Mindless Behavior, Jagged Edge and Yo Gotti are a few celebrities who have recently graced The Ambassador stage, a North St. Louis County club. Unconventional in his approach, Pastor Antwain Jackson encourages people to visit the club … each Sunday for church.
Jackson, Lead Pastor of Equation Church (9800 Halls Ferry Road, St. Louis, MO 63136), understands that visiting a new church can be somewhat intimidating. Questions like “What should I wear?” often arise and have a large impact on a person feeling welcome.
“We want people to feel comfortable,” Jackson said.
“We are focused on helping people experience a real God and develop a relationship with him, not on what people wear. At Equation, the majority of people wear casual attire, but your ‘Sunday’s best’ is welcome as well. Whatever you decide to wear, you will fit in at Equation Church.”
While Equation’s culture is non-denominational, cool and casual, Jackson’s preaching style and values are traditional in many respects.
“I’m just a young man who got sick of church. I’m definitely still learning, and growing, but instead of preaching the ‘what’ alone, I preach the ‘how,’” Jackson said. “My goal is to marry the practical with the power and to teach solution-based messages.”
Or, as he wrote in a blogpost about his ministry, “Being a Christian is not just being a church member.”
According to The Barna Group, seven out of ten young adults are leaving institutional church because church culture doesn’t alight with the society they live in, church is boring or something was lacking in their experience of church.
Equation, on the other hand, strives to attract and retain young adults as a primary constituency. He works social media to this end. Jackson has attracted more than 26,000 Twitter followers, while following fewer than 4,500 people himself.
“What attracted me to Equation Church was their untraditional approach to ministry,” Equation member Andre Thomas said. “Rather than finding out about them through conventional methods, I found them having church right at my job! Being the church without walls isn’t just a cliché phrase at Equation, it’s truly what people live. I’m proud to be a part of this church.”
Jackson preaches that the world suffers from one big problem: unfulfilled purpose. Equation Church serves its community by helping to solve this problem with a simple equation: “Rulership + Relationship.”
Known for their $3,000 gas giveaway last year, and this year’s McDonald’s meal giveaway, Equation Church continuously reaches outside of their “four walls,” with the mission to love God, help people, and change the world.
“It’s just nice to be nice,” Jackson said. “We want to be a blessing to our community, show tangible love, and to let people know that someone cares about them.”
On his blog, though, Jackson keeps it real. A busy pastor can neglect his own flock at home, and Jackson admits in a brief “Confession”: “I was horrible husband and father in 2012. I was so busy that I didn’t spend the time I needed to with my family. Thank God for a wonderful family who sacrifices me to others, but I carried a tremendous guilt on my shoulders because of that in 2012.”
This taught the teacher a lesson: “I learned that after everyone that says they will be with you forever actually leave, the only people you are left with is your family.”
To learn more about the innovative Equation Church, visit equationchurch.com or call 314-599-5021.
