you’ re good. We were able to do that, both Bethel Music and Jesus Culture.
As Jesus Culture was really taking off at Bethel, it was just an amazing environment, to allow people to be who they are and to run after the things that God has put in their heart. I guess the difference would just be … wow, that’ s a great question, I don’ t even know. I would say that Bethel Music was birthed out of songwriting, where we were birthed out of worship leading. We’ re out there just leading other people’ s songs, but with this passion for the encounter and the presence. Brian has cultivated a songwriting environment that’ s just really stunning.
[ WM ] Jesus Culture is now a church as well. It started as a conference, it became a band, then it became an experience around the world, and now it’ s a local church. Tell us about that?
[ Banning ] Our heart has always been the local church, whether its campus ministry, leadership development, worship- everything we did was to strengthen the local church so that they could be successful at what God called them to do in their city. We’ re a diehard local church, we’ re community people, we do life with others in community. In 2012, we had just got off a couple year stint of doing these events, and I got a phone call from a guy asking if I’ d be interested in pastoring his church, and it was a pretty significant church. I said no, but I couldn’ t shake it. It’ s a long story, but it just started a process where we heard the Lord saying to us that it’ s time to go plant. So I started talking to our team, and said that I feel like we’ re called to go plant and we’ re called to start a church, and almost all of them said,“ We’ re in! Where are we going?” so we did. We picked up and we moved in 2013, and in 2014 we started Jesus Culture church in the Sacramento area with a deep passion to equip people and encounter God. Our mission has never really changed. People ask what’ s our mission, has it changed now that we’ re a church, and I’ m like, nope. I want to see revival. I want to see people equipped. I want to see people fall in love with Jesus. I want to see the harvest. It was always the same. Chris and Kim are with us, the Torwalts are with us, and Derek Johnson is with us. All of these people are with us here helping to build the local church.
When we first started, people who only knew the worship were so confused why we would call the church Jesus Culture, because they just knew Jesus Culture as a band. The name of the church is Jesus Culture Sacramento, so in their mind it was like calling it‘ Newsboys Sacramento’. Like,“ Why would you call your church the name of the band!”( laughs) And I’ m like, it was a movement way before it was a band! So we’ re here doing church. And I would say, and I think this comes from Bill as well, our heart has always been to export this. I don’ t want to be just an itinerant speaker. We want to export what God is doing, and we feel called to that. I’ m not saying it’ s bad any other way, we just feel called to export. It was just me, some youth leader, and some young people and we were like,“ Let’ s do a conference.” Let’ s take what’ s happening on Wednesday nights, and let’ s serve people. So everything
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