- Church planting & multiplication
This is the third story in a three-part series. Part 1 // Part 2
The moms and dads seeking help with parenting inside an Arizona pregnancy center never imagined their teacher, Mandy Cloud, worshiping in the coffee shop next door.
Cloud is the pregnancy center's director, and her husband, Ben, pastors Amadeo Church in Queen Creek, Arizona, which meets in the coffee shop on Sundays. After 12 weeks of parenting classes, Mandy and Ben Cloud shared how beneficial a spiritual community can be for families.
Instead of the expected judgment about having children outside of marriage, the moms and dads experienced love and acceptance. Another unanticipated reality for the moms and dads was learning every volunteer and helpful person at the pregnancy center also attended Amadeo.
The parents found more than coffee or competency: these people would be their friends — friends who were for them and the community. Over the years, the families have become part of Amadeo, and the children have been baptized.
"I'm willing to create a community center that a church meets in," Ben Cloud said.
Related: A Wyoming church prioritizes and pursues what's best for its community.
He has also started a church in such places by opening a used bookstore, coffee shop and organic farm to reach and engage the community. These venues become platforms for building relationships, helping neighbors and sharing the gospel.
That's why the Clouds started Third Place Cup coffeehouse in a shopping center in the Phoenix suburb. The coffee shop with a northern Irish style began in 2006 with six days of coffee and pastries and worship on Sundays.
I'm willing to create a community center that a church meets in.
Amadeo Church pastor Ben Cloud
Ben Cloud has taken the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course and completed mission trips to Germany, Mexico and Ireland. But a desire to live missionally so others know the love of God also drives him to make disciples much closer to home.
That's why he and his wife build relationships, offer space for transformation and become friends through helping people, no matter who they are or what each person faces.
"This was like missions to northern Arizona," Cloud said of the approach to start Amadeo churches. "We need to have a missional connection point, a third place."
Related: People who won't go to church will visit trailer shops, downtown hubs and Zooms.
Converge's 10 districts have committed to deploying 312 church planters before 2026. Read more inspiring church planting stories and learn about the goal to send out 312 church planters in five years.
