ELLENSBURG

Our Story

Resonate Ellensburg started as a “what if”: “What if we could see God use our church in another college town?” 

After seven years of God using our church in Pullman, WA we were asking what was next. We had seen eyes opened to the beauty of Jesus, his church, and the purpose that compels us to go. Our staff was praying for God to direct our vision. From the beginning, Resonate wanted to be a church that made an impact on the ever-growing statistics of college students who did not believe in God. As we looked across the northwest, an area that has historically never experienced a revival of the move of God, a group of students and staff began to feel the call to go. 

Students formed scout trips to visit other college towns, asking about the spiritual experiences of each student and faculty they met. By Winter of 2014, a team began to form, feeling a pull to the small college town of Ellensburg, WA, just three hours west of Pullman. Students began transferring their credits to Central Washington University for the fall. Impending graduates began securing jobs and housing to be able to move with our team to start. Our team was full of excitement. This felt like a great experiment. No matter what happened with our church plant, this felt like a shift in our culture as a church. We were a people that took risks to go to those waiting to hear the good news, not waiting for them to come to us. 

Central Washington University has always been a solid option for students looking for a competitive degree in academics or the arts, a welcoming place that is open to new ideas and community. A team of fifteen students, staff, and young professionals moved there in the summer of 2014. We immediately saw God open doors to meet students and community members who were ready to give their life to know Him and tell others. Since then, we have seen over 100 students baptized and discovered their purpose. Our little church that started as a “what if” has now sent out three church plant teams to other college towns, Monmouth, OR (2017), Bozeman, MT (2019), and Seattle, WA (2021).