The Experience Christian Ministries-ECM

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In 2016, E.C.M. made an effort to serve the community that surrounded its newly purchased building intentionally. E.C.M. has been accomplishing this objective by deliberately continuing to work towards creating and establishing a series of public outreach encounters and direct interactions with the community residents, organizations, and agencies. Their first connection was with the peacemakers and gang interventionists who are in touch and have ears and boots on the ground. These imperative relationships and connections have led us to meet other community members, leaders, and partners. 

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E.C.M. hosted what we now call "Church at the Park," an all-day community event in the park. This event allowed E.C.M. to meet, serve, and love the surrounding community members. 

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Eventually, E.C.M. was able to engage and partner with CD9 and Councilman Curren Price Jr., L.A.P.D.'s Community Safety Partners (CSP), G.R.Y.D., Volunteers of America (VOA), Parks and Recs, Revelation C.O.G.I.C. (Pastor's Ryan and Tenecia Sims), Good News C.O.G.I.C., and a few other churches in the area. To go further, E.C.M. and partnering churches began attending community meetings. Also, they became acquainted with principals of the surrounding schools, including Dr. Maya Angelou HS, Jefferson HS, Arora Elementary School, and 49th Street School. E.C.M. successfully partnered with all of the organizations and agencies mentioned above to join in and even lead, in some cases, the efforts to heal our community. 

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E.C.M. has ultimately become a welcoming space for peace and healing in the community. Reputable Bloods and Crips from 53 Avalon Gansta Crips (53AGC), Bloodstone Villains (B.S.V.), 52 Broadway Gansta Crips (Broadways), 62 East Coast Crips (E.C.C.), 42s/48s (4pack), and Pueblos Bishop Bloods (PBB), all met every Wednesday for several months at E.C.M. to reestablish the notable '92 gang truce in Los Angeles. As they move forward, Pastor Shep and the West-coast regional representative of the Nation of Islam, Minister Abdul Malik Muhammad (Minister Tony), have and will continue to play a significant role as the host and mentor in these crucial and impactful peace table meetings. 

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E.C.M. has established meaningful, poignant, and influential relationships within its surrounding community, which has resulted in a significant drop in crime, as noted in the 31% drop in overall crime in E.C.M.'s immediate community following the 2022 annual Church at the Park event. 

E.C.M. is proving that community unity is the only way to see measurable change in our neighborhoods. The fact that E.C.M. engaged surrounding churches to interface with the community has yielded healing results. The people of its surrounding area now know that E.C.M. is a welcoming beacon freely available to the community. Those seeds of effort have now been harvested into a mutual and reciprocal church-community partnership which is the success model The Apology Tour posits to duplicate.

The hope is to see other houses of worship in and around Los Angeles establish and in some cases reestablish this interdependence and connectedness. Neighboring and nearby churches are also encouraged to work in partnership toward everyday community needs and goals.

 

This approach to communal unity is not intended to be just a special moment but a lasting movement. 

For more information, please contact Psoffice@theecm.org or call 855-326-3261 ext 102.