Francis Chan
Francis Chan is a pastor, speaker and best-selling author who believes that a life called by Jesus will be a transformed life. And he tries to live out that transformation in every aspect—his ministry, his family, his community, his finances and his publishing.
Francis’ mother died while his stepmother died in a car accident when he was just 9 years old. His father died of cancer before Francis reached his 13th birthday. The losses were profound. Furthermore, physical and verbal affection in his family, particularly from his father, was rare. His only memory of affection from his dad came when they were on their way to his stepmother’s funeral, and his father put his arm around him for about 30 seconds.
Despite a childhood filled with death, Francis did not doubt the love of God. He recalls a childhood filled with church and belief in God. And by junior high school he began to understand what it meant to have a personal relationship with God and he began living it. After graduation, Francis joined his youth pastor in ministry to reach his friends who were still in school. It was during that time that Chan chose to become a pastor. He earned a BA in youth ministry from The Master’s College and a Master’s of Divinity from The Master’s Seminary. After graduation in 1992, he worked as a youth pastor for another church. Eventually, he and his wife Lisa decided to start their own church, Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA.
Francis admits that Cornerstone Church was not intentionally intended to be outwardly focused. When the church opened in 1994, the main goal was size. “I was very self-centered, and therefore, I led a church into being self-centered,” he recalls. “We gave very little of our resources to begin with because I was only concerned about the growth of ‘our’ church.” After five years of church as usual at Cornerstone, a missionary from Papua New Guinea challenged Francis’ self-centered theology. Just a few years later, he took a trip to Uganda that further altered his thinking and living. “It was there that I fell in love with the orphans and dared to ask the question: ‘What does it look like to love my neighbor as myself?’”
The answer to that question brought about change in Francis’ life, both personally and professionally. Personally, Francis’ and his then family of four moved out of their 2000- square-foot house to a 1000-square-foot house. “It was just me, but I couldn’t reconcile how I could live in such a nice house while others were starving,” Francis’ recalls. Since then, the Chan family has added to their number. As Lisa’s parents arrived at retirement, the Chans felt it was appropriate to provide a place for them. So they bought a 1200-square-foot house with a bit more property to build an addition. They’ve added two more children into their family, upping their current home size to 2000-square feet. Lisa’s parents have moved to their own home, but the Chans recently have welcomed an immigrant single mother and her children into their home. “Don’t think we are some kind of super spiritual people. Our house is crazy, but the love of God there is real.”Chan has also made a commitment to keeping his personal finances in check. His original salary at Cornerstone was $36,000 and he has been paid the same every year since. He also gave away all the royalties from his first book, Crazy Love (David C Cook, May 2007) to the Isaiah 58 fund, a non-profit dedicated to the poor internationally, particularly in the human trafficking. “I can testify of miracle after miracle—all the ways that God has provided for our now family of six,” says Francis. “We’ve been able to give away more and more every year, yet God keeps providing for our needs supernaturally. We have never been in want.” Answering that question in Uganda also affected Chan’s professional vision. His new vision for the poor, and his personal down-sizing choices, encouraged members of the congregation to consider radical changes as well. In 2007, the leaders of Cornerstone Church voted to give 50% of their budget to ministries and non-profits outside of the church. Currently, according to Chan, Cornerstone’s giving is at 40% of its budget.
Cornerstone Church’s generosity continues as they are currently making plans to forego the usual mega-church building program. With more than 4,000 adults and children attending Cornerstone’s weekly services, they have outgrown its existing facility. Instead of building a traditional structure, plans are being drawn up for an outdoor amphitheater, called The Tierra Rejada Building Project. The goal? To reduce facility costs, which will then allow the church to increase spending on the poor. “We can save millions of dollars on a building that would be better used building the lives of the poor,” says Francis. “So we figured we could suffer (if you can really call it that) for an hour a week to become a church that is willing to think and worship outside of the box.”
Francis and Cornerstone Church are also focused on making Bible College affordable for those who live in their area. Cornerstone Church launched Eternity Bible College (EBC) in 2004. EBC keeps costs low and local connections high by partnering with community colleges so students can take general education classes on those nearby campuses. EBC is then able to focus on providing credentialed and experienced pastors as the teaching faculty for theological courses. EBC is intentionally affordable for all students, with each unit priced at just $50. As of fall 2008, EBC has more than 250 students auditing classes, and 130 are taking courses for credit toward a degree.
Francis is married to Lisa Chan, and they have seven children.
Source:
http://www.mmpublicrelations.com/uplFiles/project_downloads/dwn_197.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Chan