Dream Centers Invest in the Community Around Them

The 2010 Outreach 100 issue features an in-depth article on churches that have elevated the community around them. The five pastors we talked to include: Matthew Barnett (Angelus Temple/Los Angeles Dream Center); Dino Rizzo (Healing Place Church/Baton Rouge Dream Center); Greg Surratt (Seacoast Church/North Charleston Dream Center); Chris Hodges (Church of the Highlands/The Birmingham Dream Center) and Rick Bezet (New Life Church/Arkansas Dream Center). Below are more highlights from our conversations with these game-changing pastors.

On partnering with city organizations and other churches

Rick Bezet: I don’t know anybody doing a Dream Center who’s going it alone. You find out what’s working, what the Lord is already blessing and you go and work with it, instead of inventing a whole new concept. It gives you instant credibility. Who am I to show up and try to figure out what the needs are when there are already people who know?

If you can find someone who’s already reaching and serving that community and that you like and agree with, you’re way down the road. That’s what we were able to do. We purchased this huge historic building for $150,000 that would be worth a few million dollars anywhere else. It’s also right next to Arkansas Baptist College. The president is a friend, and they need that place for their arts department. So he told me that if we’ll purchase the building for $150,000, they’ll put $500,000 worth of renovation into it and use it for two hours a week! It’s a win-win.

Chris Hodges: We even took our church's name off; it’s The Birmingham Dream Center. We’ve partnered with the University of Alabama Birmingham. All of the medical students serve at the Dream Center as part of their training.

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