Our Name

Soma is the greek word used throughout the New Testament for body, particularly used to describe the church. Soma is used to describe two fundamental aspects of the church we hope to display: the Church as the incarnation of Jesus and the church as interconnected and interdependent. We chose this name because it captures who we are: not just a group of people that meet once a week, but a present and unified family displaying the good news of Jesus in the places God has sent us throughout the city.

Our Hope & Prayer

that we will see Los Angeles saturated with communities living as the body of Christ.

Our Vision

We are a church proclaiming Jesus in the westside of Los Angeles through word and deed. We exist to see Los Angeles saturated with the gospel so that every man, woman, and child has a daily encounter with Jesus. Our hope and prayer is to see Soma continually experience revival in our hearts and participate in the renewal of Los Angeles.

“We believe Jesus is calling us to be a church planting hub in Los Angeles”

Over the next 10 years, we see our church multiplying into a family of churches in Los Angeles by planting multiple churches throughout the city as we equip, resource, and send missional communities and church planting teams.

We believe the fruit of that work will result in a transformed city culturally, socially, and spiritually.
We see the people of Los Angeles reconciled to God through Jesus.
We see our neighborhoods and city without need.
We see Missional Communities forming in every neighborhood.
We see new churches started throughout the city.

The Story

Creation
(Gen. 1:1)

In the beginning God **created** the heavens and the earth.

Death
(Gen. 3:6)

The woman saw that the **tree** was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Promise
(Gen. 3:15)

And I will put enmity
Between [ the serpent ] and the woman,
And between [ its ] seed and her **Seed**;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.

Incarnation
(Is. 11:1)

Then a **shoot** will grow from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him.

Cross
(1 Peter 2:24)

He himself bore our sins in his body on the **tree**; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Resurrection
(1 Cor. 15:20)

But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the **first fruits** of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

New Creation
(Rev 22:1-2)

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the city’s main street. The **tree of life** was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse…

THE GOSPEL DEMONSTRATES THAT WE ARE ALL DEEPLY LOVED BY GOD AND THAT TRUTH CHANGES EVERYTHING

Our Beliefs

The Gospel

“Gospel” simply means “good news” and is the pronouncement concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is all about Jesus: that He is God and became a man, lived the most abundant life with God and others without sin. Jesus died the death we should have died, as our substitute. Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin and its effects.

Gospel Power

The Gospel is the power of God to save (Romans 1:9). Through Jesus’ death and resurrection we have been saved from the penalty of sin (justification), we are being saved from the power of sin (sanctification) and we will be saved from the presence of sin. This means the same power that saved us from the penalty for sin also helps us obey God now. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 1:27-29; 2:6-7)

Gospel Purpose

The good news is also that God sent his Son to redeem the world from the affects of sin and create a new humanity. Eventually the whole world will be renewed to the way God originally created it. Rebellion, death, decay, injustice, and suffering will all be removed. When everything is restored, God will be seen by all for who he truly is—he will be glorified. (Ephesians 2:10,14-22; 2 Corinthians 5:15-21; Revelation 21).

Theological Statements

In additional to the centrality of the gospel, we align ourselves to the Lausanne Covenant, a historic and holistic theological statement. As members of Acts 29, we are in full unity with its theological distinctives and values. Additionally, we hold the theological distinctives of the Soma Family of Churches in North America. Many of these theological statements overlap, but provide increased context for our doctrinal beliefs.

Our Identity

Living Out of our Being

We aren’t defined by what we do. We are defined by what God has done in the person and work of Jesus Christ. What we do is based upon and motivated by who God is, what God has done, and who God has made us to be.

The New Testament doesn’t define the church by activities, buildings, or programs. Instead the church is defined by God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the gospel, we receive a new identity.

People are exhausted from working hard to create an identity for themselves. The gospel story offers the liberating reality that through Jesus our identity can be given, not earned.

We are Family

God, the perfect Father, has adopted us as His children. Rather than a random collection of individuals, we live in committed relationships as brothers and sisters. We arrange our lives to maximize the opportunity to be a part of each others’ lives. We gather regularly to eat, celebrate, and share life.

We are Servants

Jesus not only rules supremely over all the earth, but he intentionally disadvantaged himself for the sake of others. Because Jesus was willing to serve us to the point of death, we are committed to serving each other and our cities. We humbly and sacrificially serve by blessing people in word, deed and gifts.

We are Missionaries

Jesus sent His Spirit to enable His Church to be a conduit of blessing to the world. We actively engage and bless our communities with the good news that our world belongs to God.

Our Leaders

Equipping Every Disciple for the Work of Ministry

This is our team of servant-leaders who are leveraging their lives to serve, train, and equip the people of Soma to grow in our love for Jesus, one-another, and our city.

Our Missional Community Leaders

The primary organizational structure or backbone of our church is our missional communities. Therefore, the leaders of these communities are truly the front-line shepherds, catalysts, servants, and leaders within our church.

Our Deacons

Our deacons and staff support the day to day work of the church, building systems, supporting disciples, and helping the church to be the Church to one another and to our city.

Casey Samulski

deacon of DNA groups

Casey is married to Sarah and they have two kids, Thaddeus and Sophia. Casey has lived in Los Angeles since 2008 and was a part of founding Soma LA. He loves seeing disciples learn to submit every part of their lives to Jesus as they grow in trusting Him. When Casey isn’t helping us with DNA groups, he works in marketing in the start-up world, and is a novelist.

Sarah Wechsler

director of children’s discipleship

Email | Instagram

Sarah is married to Casey and they have two kids, Thaddeus and Sophia. Sarah has lived in Los Angeles since 2006 and was a part of founding Soma LA. She has a deep love for the city, and continues to show the people of LA the love of God through tangible love and proclaiming the good news of the gospel. Before taking this role, she worked in education for over 14 years as a teacher and administrator, and is passionate about equal access to education.

Our Elders

Our elders come alongside missional community leaders and serve them through equipping, encouragement, and pastoral care. Each elder is appointed to oversee the big picture health, doctrinal unity, and spiritual growth of our church. Our elders lead as a team in a variety of ways but primarily through a commitment to prayer, teaching doctrine, modeling through missional communities, and pastoral care.

Brad Watson

elder

Email | Twitter | Instagram

Brad is married to Mirela and they have three kids, Norah, Maitê, and Truman. Brad's the author of multiple books including Raised? Finding Jesus Through Doubting the Resurrection. Before moving to Los Angeles to serve at Soma, he and his family helped plant and lead a church of missional communities in Portland, Oregon for eight years. He holds a degree in theology from Western Seminary.

Chris Scruton

elder

Email

Chris is married to Katie and they have two boys, Ryan and Owen. They have been part of Soma since 2015 where he’s led Missional Communities and in the finance team. Chris works as an engineer in El Segundo and is passionate about caring for people’s hearts, leading people to behold Jesus, and watching people become disciples of Jesus in the everyday stuff of life.

Jeff Lowndes

elder

Email

Jeff is married to Ali and they have one daughter, Lynnia. His family has been part of Soma Culver City for 10 years and they have loved serving in every area of the church. Jeff works in the learning and development world, extending his passion to see people grow in their gifts and skills through being loved and discipled in their work.

WE'RE NOT TRYING TO DO THIS ON OUR OWN

Our Partners