For all of us.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people….” — Titus 2:11
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The apostle Paul sent his associate Titus to pastor on the island of Crete. Paul’s charge to Titus was “to put what remained in order and appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5). In other words, Titus was to plant churches with strong leaders in the dozens of towns in Crete.
But Crete had a bad reputation even among its own philosophers. Like “the Jericho Road,” Crete was likely the kind of place people avoided. Few would seek to go there. But God is different. God intends overlooked people and places to hear the good news of His love in Jesus Christ.
God intends gospel churches to be established in the very places people so often overlook. Paul and Titus partnered to make that happen in Crete. The Crete Collective partners to make it happen in the overlooked Black and Brown neighborhoods of our day.
We believe the Bible to be the divinely inspired, authoritative, sufficient and necessary word of God. In the Bible, we learn of man’s desperate need because of sin and God’s glorious love through His Son. We believe Jesus Christ, the Son of God, voluntarily sacrificed His life on the cross in order to pay to God the penalty humanity owes because of sin. God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for us and raised Him from the grave three days later. God exalted Jesus to His right hand where he reigns until the Day he returns to judge the world, gather Christians into His eternal kingdom, and renew all things.
Our beliefs are expressed more fully in our Statement of Faith.
Our board sets vision and policy for The Crete Collective. Board members are selected from member churches, publicly represent The Crete Collective, and raise funds to carry out our mission.
Thabiti Anyabwile is one of the pastors for ARC. He has served as an elder and pastor in churches in NC, DC and the Cayman Islands. After a few years as a practicing Muslim, Thabiti was converted under the preaching of the gospel in the Washington DC area. He and his wife, Kristie, have three children. Thabiti is the author of several books, including The Life of God in the Soul of the Church; The Gospel for Muslims; What Is a Healthy Church Member?; The Decline of African-American Theology; and The Faithful Preacher. He blogs at The Front Porch.
Louis Love serves as the lead-pastor of New Life Fellowship Church in Waukegan, IL, which he planted in 1997. Before the church plant, he served as the pastor of New Hope Baptist Church and New Life Baptist Church. He’s been joyfully married to Jamie for forty-one years. They have three adult children and eleven grandchildren. Louis is a co-founder of TheFrontPorch.org and a contributor to the book Glory Road: The Journeys of Ten African Americans into Reformed Christianity (Crossway, 2012).
A native of Houston, TX, John was born into a Nigerian home where the gospel was cherished deeply and modeled excellently. After graduating from college, he studied at Dallas Theological Seminary. He’s served at churches in both Texas and Georgia and in 2015 moved into the Historic West End to help plant Cornerstone Church with his best friends. He and his wife, Shawndra, have been married since 2007. They welcomed their daughter, Ava, in 2017. They are eager to see the hope of the gospel restore a sense of family, dignity, and hope to their neighborhood through their local church of ordinary people.
Jeremy was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Howard University in 2007. In 2009, while working as an engineer, he began to search for ways to serve under-resourced and at-risk communities and joined the staff of Daybreak Ministries. He left engineering to work full-time with Daybreak and after seven years with Daybreak Ministries, the Lord called Jeremy to plant Mercy of Christ Fellowship Church to serve the Lincoln Heights and Deanwood areas of Washington, D.C.
Jeremy is married to his wonderful wife, Tiffany, and the Lord has blessed them with four wonderful children.
Dennae Pierre is part of Roosevelt Community Church in Phoenix, Arizona where her husband, Vermon, is the lead pastor. She serves on the leadership team of Surge Network, a collaborative of missional churches in Arizona and is one of the co-directors for City to City North America. She is a graduate of Covenant Theological Seminary and the founder of Foster Care Initiatives, a nonprofit focused on family reunification. Dennae and Vermon have 2 sons and 2 daughters and you can check out some of her writings at restorativeleaders.com.
Jamie R. Love has been married to Pastor Louis C. Love, Jr. for forty-two years. They have three adult children, two daughters-in-law, and eleven grandchildren. Jamie serves as the Director of Women’s Ministries at New Life Fellowship Church in Waukegan, Illinois. She is the co-founder and instructor of the “Ivy” League Bible Study Fellowship, web-based Bible Study and Outreach to women across the United States. Jamie has contributed to two books, Joyfully Spreading the Word and His Testimonies, My Heritage: Women of Color on the Word of God. She brings three decades of corporate and non-profit financial accounting and management experience to the Board.
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Members of the news media who want to cover the work of The Crete Collective should email: john@thecretecollective.org