Seattle Megachurch Youth Pastors Relocate to Los Angeles to Plant 'Zoe Church'
Youth pastors Chad and Julia Veach are set to plant a church in Southern California with the blessing of their pastor, Judah Smith of Seattle's The City Church.
The Veaches recently relocated to Los Angeles, where Chad said they kept sensing God was calling them to for a while. After praying about the church plant, Chad says they are now more than sure that is where their ministry, Zoe Church, is meant to flourish.
"I remember a few years ago listening to Judah preach a message with a tagline, 'A man with a savior is willing to take a risk,'… as we step out in obedience, we keep hearing these words. We're ready to risk it all because He's already risked it all," Chad said in a statement on the church's website.
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He admits that "in the natural, this didn't make sense," but notes that the feeling to begin Zoe Church was unshakable.
At the City Church, the Veaches served as youth pastors at a church located at the University of Washington campus. Prior to their time there, Chad lived in Los Angeles for six years after high school where he attended Bible College and served as youth pastor for most of his time in East Los Angeles.
Now, he sees the opportunity to start Zoe as a comeback and one that his mother foreshadowed, he explains.
"When I moved back to Seattle in 2004, I remember my mom telling me, 'You're coming back to Washington now, but I know you'll be back in LA one day. And when you go back, you'll be there for the rest of your life.' I guess mom really does know best," Chad explained.
He added, "Here we are, 10 years later, and we're going back. The goal of church-planting is to reach people that are not being, or have yet to be, reached. That's why we're going. There are millions and millions of people in the Los Angeles area."
Although Southern California is home to various congregations, including megachurches, Chad notes that he is expectant for what God will do with his family and church.
" … We're excited to come alongside and play a small part in the big thing that God is already doing there … Clearly God is obsessed with His people, he'll do anything to reach them… even send a family of 4 to Los Angeles, California to serve the people He loves."
Chad and Julia are parents to Georgia, 3, and 11-month-old Winston. Their daughter, whom they affectionately refer to as "G," has a rare brain disorder whose story has touched the lives of many people including celebrities who have been compelled to get a "G" tattoo as a reminder to pray for her healing.
For more information on the Veaches ministry, visit Zoe Church.
