- Dream Center
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Dream Center Location 2301 Bellevue Avenue
Los Angeles, CaliforniaCountry United States Denomination Assemblies of God
(Protestant Pentecostalism)Website DreamCenter.org History Former name(s) L.A. International Church Founded 1993 Founder(s) Matthew Barnett
Tommy BarnettAdministration Presbytery Presbyterian polity District Southern California Clergy Minister(s) Matthew Barnett Senior pastor(s) Matthew Barnett The Dream Center is a Pentecostal Christian Church mission located at 2301 Bellevue Avenue in Los Angeles, California, two blocks west of Alvarado Street on the north side of the 101 Freeway. It is two miles from Downtown Los Angeles and a little over two miles from Hollywood.
Located in the heart of the inner city, in the former Queen of Angels Hospital at Bellevue and Waterloo Street, the facility consists of almost 400,000 ft² (37,000 m²) in buildings on 8.8 acres (36,000 m²) of prime commercial real estate.
The church ministers to gang members, drug addicts, unwed mothers and children without parents, motorcycle groups, taggers, AIDS victims, and various subculture, ethnic and nationality groups. It feeds the homeless and others in need and runs a halfway house for released prisoners. Close to 500 people are housed at the center and receive rehabilitation. Many other services are offered each week to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the community. The center has been said to epitomize a quote by Tommy Barnett, pastor of the Phoenix First Assembly of God Church, "Find a need and fill it, find a hurt and heal it."
The Dream Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Pastor Matthew Barnett manages the Dream Center and pastors the Angelus Temple, which is a Fourquare Pentecostal church.
History
The church was founded in 1993 as the "L.A. International Church" by Matthew Barnett, with the help of his father, Tommy Barnett, as a home missions project of the Southern California District of the Assemblies of God.
When the church began in September 1994, there were 39 members. The congregation grew from an average attendance of 48 on Sunday morning to reaching more than 35,000 people each week in the Center's 40 services and 273 ministries and outreaches.
In the first four years of the Dream Center's establishment, prostitution and gang violence dropped 73%, the homicide rate dropped 28% and rape dropped 53%. This may have also been due, in part, to rampant gentrification in the area during the time period, but the Mayor of Los Angeles and the City Council publicly acknowledged the dramatic impact of the Dream Center and praised its efforts. In 2000, President Bush, then Governor of Texas, visited the Dream Center and deemed it "a model for faith-based organizations."
In 2001, Pastor Matthew Barnett and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel united the Dream Center with the famous Angelus Temple. Through a process of two Christian denominations working together, the unification was possible, and as of November 1, 2001, Pastor Barnett became the senior pastor over Angelus Temple as well as the Dream Center.
Associated Dream Centers have been established in other cities. As of April 2002, over 130 Dream Centers have been launched around the world.
External links
- Dream Center at its Official Website
- Dream Center at Google Maps
- Dream Center at Yelp Map
Coordinates: 34°4′27.9″N 118°16′8.832″W / 34.074417°N 118.26912°W
Categories:- Churches in Los Angeles, California
- Pentecostal churches in California
- Christian missions
- Religious organizations established in 1993
- Religious organizations based in the United States
- Assemblies of God churches
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