The Stirring
All People’s Church was a vision God placed in the hearts of Sam & Joanna Choi long before they planted. Sam received biblical training from Eternity Bible College in California. He faithfully led a thriving youth ministry and saw a number of youth catch a vision for disciple-making in all of life. During this time, he was shown that church planting was one of the most effective ways to make disciples, reach the lost, and catalyze established churches.
The Choi’s moved to Minneapolis for Sam to attend Bethlehem Seminary. He received his MDiv and graduated in the Spring of 2017. During those years of training, God continued to affirm the call for planting through several pastors and their local church, Cities Church. As they continued to minister in the Twin Cities, the Lord showed them that the nations had come to the Cities and there were unusual opportunities for the Kingdom.
They had a simple dream. What if we had a church where every member enjoyed a vibrant relationship with Jesus, intimately belonged to his family, and joined in the mission of making disciples? In other words, they did not experience biblical Christianity to be so common in their experience.
The preparing
In May 2017, the Chois began official meetings to form a core team for launching. These meetings began in their backyard and were full of sweet connection and prayer. God was at work.
The path to forming a core team was a winding path that included disappointment and rejoicing. One great joy came as Ross Tennesson joined Sam on the pastoral team, which was enough to launch the church with a plurality.
They conducted an invitational course on all-of-life disciple-making for all prospective members in the basement of Bethlehem Baptist Church. This course outlined the mission, vision, and rhythm APC would embody and pursue. The core team grew to 19 after this.
The Launching
On the evening of June 16th, 2018, All Peoples Church officially became a church by partaking the Lord’s Supper and making a covenant with each other. The next day, they had their first worship gathering at Jubilee Community Church.
The service was filled with people - both members and supporters to celebrate God and what he would do through this little church. They launched with a small number of extremely devoted members eager to follow Jesus.
Sam and Ross did not desire a mega church. Instead, the hope was that a small passionate church could multiply and reach those far from God. The result would be new churches spread across the cities, nations, and the world.
The Journey thus far
Since launching, we have experienced highs and lows. We have watched people go from death to life and be baptized. We have watched people walk away from the faith. We have said goodbye to dear saints who God has called onward.
In the summer of 2018, Daniel Simmons joined the pastoral team on staff. He and his wife, Kate, were present in the pre-launch invitational course. They delayed joining to settle into their new marriage together. Daniel primarily serves in leading our church in musical worship and together with Kate, they spend many hours counseling and caring for others.
In the winter of 2020, Dale Gruber came on board as APC’s first lay pastor. He and his wife, Hannah, have been part of the team since pre-launch. Dale has focused on helping optimize our church’s systems and helping fill in a lot of gaps in our church. As a result, our members are much better cared for.
In 2021 we laid hands on Scott Hubbard as our fifth elder. Scott and Bethany have been serving in a multitude, most notably helping us invest in the next generation at our church.
We were greatly pruned during the Pandemic and all that came during the season. After weathering those storms, repenting much, and learning a ton, we have become healthier, more humble, more unified, and wiser through it all.
In the Fall of 2021, we started to gather at Lebanon Lutheran church while also moving our gathering time to the morning. In the Winter, we started a three-stage process of exploring what it could look like for Lebanon to join APC. This process is continuing and is projected to come to a head in early 2023.
We have primarily shared the story of our pastors, but they are not the stars of our church. Our people are. Our pastors mainly serve to release our people to thrive in their callings and gifts, and that’s the “secret sauce” of our church. Our people are wonderful, and they are the ones doing the daily discipleship in all of life and reaching our community for Jesus.
