Here at Bay Area, we believe that equipping and training future leaders to lead and serve like Jesus is an important part of what we're here to do as the church, and our two-year Residency program is one place that’s evident. This program prepares and equips leaders for full-time vocational ministry by helping them grow in the areas of godly character, biblical knowledge, and practical ministry skills.
During these two years, Residents experience ministry in the local church context first-hand through serving and leadership opportunities in the church and the community, all the while honing skills in pastoral care, and spending time learning and memorizing various books of the Bible. Residents are also encouraged to attend a Seminary or some form of Biblical Studies program while in the residency to help further train and equip them.
Aaron Rosa is the newest Bay Area Pastoral Resident…with a twist. He’s called not to be a Global Missions Partner, but a Local Missions Partner. Many people from Bay Area have gone on a Short Term Missions Trip and been exposed to the work of Global Missions Partners like Chris and Kim Todd in Lebanon, or Kori and Alycia Williams, in Belize. The work they do in evangelizing, discipleship and raising up faith communities amongst the least in their communities is what Aaron has been doing for several years, but here in Annapolis.
You can rarely find Aaron at Bay Area throughout the week, as Aaron says, “What I love about my calling is that I never know if I’ll be praying with a homeless person under a bridge, counseling a woman with cancer in a waterfront mansion, or baptizing someone in their own bathtub in a public housing community.”
A gifted evangelist, he does this by intentionally positioning himself in environments and situations that would facilitate encounters with people who normally wouldn’t be caught dead in a church, then shares the gospel and follows the Spirit’s lead on shepherding and discipling that fruit.
Aaron’s ministry has deep ties to Bay Area – Joey Thomassoni, the 20 year lead pastor of Downtown Hope, recently founded a local missions non-profit, Estuary, to equip lay members to do Gospel ministry outside the walls of the local church. Practically, Aaron is a local missionary falling under the guidance and administrative umbrella of Estuary, but sent and accountable to Bay Area Community Church.
Estuary and Bay Area have partnered to shape Aaron as a missionary pastor through a joint residency program. It is through this partnership that Aaron has faithfully stewarded an outreach team in public housing neighborhoods around Annapolis. Not only have people come to faith through this ministry, but they are being discipled and equipped to multiply and evangelize others within their own communities!
No stranger to an unpredictable lifestyle, Aaron is a 2011 graduate from the US Naval Academy, holds a Masters in Journalism from the University of Maryland and is halfway finished with a Masters in Divinity at Westminster Theological Seminary. It is this background that gives him peace in some of the most broken parts of Annapolis.
Married to Jessica Rosa, a Bay Area Deacon, for Aaron this is truly a family call to ministry. Following ordination by Bay Area in the Spring of 2025, Aaron will be sent as one of the first full time Local Missions Partners with a commission to directly reach the 453,000 residents of Anne Arundel County who would not claim Jesus as Lord.
“My deepest desire is to, in some way, bring that 453,000 number down, to show Jesus to the people Jesus would be most attracted to and to labor alongside my Master so I might share in His joy.”
God is doing mighty works in the life of our church, and He is using the Residency to further the gospel in you, our neighbors, and the nations, and from the residents we want to say THANK YOU! Your support is what directly enables us to learn, study and be another set of hands and feet of Jesus. Whether we're out in the community sharing the gospel, going overseas to train pastors in India, or right here at Bay Area, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your generosity as God leads!
If you'd like to learn more about the Residency program, you can contact Brian Hopper at: Brian.Hopper@bayareacc.org If you'd like to find out more or financially support Aaron, you can email him at: aaronlouisrosa@gmail.com
Aaron Rosa is the newest Bay Area Pastoral Resident…with a twist. He’s called not to be a Global Missions Partner, but a Local Missions Partner. Many people from Bay Area have gone on a Short Term Missions Trip and been exposed to the work of Global Missions Partners like Chris and Kim Todd in Lebanon, or Kori and Alycia Williams, in Belize. The work they do in evangelizing, discipleship and raising up faith communities amongst the least in their communities is what Aaron has been doing for several years, but here in Annapolis.
You can rarely find Aaron at Bay Area throughout the week, as Aaron says, “What I love about my calling is that I never know if I’ll be praying with a homeless person under a bridge, counseling a woman with cancer in a waterfront mansion, or baptizing someone in their own bathtub in a public housing community.”
A gifted evangelist, he does this by intentionally positioning himself in environments and situations that would facilitate encounters with people who normally wouldn’t be caught dead in a church, then shares the gospel and follows the Spirit’s lead on shepherding and discipling that fruit.
Aaron’s ministry has deep ties to Bay Area – Joey Thomassoni, the 20 year lead pastor of Downtown Hope, recently founded a local missions non-profit, Estuary, to equip lay members to do Gospel ministry outside the walls of the local church. Practically, Aaron is a local missionary falling under the guidance and administrative umbrella of Estuary, but sent and accountable to Bay Area Community Church.
Estuary and Bay Area have partnered to shape Aaron as a missionary pastor through a joint residency program. It is through this partnership that Aaron has faithfully stewarded an outreach team in public housing neighborhoods around Annapolis. Not only have people come to faith through this ministry, but they are being discipled and equipped to multiply and evangelize others within their own communities!
No stranger to an unpredictable lifestyle, Aaron is a 2011 graduate from the US Naval Academy, holds a Masters in Journalism from the University of Maryland and is halfway finished with a Masters in Divinity at Westminster Theological Seminary. It is this background that gives him peace in some of the most broken parts of Annapolis.
Married to Jessica Rosa, a Bay Area Deacon, for Aaron this is truly a family call to ministry. Following ordination by Bay Area in the Spring of 2025, Aaron will be sent as one of the first full time Local Missions Partners with a commission to directly reach the 453,000 residents of Anne Arundel County who would not claim Jesus as Lord.
“My deepest desire is to, in some way, bring that 453,000 number down, to show Jesus to the people Jesus would be most attracted to and to labor alongside my Master so I might share in His joy.”
God is doing mighty works in the life of our church, and He is using the Residency to further the gospel in you, our neighbors, and the nations, and from the residents we want to say THANK YOU! Your support is what directly enables us to learn, study and be another set of hands and feet of Jesus. Whether we're out in the community sharing the gospel, going overseas to train pastors in India, or right here at Bay Area, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your generosity as God leads!
If you'd like to learn more about the Residency program, you can contact Brian Hopper at: Brian.Hopper@bayareacc.org If you'd like to find out more or financially support Aaron, you can email him at: aaronlouisrosa@gmail.com