WILLOW Magazine, Issue 2, 2005
The Open Forum
by Katie Adams
When Bishop Kenneth Ulmer heard that the L.A. Forum was for sale, he wanted to do more than just preserve it for the community — he wanted to turn it into a church.
January 2000. Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer and the leadership at Faithful Central Bible Church had a plan in hand to build a new $18.5 million facility with a 5,000 seat sanctuary. The church body was eager to move forward. But apparently, God wasn’t.
As Ulmer recalls, “It was as though at every step of the way God kept telling us, ‘It’s bigger, it’s more than that.’”
A verse in Habakkuk became Ulmer’s inspiration.
“Look ... and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” (Habakkuk 1:5)
“It was if God was saying ‘I am going to do something in your life, in your time, through you, in you, with you, and for you, so far beyond what you could imagine that if someone told you, you couldn’t believe it.”
The church discovered that the 18,000-seat Great Western Forum, the previous home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings, was on the market. Ulmer learned that it was going to be sold and then torn down to make way for a new condominium complex.
For a church that has been deeply rooted in its community for more than 70 years, the thought of tearing down the Forum was unacceptable.
“Our vision for purchasing the Forum was bigger than the church. We never approached buying it in order to turn it physically into a church. Rather we wanted to purchase it in order to preserve the history and legacy of the Forum and use it as a ministry tool to serve the community,” explains Ulmer.
The church decided to create a separate for-profit corporation to purchase the Forum. But there was a problem. The Forum was already under contract with “a very well known, very sharp businessman,” remembers John C. Cushman III, President and CEO of Cushman Realty Group. Cushman offered to call the current owners of the Forum.
Tim Leiweke, President of the Staples Center, got the call. “We had already entered into an arrangement. We were done. We had a binding contract. But that was all until I met the Bishop,” laughs Leiweke.
“I looked at him (Ulmer) and said to myself, this man has a vision. He’s on a mission and has a concept for this church and his people and come hell or high water he’s going to figure out a way to make this a reality.”
Making it a reality meant overcoming some not-so-insignificant hurdles. The church had $3 million set aside but it needed to raise an additional $1 million within 60 days.
“We lifted the challenge before the people,” says Ulmer. “We shared the need on the first Sunday in June and 60 days later, on the first Sunday in August — the power of God placed into the Kingdom $1.2 million.”
Although the church had raised the $4 million in equity, they needed more. “If we were going to stay in the deal we were going to have to put up $1 million non-refundable dollars. And the only thing I had to go on was God’s promise.”
Ulmer and a group of leaders from Faithful Central met with a bank in San Francisco that could turn the tide. It didn’t. They were “turned down cold.”
Ulmer and Rod Banks, executive vice president of California Commercial Banking for Bank of America, sat in the airport waiting to return home.
Banks remembers saying “Well Bishop, if this doesn’t happen the worst that could happen is that the church would lose $1 million.”
Ulmer replied “No Rod, that’s not the worst that could happen. The worst that could happen is that the faith of 10,000 people would be shaken.”
“And that’s the first time I got scared,” said Ulmer. So he sought help.
“I called a friend of mine, Jack Hayford (founding pastor at Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California). I said ‘Jack, I need you to pray with me, man. We need a miracle. We’re going to trust God for a miracle.’”
Then momentum began to build.
A consortium of banks caught Faithful Central’s vision. For the final piece, God led them to the Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU). After an initially promising meeting, ECCU told Ulmer that they didn’t think they could make the loan.
“And this deal was dead,” said Ulmer. “Dead again. The drive back from Orange County felt like a funeral procession.”
Back in the office, Gwen Rollins, Minister of Finance for Faithful Central, quickly began making calls to see if she could raise the money. There was tremendous tension in the air.
Again, Ulmer sought help.
“I reached into my credenza and pulled out my Bible. Nothing but the grace of God led me to a passage that I had only casually read before. I turned to Isaiah 54 and God said, ‘Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed, neither be disgraced for you will not be put to shame.’”
At that moment the phone rang. It was the ECCU. They would make the loan.
Mark Holson, executive vice president of ECCU explains: “We knew it was really important to the church. There were a lot of dollars at stake — but there was a tremendous possibility of ministry expansion at stake, which is the bigger issue for us.”
It was at the last hour. All of the puzzle pieces were in place. Or so they thought.
“The day before we were scheduled to sign the final documents I was told we were another $100,000 short.” During the car ride to the meeting where the deal would be declared dead, Ulmer’s cell phone rang.
It was Jack Hayford.
“I heard there was still a substantial part to round out the completion of the needed funds,” Jack said. “Anna [Jack’s wife] and I talked about it and I said, ‘Honey, we have retirement funds and I believe we should take a portion of it and make an investment in this.’”
Anna immediately agreed.
“This was not just a matter of friendship,” explains Hayford, “though that was a real factor, it was not without a matter of faith in God and His work that was taking place. It was a real sense of conviction about what this would mean for a congregation that we value and a city that we want to reach.”
At the last hour the deal went through. Faithful Central Bible Church became the owners of the L.A. Forum.
The Tipping Point
Purchasing the Forum was a tipping point for Faithful Central’s growth. “It has had a tremendous impact on our church and on our growth,” says Ulmer. Today, more than 12,000 people call Faithful Central their church and between 6,000 and 8,000 members meet for Sunday morning services at the Forum. The church’s offices and weekday meetings are at their building in Inglewood, less than a mile from the Forum. The Forum still operates as a profit-making entertainment venue for concerts and sporting events during the week.
Ulmer observes that now, after four years, he is still learning and trying to learn how to minister at the Forum.
“Having served as a Promise Keepers speaker in venues of 70,000+ men, the challenge for me is not preaching (at the Forum), but ministering there. Our church’s worship style demands intimacy and to create that kind of atmosphere for 6,000-8,000 people when the building seats 18,000 is an ongoing challenge for me.”
While the church is still grappling with some of the logistical challenges presented by the Forum, they are clearly growing into this large, new vision God has put before them to impact their community.
“We just spent seven months re-crafting and defining our entire ministry,” Ulmer says. “We have synthesized our mission into five words — ‘building champions for divine deployment.’”
Every ministry at Faithful Central is focused on that mission. “Our adult ministry, our youth ministry (led by R&B artist Kirk Franklin), our discipleship and small group ministry — everything is focused on helping people live victorious lives and then encouraging them to infiltrate our community with the truth of the Kingdom.”
It’s that outward, community and Christocentric view of life and ministry that made the Forum purchase a natural fit for Faithful Central.
“Certainly an important benefit (of purchasing the Forum) is that it has given us room to grow,” explains Ulmer. “But one of the most intangible benefits is that this is the only building of its kind owned by a predominantly African-American entity. For people of color to own this facility is a major source of pride in our community.
“The next dream we’re pursuing is building an upscale mall around a portion of the Forum,” Ulmer says with a smile. “We want to continue to provide economic stimulus to our neighborhood and give people a chance for good jobs, good pay and the pride that comes from living in a neighborhood they care about.”
Encouraging Leaders
Recalling the testing he experienced during the purchase of the Forum, Ulmer soberly counsels other pastors and leaders.
“In retrospect I would simply encourage a pastor or leader to move to a very solid place of conviction that whatever endeavor he or she is pursuing is truly of God. We were turned down by 20 financial institutions because they didn’t understand our vision. What we wanted to do had never been done before. There was no model for it. Several bank presidents said to me ‘Pastor, churches don’t do this. Why are you trying to do this?’ And the only answer is that it was what God called us to do.
“I say to a pastor or leader, when you are blazing new trails you absolutely have to recognize you are putting people’s faith on the line.”
And people aren’t just putting their faith in the project, but also you as a leader.
“You have to be positive that you are walking in the revelation of God if you are calling your church to follow you.”
Today Bishop Ulmer is following God’s call to raise up leaders in his church and community as well as in countries overseas. Five years ago he was installed as the presiding bishop over the Macedonia International Bible Fellowship. He visits Africa twice a year to mentor, encourage, pray for, and be a resource to this fellowship group of 13 pastors from across Africa.
Ulmer will be one of the main session speakers at The Leadership Summit, August 11-13, an event that will be held in more than 100 cites worldwide. Ulmer and Bill Hybels have recently become friends and share each other’s vision in impacting their respective communities for Christ and building tomorrow’s leaders in the church. Faithful Central Bible Church will also be one of the host satellite sites for The Leadership Summit 2005.
“The main reason I am so willing and humbled to be a part of what Bill Hybels is doing here in the States and abroad is that he and I share a passion for building leaders. That common ground is what has me committed to what Willow Creek church and the Willow Creek Association are doing. I’m about building the kingdom through building leaders and equipping pastors.”
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