This calling began years ago when Pastor Josh Thompson stepped into Harvest Christian Fellowship at 17 years old. It is there he saw Pastor Greg Laurie preaching and teaching the Bible. In that moment the Lord put a desire in Josh’s heart to lead a church one day. After attending a Pastors in Training School with Pastor Jon Courson in Mexico he felt that calling confirmed. Josh never knew if he would take over a church or plant, but he knew God had called him to lead. Over the years Josh’s close friends would joke and tease about the day they would plant a church together. Additionally, Josh’s wife Katie would continually encourage, challenge, and pray for him to have the boldness to take the step of faith of planting a church. It was God working through her faith that stirred him to take those steps.

In the mean time while a desire to plant a church was building, Josh and his close brothers would meet together weekly, holding each other accountable in their devotion to Christ. Naturally, the friendships grew as they spent much time together serving in various ministries at their home church. While waiting on the Lord’s direction, Josh continued pastoring, preaching and serving the church.

In 2012, some of Josh’s friends started a community group with their collective families in homes. Through this season, God kindled a flame to plant a church with this team. After much praying, wondering and waiting, the Lord put Los Angeles, California on Pastor Josh’s heart. He brought these ideas to his Pastor, Greg Laurie and the Harvest Leadership. Consequently, they gave their blessing to plant the church.

With such a sizable and somewhat intimidating city like LA, we still needed to pinpoint exactly where we would start the plant. After 11 months of praying and seeking the Lord, a door opened in Studio City and we were blessed with a building. Almost immediately, things began falling into place quicker than we could keep up. The train began to move and no one could stop it. The calling God had placed on our hearts for so long was finally becoming a reality and we were ready for our potential launch date of Fall 2014.

In hindsight, we needed an open door and God’s clear blessing. Pastor Josh says, “I didn’t have enough faith for a small crack in the door, I needed it wide open.” And the Lord has done just that. God has been very gracious to us in providing this church. The birth and launch of this church has reminded us that trusting God’s ways doesn’t always mean fully understanding them.

At Legacy we welcome you to join us as we celebrate the good news of Jesus each week. Thankfully, we call Bridges Academy our church home and our location may be found by clicking here. Our prayer is that God would glorify Himself through Legacy City Church as we find joy in Christ, love people, embrace the gospel, and pursue the good of our city, Los Angeles.