In 1996, God breathed a dream into the hearts of a young engaged couple. It was an unusual chapel service that day on the campus of Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington and God was doing something truly unique in the hearts of many. A prophetic moment was at hand, one that would forever mark the lives of Ben and Katie Brinkman.  As the service began to wind down, they turned in the same moment and looked at each other, tears brimming in their eyes at the dream God had just given them to fulfill together.  What they had seen was identical and one thing they were certain of was that God was calling them to begin a church in an urban area. Where, when and how it would occur would be defined in the years to come.

In September of 1998, Ben and Katie enrolled in the Generation Internship program at The City Church in Kirkland. During this season, God began to speak more clearly where the dream would take them and how much it would require. They traveled to San Diego three times that year with the internship program to help prepare a new church to open its doors to the city. Through this process of preparation they began to fall in love with the people and the city of San Diego.

Stepping out in faith in August 1999, they moved to San Diego to continue helping The City Church SD, as the intern directors and youth pastors. In 2001, after two years of raising support, Ben was hired on as full time staff. As they diligently served, the dream got stirred once more as they were hanging out in their favorite spot, downtown San Diego. Questions quickly led to a discussion of whether this could be where God would begin to unravel the dream He had birthed in them years ago. They decided it was time to meet with their pastor and discuss the dream and begin to plan the possibility of when and where their dream would become a reality.

God, however, had something else in mind. It was clear that the dream needed to die before it could ever be resurrected. So in March 2005, they embarked on a new unexpected adventure to Las Vegas, Nevada to take over the youth ministry for a new church plant. In Las Vegas God developed the character that would be necessary to sustain the dream of URBAN. As God worked in Ben and Katie, He began to stir and prepare the hearts of the people that would embark on the journey alongside of them.

December 21st, 2007 will be remembered as the night the dream came back to life. After many restless nights of sleep it was obvious that something was shifting and it was coming very soon. Ben and Katie stayed up talking, dreaming, crying and praying until 6am the following morning. A close friend called at 7am and told them that she had been up that night praying for them and God had given her the scripture Isaiah 42:10, "Behold the former things have come to pass and new things I now declare to you." Two hours later another friend called and gave them the exact same word.

So it was on February 8th, 2009 that Urban Church hosted a grand opening at On Broadway in San Diego, CA with 148 people in attendance. Since then, at Urban, people continue to be transformed by the gospel, grace, love and mercy of Jesus Christ on a weekly basis. The community continues to grow as people feel the desire to transform San Diego with their gifts and dreams becoming a part of what God is doing at Urban Church.

To read more about our history and see some great pictures since our first service click here.