubrey prayed.
Caleb Campbell was praying too. Caleb pastors a church, is on the Surge leadership team, and serves the North Phoenix network of pastors who collaborate with a shared vision for gospel movement. They compared the population of their area with the number of churches, and the ratios weren’t right. Caleb explained, “We recognized that there was a specific strip of the city that was underserved by churches. So we got a map, and we said, ‘Let's pray for God to provide some planters for this strip of property.’” They also prayed for a church planter from Phoenix, for Phoenix.
In August 2019, Caleb participated in a church-planter assessment event in Denver. He soon learned there was a couple from Phoenix in attendance. Not only were Josh and Aubrey at the event, but they were in the same cohort as Caleb.
As they got to know each other, Aubrey (Josh’s wife) and Caleb realized they had gone to the same church in Phoenix when they were kids, and their grandmothers had been best friends for decades. Caleb, Josh and Aubrey felt an immediate connection.
At the end of the assessment, Caleb talked to Josh and Aubrey about North Phoenix. He explained the need—how it was a neglected part of the Valley in terms of church planting. He even drew a rectangle on a map showing them the specific area, and he asked them to pray about starting a church in that rectangle.
Josh and Aubrey had been praying about three areas to plant in Phoenix, none of them North Phoenix. Josh explained, “It was almost like a non-factor. Like the friend that just blends in. You have Downtown Phoenix. Then you have Midtown, Uptown, you have all these sorts of pockets. And then there's this little mountain, and beyond those mountains is North Phoenix. I just never thought about it.”
But the senior pastor of Redemption Gateway, Tyler Johnson, had been thinking about it. As Josh and Tyler debriefed after the church planter assessment, Tyler told Josh that area had always been on his mind for a church plant ... “as if God was always flashing lights” there for him. Then Tyler drew almost the exact same rectangle on a map and asked Josh, “Have you ever thought about this area?”
So, for the rest of 2019, Josh and Aubrey thought about it. Josh asked Caleb to drive him around, so he could see that part of the city through Caleb’s eyes. Josh and Aubrey had date nights there, praying and walking through different neighborhoods. They started to fall in love with the texture and diversity. Its older, blue-collar feel reminded Josh of the culture in which he grew up and had taught before becoming a pastor. The more time they spent there, the more they felt drawn to it. They decided that, yes, this was what God wanted them to do. They announced their plan to Redemption Gateway in March 2020, and two days later the world shut down.
But God’s plans move forward despite pandemics. Josh and Aubrey, plus the six or seven families that committed to join them on the church plant, put their houses on the market, and they sold. Each family purchased a house in North Phoenix before the real estate demand sent prices soaring.
By the end of 2020, Josh and Aubrey were holding small gatherings in their new home because the young professionals they were meeting were craving community. Josh said, “In a season where that was taken away from people, we offered that.” And in early 2021, Redemption North Mountain officially launched.
One word that comes to mind for Josh through this experience is generous. As Redemption Church’s tenth congregation, Redemption North Mountain has the support of its sending church. Years ago, a church invested in Caleb’s church, Desert Springs Bible Church, when they were new. That church then forgave the debt, with the agreement that Desert Springs would fund church plants in the future. Desert Springs is now supporting Josh as a fulfillment of that promise. One local pastor has provided office space for Josh. And Redemption North Mountain will soon be renting space from another local church for their Sunday morning and weekday gatherings. Josh said “They're just the most open-handed group of ministry leaders up here. North Phoenix is craving more churches and more ministry, and they just really want to be generous with people.”
God provided a church planter from Phoenix, for Phoenix. And despite the pandemic, God’s timing is perfect. With real estate prices continuing to rise, there’s a sense that more young families and professionals may consider moving to North Phoenix. Josh said, “It does feel like God has us here in advance of something he's doing.”
by Susan Thorson
