Welcome to Baltimore. 255 neighborhoods filled with history and art. A notorious “Bird Land” of just over 620,000 people celebrating both affluence and luxury

while struggling, on the outskirts of the city, with urban decay and lack of resources.

Momentum is a church that stands in the gap between these communities long separated by income disparities and segregation and lives out an example of a love that unifies.

Our Mission:Momentum seeks to grow and move the mind, body and soul of the individuals

and neighborhoods of Baltimore

Josh’s StoryJosh was born into a military family and has always been involved with the church. His family dynamics shifted after the death of his father, Johnny, but despite hardships, his family maintained their faith. When his mother, La Wanda, married Alan Findley, the family relocated from California to South Carolina. While in South Carolina, Josh attended Christian middle and high schools and a Christian university shortly before entering the military reserves.

While serving in the US Marine Corps, Josh moved to Maryland in 2007. Josh and Meredith were mar-ried in September 2008, and Josh was activated for a deployment in November 2008. After returning from Iraq in 2010, Josh finished his undergraduate degree and began working at Mountain Christian Church. Beginning as an intern in 2010 and concluding on Pastoral Staff in 2014, his experience there gave him many opportunities to grow and lead. While working at Mountain, Josh pursued a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry at Emmanuel Christian Seminary and graduated in 2015.

Serving as the Welcome Pastor at Mountain’s Edgwood Campus, Josh began working with some local youth. After hearing their struggles, stories, and perspectives, Josh formulated a teaching style for urban youth that have trouble assimilating to the traditional church culture. This experience with the youth of Edgewood served as the catalyst into church planting and continues to motivate Josh as he encounters the youth of Baltimore City who long for a connection to God but are often plagued by challenges along that path. Equipped with a personal story that inspires, Josh is gifted with unique, affirmed talents that are ready to be used for God’s Kingdom.

Meredith’s StoryMeredith was born and rasied in Connecticut. She was blessed to grow up with her father, mother and two siblings. They have always been connected to the church and provided a strong biblical foundation for her upbringing. After graduating from high school, Meredith attended a Christian university in South Carolina and relocated to Maryland after graduation. Teaching high school math and science for a year at Harford Christian School, Meredith found her passion in working with students one on one and connecting with students who struggle in a typical classroom.

After marrying Josh in 2008, Meredith began working with families and developing a love for parent coaching and support. When Josh returned from Iraq in 2010, Meredith worked in Baltimore City with a family whose two year old son had recently been diagnosed with autism. Following the birth of Joshua Jr., Meredith continued working with this family for over two years, and this connection led to many blossoming friendships and a love for urban living.

When Mountain Christian Church planned to launch a campus in Edgewood, Josh and Meredith relocated to a troubled part of town to meet and get involved with the surrounding community. Celebrating the birth of their second child, Juliette, Meredith enjoyed the opportunity to work from home with many students who struggled educationally and to provide them with the resources and time they needed to succeed. Equipped to teach and help families flourish using her skills in birth work, parent coaching, and elementary through college tutoring, Meredith is excited about connecting to more people in Baltimore and builiding God’s Kingdom.

Why Baltimore?Baltimore is a unique city. While Baltimore is growing past 620,000 people and boasts a high end waterfront, any travel to the outskirts of the city will show the poverty and ur-ban decay that surrounds it’s booming center. The East and West sides of Baltimore are notorius for their drug trade, poverty, and violence and were highlighted in the uprisings of 2015. These are often overlooked areas, and they have been quoted as feeling “ne-glected”. Baltimore maintains an 11% reading proficiency at the 4th grade level, twice the national teen prenancy rate, and an estimated 19,000 active heroine users who support a sub culture revenue of $165 million.

52.7% of Baltimoreans claim no religious affiliation. With 43% of the population earning less than $25,000 per year, Baltimore is facing American poverty both spiritually and economically.

Meanwhile, the city center of Baltimore is thriving with night life and wealth. Many young professionals are relocating to Baltimore for promising corporate careers and bring gentri-fication with them. Baltimore’s long history of segregation plays a substantial role in the overal unity of the city and, when left unaddressed long enough, tensions flare.

While the demographics of Baltimore provide so many challenges, the city is also filled with art. From Graffiti Alley (pictured on the left) to mammoth wall murals, Baltimore regularly commissions artists to showcase their skills and give the city vibrancy. The aim is to activate a slowly moving, historically stagnant city.

This is where Momentum comes in. The Church has long claimed to be a bastion of hope and community, and to do that, the city needs to Get Moving - Not only to start moving but to stay moving.

The city needs Momentum!With these statistics setting the stage for Baltimore, we believe that the church needs to have both spiritual and tangilbe representations of the Gospel. Momentum will have a seven-days-a-week tangible Gospel presence to celebrate the kingdom of God that we now have access to and weekend celebrations to remember and share the eternal hope that we have in Jesus.

Core Values

Love - We want to reflect the love that we have been given by God. (Luke 10:27, 1 John 4:11, John 13:35)

Unity - To get moving into who God wants us to be, we must be unified in our mission (John 17:20-23)

Authenticity - Individual stories and giftings are necessary for momentum (2 Cor 12:9-10)

Personal Responsibility - Everyone is individually accountable to move (Luke 9:23)

StrategyHow does Momentum intend to step into the challenge of wealth, art, gentrification, generational poverty and rampant drug use to connect future generations to God and their surrounding community? We are glad you asked!

Holistic in its approach, Momentum seeks to grow and move the mind, body and soul of individuals and communities of Baltimore. Momentum will utilize both Momentum Church and a coffee shop/perfor-mance venue. This will provide:

A church: Providing spiritual education and connection with a culture of worship in community with each other and with God, all while staying culturally relevant, using relational language and cultural context to aid in theological understanding.

A coffee shop: An opportunity to provide a relaxing atmosphere for relationship, connection and growth. This will also provide potentional employment in an environment where jobs are harder to secure and maintain. We believe that employment is vital to the health of neighborhoods.

A community center/performance venue: A youth focused platform, highlighting the arts and conversation, for personal and spiritual exploration and growth.

We believe that this strategy will emphasize our core values, culturally connect to the neighborhood, and grow the minds, bodies and souls of individuals in Baltimore, ultimately equipping people and neighborhoods with a holistic relationship to God.

Partners

We know that God wants to build Momentum in Baltimore, and a vision this big requires a lot of support! We are still looking for financial partners to join with us on this mission. We pray that God will lead you to make sacrificial gifts to build this church in Baltimore. Please contact us for additional details and expanded launch plan - joshua.dew@gmail.com

Please send all checks marked for Momentum to: The Foundry 841 East Fort Ave #228 Baltimore, MD 21230All gifts are tax deductible.

What Can You Do?

Financially support Momentum

Pray for the mission, staff, and families of Momentum

Engage with Momentum through the coffee shop, website, serving, and missions

Raise other partners to support Momentum