Missions in Mind: Epiphany Church

Epiphany Church, Brooklyn NY

With 2.6 million people living in Brooklyn, this one New York borough could be the fourth-most populous city in America, and that makes it a mission field in its own right. In Brandon Watts’ words, “The massive nature of Brooklyn calls for more churches.”

That’s what brought Brandon and his family out of the Pennsylvania suburbs and into the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood to plant Epiphany Church. “Really, for me, church planting started as a burden for the inner city,” Brandon says. God was calling him to share the love of Jesus with one of the most diverse communities in America. “Once we got to Brooklyn and started to walk the streets and pray, the Lord drew us right to Bed-Stuy.”

Brooklyn has sometimes been called the borough of churches, though many of the local congregations have stopped reaching out. The majority of Brooklyn natives have come to think that the Church is irrelevant to their daily needs. When Epiphany launched in 2016, Brandon knew that had to change.

“We wanted to be part of the community, so we knew we had to do something really early,” he says. “Nobody knew us, so we started simple by giving bottled water out to people. It was a good opportunity to talk with our neighbors and tell them a bit about us. We went on prayer walks, going through the neighborhood and praying for people as we got to know them.”

Brandon’s wife Ty has been an integral part in serving the community from the beginning. “Now we’re the church that’s known to serve,” she says. “We don’t want to be known as the church that’s asking for money—we want to help people out! So if it’s hot coffee, a water bottle, or taking time to pray, we want to be there.” Recently, Epiphany made a connection with a nearby boys’ school and raised enough money to buy 50 backpacks for kids needing supplies.

Brandon also reaches out by welcoming neighbors in for weekly Bible studies, offering practical, Christ-centered lessons for everyday life. “Every single week, a new face has popped up,” he says.

Thanks to this growing church, Brooklynites are encountering the reality of God’s grace for the first time.

It’s clear to us now that the Lord is the one who builds His Church. At the end of the day, the people who come to Epiphany are the people He calls here.”