This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
When Rick Ebbers explains to people that he’s the “pastor and chief bottle washer” at The Journey, he’s being completely serious. Besides leading the weekly worship and performing other regular pastor duties, he’s always been willing to do whatever else it takes to help the church he founded 20 years ago—even if it means hauling meat.
“A woman in our church called me and said she got the turkey plant to donate some turkey,” he said. “I figured the back of my pickup would have more than enough room to hold all the turkey, but when I got there, they directed me to a forty-foot semi-trailer filled with it. Luckily, we managed to find grateful homes for all of it.”
The turkey incident is just one example of how The Journey supports the community, and how Longmont supports The Journey. The church has been involved with a number of organizations through the years, including the Longmont Humane Society, the St. Vrain Valley School District, Habitat for Humanity, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. They were one of the first churches to partner with AGAPE in offering shelter services, and one of their members was a founding board member of HOPE (Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement).
“Ministry in the community has always been a part of our DNA,” said Ebbers. In fact, he explained, when they moved into their current building on Pike Road more than four years ago, they polled the congregation to find out what they thought the church should “keep doing, stop doing or start doing.” Nearly every single member of the congregation wrote “shelter ministry” as something they wanted to keep doing.
“One of our core beliefs is that we have been blessed to be a blessing to others,” he said. “God has placed us in Longmont, so let’s work for the benefit of Longmont and Boulder County.”
But the important work they do doesn’t mean they don’t know how to relax and have fun, too. They think of their church as “God’s living room,” not a place that’s formal and restricted, so everyone is encouraged to dress casually, talk openly to one another, and use humor or even sarcasm when appropriate. Ebbers gets in on that too: “When we first started, we called our new church ‘Steve’ for a few months, until we settled on a more appropriate name for it.”
The name they ultimately chose sums up their important mission, he said. “Wherever you are on your journey, we’re committed to helping you grow closer to God.”
The church, located at 2000 Pike Road, Unit A, celebrated on Sunday, January 26.
