We know that God loves people – in fact, the Bible tells us explicitly that God cares for people so much that he was willing to send his only Son into the world – “not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17) The missio dei (the mission of God) is to offer love, redemption, reconciliation, and forgiveness to the world through Jesus. That is why we often say “we did not set out to start a church – we set out to change the world” - our hope is that we will partner with God on his mission: to offer grace, freedom, and life to the un-churched, de-churched, dead-churched, and unmoved. As we considered how to do that in the most proactive and productive way, we discovered that missional teams focused on planting churches in strategic urban settings were the most effective means of carrying the life changing truth and life of the Gospel to people who are far from God.

For many within our culture, the church has lost its relevance. There is a growing churchless population and many churches have begun to decline because they have been unable to change and adapt to a rapidly changing culture. For us to embrace God’s mission means that we must care for people in the way that he cares for them and to meet them where they are in culturally relevant ways. We believe that the message of the gospel is unchanging, yet the methods of presenting that message must constantly and creatively be evaluated and changed to connect with culture. We started Paradox because we believe that the gospel can truly be good news to a pluralistic, post-modern culture when it is lived out and communicated by a group of people speaking relevantly within the context of their own culture. What has driven the birth of Paradox is a dream to provide a biblically based, culturally engaging church on the Westside of Los Angeles that welcomes churchless people regardless of where they may be on their spiritual journey.

We believe that the Westside is strategic because:

1. There are more than 75,000 completely un-churched people in this area, according to a recent survey. According to studies based on Census Bureau statistics,  fewer than 50% of Westside residents have "any faith involvement" ("any faith involvement" for them is defined as any religious faith including cults like Scientology and Mormonism, as well as new age mysticism and eastern religions).

2. Roughly 1/3 of Westside residents work in the entertainment industry. Film, music, and entertainment have become the primary shapers of culture in the U.S. and around the world. We believe that impacting the people here will literally impact the culture across the nation and around the world.

3. The proximity to UCLA and USC with combined student populations totaling roughly 70,000 makes this a location that provides incredible opportunity to reach young people with the Gospel, and potentially have world-wide impact as these students disperse internationally.

4. The centrality of major highways (I-10, I-405) makes it easily accessible for people driving in this densely populated area.