Our Story
Streams Church was planted after a year of prayer by lead Pastor Lloyd Baker and his wife Judy. We launched the Church in October 2004 out of Living Streams Church in Phoenix, Arizona. It started with 45 core people at Westview High School in Avondale, Arizona. We now meet for weekly gatherings at 6532 N. El Mirage Rd. We have chosen to relationally impact our community as well as certain parts of the world like Ecuador, Mexico, and Japan. In 2010 God blessed us with our property, a ministry command center, by which we can impact and reach the west valley. We will use this facility to train church planters and launch other communities of faith.
Our Style
• Creating communities of faith whose core is authentic relationship.
Churches that focus on programs and marketing create a culture of performance that distracts from the accountable, intimate interactions found in the early church. Jesus loves people, gave his life for people, wants a relationship with people and we feel that His Church should do the same. At Streams, we do have weekly gatherings where worship and relative messages are dispensed, but they take a back seat to the forming of valued relationships with each other.
• Establishing discipleship groups that focus on discovering the Word of God and creating an environment of deep accountability. We have seen that this type of atmosphere is where life change happens best and is most sustainable. Small group accountability not only sets people free from burdens, but also increases the level of ownership and participation of members within the movement.
• Meeting the specific needs of the community while reaching out to them with the love of Jesus Christ.
We choose to be outward focused not inward focused. We can keep the relational aspect of our Church and specifically impact distinct communities where we interact on a daily basis. It is our vision to plant churches in Phoenix and the world.
• Generating a style of church that is easily reproducible and manufactures a movement, not just one church. A movement is created when the people within the church are so impacted by the Word of God that it changes their lives, and they have a personal need to share it with all of their friends and family. A movement can become viral as it grows with each new church plant.
• Mentoring leaders that will embrace a return to the Shepherd/Pastor model, where pastors come along side to guide and encourage their parishioners. This model can easily be taught and does not require the specialized skill sets of a leader of a large mega-church. Instead of having the skill set of a CEO or being a master orator, the church leader can be focused on shepherding and pastoring their members and driving relationship based discipleship. Research shows that the next generation of people, currently in their 20s & 30s, hunger for an authentic, relationship based, and outreach focused community of faith.
Churches that focus on programs and marketing create a culture of performance that distracts from the accountable, intimate interactions found in the early church. Jesus loves people, gave his life for people, wants a relationship with people and we feel that His Church should do the same. At Streams, we do have weekly gatherings where worship and relative messages are dispensed, but they take a back seat to the forming of valued relationships with each other.
• Establishing discipleship groups that focus on discovering the Word of God and creating an environment of deep accountability. We have seen that this type of atmosphere is where life change happens best and is most sustainable. Small group accountability not only sets people free from burdens, but also increases the level of ownership and participation of members within the movement.
• Meeting the specific needs of the community while reaching out to them with the love of Jesus Christ.
We choose to be outward focused not inward focused. We can keep the relational aspect of our Church and specifically impact distinct communities where we interact on a daily basis. It is our vision to plant churches in Phoenix and the world.
• Generating a style of church that is easily reproducible and manufactures a movement, not just one church. A movement is created when the people within the church are so impacted by the Word of God that it changes their lives, and they have a personal need to share it with all of their friends and family. A movement can become viral as it grows with each new church plant.
• Mentoring leaders that will embrace a return to the Shepherd/Pastor model, where pastors come along side to guide and encourage their parishioners. This model can easily be taught and does not require the specialized skill sets of a leader of a large mega-church. Instead of having the skill set of a CEO or being a master orator, the church leader can be focused on shepherding and pastoring their members and driving relationship based discipleship. Research shows that the next generation of people, currently in their 20s & 30s, hunger for an authentic, relationship based, and outreach focused community of faith.
Church Planting
From our inception, the goal has been to plant new churches throughout Phoenix and the World that are relationally connected to each other and have a heart to reach their distinct communities. It is being accomplished through apprentice training, team building, fund raising and vision casting. Please contact us if you are interested in Church Planting.
We strongly believe that this style of Church is a return to the formula of the early Church within the confines of our complex society. We need to be about the business of people. We realize that there are many wonderful movements that God uses in this world, but we have chosen a relationship based, discipleship driven, missional focused community of faith.
We hope you join us on this journey!
We hope you join us on this journey!