|
Mad City Church History
Mad City Church was started in October of 1996 by a handful
of people and has grown to an average attendance of over 1,000
and growing. The church was birthed through a burden
that God put on my heart to reach people that the traditional
church was not reaching. I (Shane) grew up on the east
side of Madison. It was your typical, lower to middle
income, blue collar, east side family. Drug
addiction and alcohol abuse were all around me growing
up. My parents divorced when I was around 12, and I dove
headlong into a life of drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, and
radical rebellion to all authority.
Through many divine interventions, I gave my life to Christ
when I was just about 21 years old. Coming to know
Christ, and the reality of His wild love for me in my
brokenness changed everything about who I was. The only
thing that really mattered to me at that point was telling
others about Him. So, off I went to Bible School with my
new wife. After 2 years of Bible school I found myself
as the assistant pastor of a church in a small town in
Minnesota! It was during my time there that God began to
speak very clearly to my wife and I about coming back to
Madison to start Mad City Church.
I wasn't exactly willing!! In fact, I gave the Lord
my list of a thousand and one reasons that I was the wrong guy
for the job - He just wouldn't listen. To make a long
story short: He spoke so clearly and in so many ways
that I was afraid NOT to do it. So, we moved back to
Madison with a two year old son and a 3 week old daughter, no
job, no place to live, and started Mad City Church in the
auditorium of the grade school I attended as a child! We
honestly didn't know what to do - so we just started having
services, and Jesus was very clearly present in spite of
us! A few people would show up and get touched by God,
bring a friend the next week, and little by little, with no
advertising, promotionals, or mailings we began to experience
very dramatic growth for a church in Madison.
We have
seen literally hundreds of people give their lives to Christ
from every walk of life imaginable: drug addicts,
alcoholics, people living in radical promiscuity, business
owners and CEO's, house wives, and children! God has
allowed us to see many marriages restored, and families put
back together. We have seen hearts and bodies healed, as well
as many delivered from major destructive life behaviors.
It's been wonderful to watch what happens when Jesus Christ
is present in the midst of broken people!
|
home
