A Church That Said Yes
How Pastor Freddy Rivas is leading Arcadia Friends Community Church back into its neighborhood
For years, Arcadia Friends Community Church looked like a lot of congregations across the country. Its members loved the Lord and loved one another, but the church was trending older, and much of its energy was focused on the people already inside its walls. The neighborhood around it, full of families and young people, was close by but not always in view.
Walk through its doors in the San Gabriel Valley today and you will notice something different. There is a joyful enthusiasm in the room. There are children with a ministry of their own, young adults gathering again, and local teenagers who have found a church home just five minutes from their high school.
At the center of that shift is Pastor Freddy Rivas, who lives in nearby Temple City and serves as lead pastor of Arcadia Friends, shepherding families and individuals across the San Gabriel Valley. Freddy is quick to say the change is not about him. It began, he says, when his congregation stopped looking inward and started asking a different question: What does God want us to do in our community?
Over the past several months, the people of Arcadia Friends have given themselves to prayer, seeking the Lord's direction for the neighborhood around them. It was not a program or a campaign. It was a congregation opening itself up to the possibility that God had something new for them in this season.
During that same season, Freddy was taking part in UYWI's Whole Life Discipleship program, and the two journeys fed each other. As his church prayed, Freddy was being equipped with fresh ways of thinking about what it means to shepherd people well.
"It activated so many frames of reference for me to think about how I shepherd our congregation and our youth into what God is trying to do today, in such a time as this," Freddy said.
Through the program, Freddy found himself equipped to look at every part of the church's ministry, not in isolation, but as a whole. He began approaching the work in a way that was thoughtful and Gospel-centered, and intentional about three things: being present in the community where the church already sits, raising up leaders, and ministering to families and individuals right where they are.
The fruit came quickly. The church launched a brand-new children's ministry, a clear sign of a congregation making room for the next generation. It relaunched a young adults ministry, something Arcadia Friends had not had in decades. And it launched and established a youth ministry that is now drawing students from the high school just down the road, young people who are finding a church home and a community of their own.
Asking Deeper Questions
"A lot's been changing in a very short period of time because of the grace of God," Freddy said, "but also because we're asking deeper questions."
Freddy Rivas
Evan's Story
One of those students is Evan.
When Evan first came around, he was a young man from the neighborhood whose life revolved around sports. By Freddy's account, he was the kind of kid most people would not take seriously or give the time of day. Some might have written him off as a troublemaker. It would have been easy to overlook him.
But God saw something more.
That something came alive at a camp co-sponsored by UYWI, where Evan gave his life to the Lord. He came home on fire for Jesus, hungry to learn and grow. He started attending church, and he did not just show up. When Arcadia Friends holds Sunday school after the service, Evan is there faithfully. He keeps inviting his friends to join him on Sunday mornings and at youth group. The young man who was once overlooked is now the one bringing others in.
"What God has really unleashed within him is a young man who wants to live with purpose, live with God, and live with community," Freddy said.
Over the past few months, Freddy has watched leadership gifts surface in Evan that the Holy Spirit is only beginning to uncover. Freddy counts it a privilege to walk alongside him, a journey made possible in part through Evan's involvement in programming that UYWI provides. The whole congregation has been blessed by his presence and his testimony.
Most of all, Evan has found what every young person needs: a place where he can ask questions, grow in his faith, and grow as a leader, surrounded by a church committed to supporting him as he discovers God's calling on his life.
"He's just on the front end of his journey," Freddy said. "God is about to do much, much more in his life, and we get to be a part of it."
Freddy Rivas
Young and Old, Dreams and Visions
When Freddy considers what becomes possible when a leader is equipped and supported, he returns to Acts 2. In the first sermon preached to the church, Peter describes the Spirit poured out so that young and old alike see visions and dream dreams. It is a picture of a whole community, every generation, caught up in what God is doing.
At Arcadia Friends, that picture is taking shape. A congregation that was trending older is now making room for children, young adults, and teenagers, and the generations are learning to dream together.
Freddy believes the equipping he and other leaders have received through UYWI and the Whole Life Discipleship program creates space to listen to the Spirit of God, and then to invite others to think creatively about how God wants to use them. That invitation reaches both the body of Christ and the neighbors around the church who still need to hear the good news.
For Freddy, it all comes down to a posture of surrender. "I've said yes to God," he said. "God, teach me. Use me. It's not about me." It is not about what he says on Sunday morning or the good programs he could run. It is about being a humble servant who listens to the Spirit and takes steps of faith that help a church and a community reimagine what God wants to do through them.
Part of what has made that possible is not having to do it alone. Ministry can be lonely work, but through UYWI, Freddy has found space to step back and reflect alongside peers. He has heard their stories, been challenged by fellow co-laborers in Christ, and seen his own story more clearly in the process. That rhythm of reflection and community has shaped the kind of leader he is becoming.
"Really, it is about a leader being equipped to be Spirit-led," Freddy said, "and then living by faith to invite a community to live into what God's Spirit is doing."
When one pastor is equipped, a whole church turns outward. Children find a place to belong. Young adults find community again. And a young man like Evan, once overlooked, finds a home, a purpose, and a Savior. That is the ripple effect of investing in a leader, and at Arcadia Friends, it is only just beginning.
