Church Without Walls: Ministry Where It Matters Most
By James Louis Roden Jr.

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…” — Matthew 25:35

This book is for the believers who refuse to sit in silence while the world suffers outside their doors.

In Church Without Walls: Ministry Where It Matters Most, ordained minister, educator, and advocate James Louis Roden Jr. shares his powerful journey from the classroom to the streets of Houston, where he founded the Holistic Church of Christ and began reaching the forgotten with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What started with a burden became a movement—under bridges, in shelters, through after-school sports, and among the lost and broken.

From his early outreach to homeless children at The Bridge shelter in Pasadena, Texas, to working with disabled veterans, helping the terminally ill find hospice care, and launching faith-based youth sports programs, Roden offers a raw, Spirit-led account of what real ministry looks like when it's lived beyond the pews.

This book is a guide for:

• Street ministers, evangelists, and pastors looking to serve outside church walls

• Teachers, coaches, and volunteers who see needs beyond the classroom

• Christians stirred by compassion but unsure where to begin

• Nonprofit and ministry leaders seeking practical strategies for outreach

You’ll learn how to:

• Launch a street ministry—legally, spiritually, and safely

• Partner with shelters, food banks, hospitals, and city agencies

• Navigate the VA and Social Security systems as an advocate for the homeless and disabled

• Build trust with individuals facing trauma, addiction, and mental illness

• Offer dignity through discipleship, after-school sports, and youth mentorship

• Prevent burnout while keeping your team safe and spiritually strong

Backed by Scripture and lived experience, Church Without Walls includes chapters on ministering in tent cities, praying with the hurting, helping others apply for SSI, defending the fatherless, and reaching people facing death without a roof over their heads. Roden also outlines how to start a local outreach chapter, apply for nonprofit status, and raise up the next generation of servant leaders.

Key Scriptures explored in depth:

• Matthew 25:40 — “Whatever you did for one of the least of these...”

• Luke 14:23 — “Go out to the highways and hedges...”

• Isaiah 58 — “Is this not the fast I choose…”

• Proverbs 31:8 — “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…”

• 2 Timothy 2:2 — “Entrust to faithful men who will teach others…”

Every page is a challenge to the comfortable and a call to the courageous. This isn’t a book for those who want to admire Jesus from a distance—it’s for those ready to walk where He walked, weep where He wept, and serve where He still is: among the least of these.

You don’t need a pulpit. You don’t need a building. You just need a yes.