Our team

Beginning in 2018, Joshua and Ericka Symonette sensed that God was preparing them for a new chapter. Through a season of fasting, prayer, and seeking counsel, they discerned that God was leading them away from the DC area, where they had spent the past 16 years growing their family and serving their city. Ericka graduated from Howard University in DC and worked as a teacher in the DC area for 15 years, while Joshua came to DC chasing his NFL dreams with the Washington Football Team. He later transitioned from the NFL into ministry as youth pastor, then eventually a campus and teaching pastor.

The draw to Baltimore came gradually but intensely, starting with occasional trips to the city simply to get a change of place and pace, and growing over time into divinely inspired dreaming about the potential just below the surface of the vibrant city. What specifically captured Joshua’s heart was the combination of beauty, brokenness, and the diversity with so many clear lines of division. The more time he spent in Baltimore, the more visible the divisions across educational, socioeconomic, and racial lines have become. The desire is to be a conduit of hope, to connect people to Jesus, and to help bridge the divides in the city. The hope is to create a space of intersection where people with differences in age, race, gender, education, and socioeconomic status can grow together to reflect a cross-cultural church in Baltimore!

Joshua and Ericka have been married for 18 years and they live on the north side of Baltimore city with their four children: Jaylah, Joslyn, Isaiah, and Jurney.