Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer is a multicultural family of faith, in the neighborhood and for our neighborhood. Church of the Redeemer got started by a group of people that wanted to impact the South Central Neighborhood of West Adams by living in the area and planting a church that would be heavily involved in local ministry. Pastor Danny Martinez and the first Lady, Donna Martinez along with their children moved into the neighborhood to experience first hand incarnational ministry. We believe that in order to reach a community, you must be a part of it by more than just attending Sunday service. Representing the church throughout the week is also an important part of community transformation.

We are a multicultural church since we have so many different backgrounds in our midst. We have all groups represented in our neighborhood; African Americans, Latin American, Asian Americans and Anglos. We have much diversity from within those contexts since we have Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Panamanians; Sri Lankan, Korean, Chinese and Japanese Americans. We truly believe that we see the face of God represented in all those faces and colors and cultures every Sunday morning!

We are a local church. We would like to see our community changed by the Holy Spirit of God through his people, the church. We run various programs that help our community such as a tutoring program called “Adventures Ahead” where we invest in children of our neighborhood by helping them with their homework and help them to read at a good academic level. This is a much needed program since many of the families in our area struggle with helping their kids with these tasks due to their lack of the English language of a poor academic background.

We also provide sports camps in the summer with the help of other churches. We have ran activities for the whole community such as a Halloween celebration called “Harvest Festival” where we provide music, food and fun for the kids of our community, giving them an alternative to the usual hoopla surrounding this holiday. We have organized trips to the beach, ice skating downtown Los Angeles, picnics at the local parks, plating trees events and many others. We pride ourselves in being a church that is invested in the neighborhood.

We are a church that loves justice and compassion. Our diversity goes beyond our skin color and contexts. We joyfully welcome the homeless person and the home owner. We currently have doctors and lawyers in our congregation along with people that did not have the opportunity to finish high school. We have people that have been trained in the Bible in intervarsity, as well as new believers. Social economic differences are often reasons for churches to choose to be homogenous but those are the things that make our church so unique and special. Being this distinctive is no easy task. We have a diverse group of ministers at Church of the Redeemer, starting with Senior Pastor Danny Martinez, native of Guatemala, raised in Chicago, attending Fuller Theological Seminary, finishing his M.Div in hopes to pursue a PhD in multicultural Studies. Pastor Kevin Blue serves are the teaching pastor with vast experience in inner city ministry. He has served as director for Servant Partners and Los Angeles Urban Project, both entities train young college graduates for missions. Kevin has published a book called “Practical Justice” available through Intervarsity Press. Erika Haub is a Fuller graduate that has lots of experience in preaching and teaching and is a regular part of the teaching team. Jen Blue is a teacher and mentor for intervarsity and part of the preaching team. Donna Martinez teaches on Saturdays main on compassion, which is the ministry she heads with Church of the Redeemer.

We are so grateful to be partners with Pasadena Covenant. We do not feel alone in the constants struggle for the souls of the people of South Los Angeles. Pasadena Covenant has partnered with us monetarily but most importantly with their people resources. Constant care and friendship is constantly received from their pastors and leaders. Constant prayer is always appreciated and needed as partners in the gospel. We feel fortunate to stand next to them in ministry, serving Jesus Christ in the inner city.

Many blessings to you all

Church of the Redeemer 9/2007