Darren Rouanzoin on Entering the Digital Desert, the Risk of Becoming a Disembodied Influencer, and Having a Vision Bigger Than Your Church
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Darren Rouanzoin from Garden Church in Long Beach, California joins Jason this week on the podcast. They begin by Darren sharing his journey of growing up and not believing in the gifts of the Spirit until visiting a church where the supernatural seemed natural; atheists accepted Jesus, the sick were healed, and prophecy was spoken. He resolved to experience this in his own life and to build a church that would be empowered by the Spirit. This led him and his wife to begin a church community of small groups that eventually turned into services, serving their city, loving the poor, and raising up staff.
What sets Garden Church apart is that it’s not a church born from a vision just for a church, but from a vision for the city. Darren’s heart is that in a diverse, economically unequal city like Long Beach, they could serve and disciple both the CEO and the single mom, which doesn’t always fit in certain models or strategies of the church.
Darren unpacks the importance of mentors in his life and gives advice on how others can foster those relationships. He also explains that what you build in you is what you build around you and how that should prioritize our spiritual formation as pastors so we can see churches of resiliency, humility, and spirit empowerment. This is especially important because the temptation for leaders today can be to focus on platform and influence, which aren’t always bad, but can lead to us becoming disembodied influencers instead of incarnational followers doing life with our community.
They end by Darren telling Jason about the digital desert God led him to in 2019, a time of hiding and getting off social media. He encourages us to consider ways we might enter into this journey for intimacy with Jesus and to protect us from the pressure of culture.
We hope you enjoy this conversation with Darren Rouanzoin.
“We need to bring more awareness of the context of Jesus’ ministry. People often want the content of Jesus’ ministry without the context...It’s on the go. It’s in the margins. It’s in the places you least expect it.”
Darren Rouanzoin
Darren Rouanzoin lives in Long Beach, California, with his wife Alex and their two boys, Ezra and Amos. Darren is the founding pastor of Garden Church, a community in the heart of one of the most diverse cities in the US. He is passionate about leading people to know and experience the extravagant generosity of God and the abundant life Jesus brings here and now.
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Jono Zantingh
Jono Zantingh is a Canadian Pastor, Church Planter and Worship Leader. He has been married to Nicole for 20 years. Together, they have 3 children; Julia, Riley and Kaleb. In 2018, Jono & Nicole moved to Edmonton, AB from Winnipeg, MB to plant Evolve Church in South Edmonton with their ARC Canada Family. In 2020, Jono began serving as a coach to other church planters in Canada through the ARC. He is passionate about the local church, and seeing others grow in their surrender of learning to trust and follow Jesus.