Name: Brad Fieldhouse
[click here to email Brad]
Phone: 562-208-0500
Job Title: Executive Director
Hometown: Long Beach, CA
How did you connect with Kingdom Causes?
What is your role (title & descriptions)? Friend of Jesus, husband, dad, instigator, champion, dreamer, visioneer and overall “how hard can it be” kind of leader.
Where did you study?
Cal State Long Beach (Go BEACH!), Fuller Seminary & Bakke Graduate School.
What's the best thing about the city you live in?
The diversity
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
Go out to eat, play old man soccer or basketball (over 35 leagues!), build something with my hands & travel (near or far).
What was your first job?
My brother and I worked at a propane company and in the heat of the summer days we would use a power sander and paint gun to prepare yellow crash poles to be sent out to protect propane tanks at gas stations all around Los Angeles. $3.33 per hour.
What is your favorite meal?
I am game for anything*. Bring it on. Currently anything Thai or Indian is my favorite. *(except balut — a fertilized duck or chicken egg — sorry Polin)
What is your favorite movie or book?
Book - Starfish and the Spider.
Movie — Braveheart
TV Show — 24, Criminal Minds, So You Think You Can Dance
What makes you laugh?
My 4 kids. Often. They absolutely crack me up with how they are actually growing into their own little peoples. They are an absolute joy to parent! (Honorable mentions: people falling down or people getting pooped on by birds)
If you were stuck on a desert island what one thing would you want with you?
My wife. She is one of the few people who would make it NOT feel like I was stuck. (If she said no, my blackberry would be my second choice — with a strong signal of course)
More info about Brad and his family:
Brad Fieldhouse was born and raised in Southern California. Growing up in a Christian home provided him with a solid foundation for life and many of his days growing up were spent at church activities. His relationship with the Lord established deep roots early on.
After graduating from Valley Christian High School in 1990, He enrolled at California State University, Long Beach, to pursue a pre-medical degree with the hopes of one day serving in the medical field. It was during his junior year of schooling, while on a medical missions trip in Kenya, that the Lord changed his course and gave him a new focus. This was a challenging time because up to this point things had been pretty straightforward and the next steps had always seemed to be clearly defined.
Upon returning to the states he completed his B.S. in Biology the following year and enrolled himself at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA. He knew that God had enlarged his heart for people, exposed him to global mission field and that He had called him into a life of full-time service but he did not know what form that would exactly take until many years later.
It was in the early years of his theological training that he married the love of his life, Cari. Their families attended the same local church and often did things like vacation together. Having grown up together their friendship had steadily increased over the years. They made it official on July 13th, 1996.
Brad’s conviction to serve the Lord in a full time capacity and his missionary heart led him to move his family to Moreno Valley, CA to be a part of an established congregation that was going to plant a new work in the nearby Riverside area. ‘Church planting’ became an area of interest for him because of its missional focus and entrepreneurial bent. He served on the leadership team of this church from its early conception phases until its one year birthday in various roles. Brad had always felt that this time in Riverside was to be a rich time of equipping and training while he was being exposed to the real world of ‘church planting’ and while he was finishing his schooling. All the while, however, his heart to passionately serve back in Long Beach had never faded away.
In late 1999, Brad was commissioned as a Pastor in the Reformed Church of America. He moved his family to Long Beach sensing the Lord calling him to initiate a ‘church planting movement’ there through the simple and reproducible model of house/organic church planting. Their local network of house churches is called Crossroads. He is still currently involved as a key leader in a larger effort (Church Multiplication Associates) that has seen numerous churches being planted in Southern California, in many other states across the nation and in various other countries around the world.
As a member of the RCA leadership team, Brad has also served as the Far West representative on the national Urban Ministry Team where he is an advocate for the denomination’s efforts to serve the urban centers of America. He is also putting the finishing touches on a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in “Transformational Leadership for the Global City” through Bakke Graduate School in Seattle.
Locally, Brad serves as part of the Long Beach police department’s chaplain team. He also enjoys coaching his kids soccer teams and serving on the regional board of AYSO.
His family has also now grown to include two daughters Brynn (10) and Lauren (8) and two sons Grant (5) and Nickolas (3).
“I pray that Christ Jesus and the Church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine.” Eph 3:20-21 (CEV)