The Forgotten Meaning of Advent

It is the advent season. All Christians have received their freshly printed, vibrant devotional books. Moms are asking for Christmas lists. Trees are up, and the booming voice of Nat King Cole fills the air. 

Yet, the anticipation and tension that should fill this season is missing. 

The advent season should be a season of remembering and recognition. 

It is to remember the waiting that Israel endured for the coming of a Savior, and it is the recognition that the church is still waiting for Him to return.

Yet…

The spiritual dissonance of waiting has disappeared. 

Bright lights, traditions, and Christmas carols muffle the tension of longing. 

Though this is a sad reality, it is unsurprising for modern-day America. Our culture is filled with answers at our fingertips, immediate feelings of validation, cancel culture, and the constant availability of apps meant to deflect, numb, and distract you. 

Longing is not a virtue. It is the very thing we avoid the most. 

So, what do we do when God calls us to celebrate a season of longing? How do we reach a place in our lives where we enjoy spiritual dissonance? 

You may have heard of cognitive dissonance, a psychological state of discomfort that occurs when a person's beliefs, values, or attitudes conflict with their actions. Alternatively, spiritual dissonance is a moment when what you know or believe about God doesn’t align with your feelings, thoughts, or reality, causing deep discomfort and wrestling in the soul. 

The Israelites lived this way for thousands of years, first, in Egypt, where they lived clinging to a promise made to their forefathers while they endured ruthless slavery. Then, from Exodus to Malachi, we see God’s promise of deliverance, salvation, and an intimate covenant over and over again, which is rejected by the very people who it was promised. Israel endured a plethora of seasons of oppression by bordering nations. Yet, they lived in a constant cycle of rebellion, consequential oppression, and redemption. God was doing something greater, though all of them couldn’t see it, so they came to believe. 

Despite their sin, they waited and let God build faith in them that salvation was coming. 

In the darkness of a night, in a dingy barn and a dirty manger, salvation did indeed come. 

It came as a baby—a baby that grew to live a perfect life, to become the perfect sacrifice, and to become the very life we experience today. Jesus was and is the promised salvation. It is at this time that we remember that our God does not speak empty promises but fulfills every single one. 

Yet, God has not ended the waiting for His people. 

The Church is waiting, too. It is waiting for the completeness of God’s redemption of His creation, Christ's second coming, face-to-face dwelling with our God, and the time when we will no longer walk by light but God’s glory alone. 

The picture above feels too distant at times for us. In the darkest moments, it can feel too hard to cling to because the world is so incredibly disappointing, and death’s reign on this Earth still feels too close. 

But in the Church, we have to hope in the spiritual dissonance. Our physical reality shows sin, death, and darkness, while our spiritual reality is one of compelling hope, everlasting joy, and eternal life. 

How do we live in spiritual dissonance? I assure you it is not avoidance, ignorance, or neglect of the call to wait. No, Church, there are things we should do with our spiritual dissonance while we wait for the return of our Lord. 

Pray

The longing for redemption should bring us to our knees. We should let the grief of this world lead us to pray like Hannah in 1 Samuel 1. Hannah prays with a deep emotional outpouring that the priest accuses her of being drunk. Our God is a big God and can handle our grief. He can actually do more than handle it, but Jesus’ resurrection shows us that He has overcome the very thing that causes such sorrow. 

Commune 

We cannot do this alone, nor are we created to be alone. We must be a people who cling to each other. We are waiting for a second coming and a wedding day! Jesus is returning to His beloved Bride. She is us, the Church. We are not ready for Him, but His return will be filled with glory when we are. Revelation 19 paints this picture: 

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

    the Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and exult

    and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

    and his Bride has made herself ready;

it was granted her to clothe herself

    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 

Church, let this cause deep groaning in our hearts and let our response be a constant fight for unity in the Church, reconciliation with one another, and a deep love for our local body of believers. 

Obey

In Jesus, we are a new creation. The way we live demands this. We do not cling to the idols, traditions, and dead things of this world. We are to get out of the grave and run to the Kingdom that is promised to be here already and is yet to come. I will confess that something about December makes me feel like all my sins come out. The long dark days, the months of hard labor, and the posture from abiding in Christ to abiding in myself is my undoing. Yet, I know I am not the only one. We have turned into people who just survive this world. But Jesus does not call us to obey through survival. He calls us to life and life abundantly. Life abundantly is a life of abiding in Christ, living and loving like Christ. We seek out the Kingdom where we are, we proclaim the gospel, and we love one another so that they will know we are His disciples (John 13:35).

Worship 

Our God delights in our worship of Him. Worship brings to mind a band and songs and hands raised. But I think true worship is the constant exultation of God in everything we do. It is a reminder that I should praise Him for giving me the words for this blog, the breath to be alive to write, and the knowledge of His word to share. It is the ever-flowing remembrance of His character and the praise that goes with it. Church, this is what we are looking for deep, eternal worship of God, and we should start now. 

Church, learn to live in the spiritual dissonance. The yet and not yet. The here and now and what is to come. The celebration of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and the expectation that He will soon return just as He has promised.

Story of God at Work in Spokane

Home to a metropolitan population of over 500,000, Spokane is the epicenter of an increasingly houseless population, a corporate world overcome with busyness, a multitude of universities, a hub for medical training, and a long history of churches needing new strategies. Similarly to Resonate Boise, many things draw one’s attention away from Jesus in a city like Spokane, and the brokenness is evident. Despite the history of churches and religion in the town, many people live apathetically to the reality of their sin, denying themselves the freedom found in Jesus. Being the second largest city in the state of Washington, there is a field ripe for the harvest, yet the chaos of growing families, city life, and long work weeks often leaves little time for interruption. Ministering to a people who appear to have little desire to make time for the things of the Lord can make the pursuit of them feel impossible, but to our sovereign and mighty God, there is nothing He can’t do.

In 2020, a group of people led by Stephen Ward and his wife moved from Cheney to Spokane, a mere 20-30 minute drive many had done countless times prior, with the desire to be used by God to impact the city and those who resided within the sprawled town in a new way. Not long after moving to Spokane and beginning to phase into planting a church, the pandemic hit, shutting doors and what felt like opportunities as well. It became evident that the collegiate church planting model Resonate had seen much fruit come from at previous church plants didn’t have the same effect in Spokane. There is an elevated sense of flexibility in the schedules of college students that most people the Spokane team engaged with did not have. No longer could the strategy be highly invitational to many events during all times of the day, but it had to shift into the team intentionally moving towards them. By the grace of God, a connection to the Kansas City Underground, a missional micro-church movement, was made. People from this ministry helped coach those who were a part of the team, like Stephen and another staff member, Tori. She describes the micro church model as a “connected group of people seeking the Lord together and challenging each other to grow their faith while pursuing their contexts, which can be things like hobbies, your workplace, or schooling”. Through this model, ministry becomes the everyday moments of your life. The hope is that this model would be easily replicable and that there would be a network of microchurch gatherings reaching every part of the city. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, every interaction is an opportunity for mission.

Joining the Spokane church plant team in 2021, Alyssa Silvernail recalls working 60-hour work weeks alongside people 10-30 years older than her. This new setting differs from her collegiate ministry experience; she often asked God to clarify how to reach these people despite their lack of interest or personal differences. The collegiate model of weekly villages and endless life-on-life doesn’t quite do the trick when trying to minister to the 40-year-old mom of three in your company’s highrise building. Still, the microchurch model appeared to break down those barriers slowly. As a result of their minimal free time, the Spokane team pursued people in their workplaces by asking good questions and intentionally being a consistent face amidst the demands of their jobs. Alyssa details that this model feels more “genuine,” “authentic,” and “relational” as they meet weekly over a shared meal, read scripture together, and discuss the implications of each passage in their lives. There is unique ownership for each team member pursuing Spokane, some of which people like Alyssa and Tori have been slowly evangelizing for the past three years.

Being equipped to minister doesn’t only apply to the church staff member or the lead pastor of a congregation, but to all people who call themselves Christians. The power of being interruptable and attentive to those near bore much fruit in the ministry of Jesus on Earth and Resonate Spokane. Ultimately all people desire to be loved, even the person who openly calls themselves an atheist. Believing in this truth turns your barber, nail tech, and barista from scenery to a mission field. Alyssa experienced that as she faithfully pursued a woman she frequently crossed paths with, bringing her flowers after passing a challenging exam. She told Alyssa that she had never been loved well by her family and, as a result, has a tough time celebrating anything good in her life. Listening closely to this, asking good questions, and showing up consistently have allowed Alyssa to reveal the affection of Christ to someone who hasn’t experienced genuine love prior. Moments like these are big wins in the life of the micro church in Spokane, as they faithfully show up to the spaces God has intricately placed them in, expectant for Him to move amidst obstacles. Planting the seeds of the gospel in the people of Spokane and praying fervently that God would produce new life through their acceptance of Jesus has become the new strategy.

“Being equipped to minister doesn’t only apply to the church staff member or the lead pastor of a congregation, but to all people who call themselves Christians.”

Leveraging her time outside of her work context, Tori joined a running club during the pandemic and has experienced God at work through this hobby. She has met people like Faith and Suzie, who are well-connected people of peace. Although they haven’t declared Jesus as Lord, Tori sees the beauty of Christ in these moments. Upon reflection, Tori says she “literally couldn’t have done any of this without remembering it’s all for and of God and not anything [she] did apart from showing up”. Making yourself available to God’s people is a timelessly effective ministry strategy and sets believers like Tori apart in a city where the culture is rooted in the elevating of oneself. Time and time again, God reveals that He is the divine orchestrator. Our God consistently uses ordinary people in ordinary spaces, blessing faithful obedience to show up wherever He leads. 

In the coming and going of staff members and churchgoers and the tragic passing of a vital community member, Resonate Spokane has been through immense trials, but God has shown up for them time and time again. Deuteronomy 7:9 tells us that our God  “is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments”. He alone brings purpose out of their pain and He has always been moving in their midst. The rethinking of strategies doesn’t indicate failure, not having rapid death-to-life stories occurring doesn’t indicate fruitless ministry, and slowly gaining footing in the city doesn’t make efforts to minister to its inhabitants a waste of time; victory is found in the name of Jesus, and that is the source of Resonate Spokane’s rejoicing. It doesn’t take a high-level production to reach the lost, but merely a group of people equipped with the Holy Spirit, the truth of the gospel, and open hands to the mission of God. Our Heavenly Father can reach those stuck in the climbing of the corporate ladder, the parents who never feel like they have enough time to slow down, the hairdresser who has never heard the gospel, or the grocery store attendant whose family didn’t want her to be born; there is no wall too tall or barrier too vast for the never-ending and entirely redemptive love of Christ. Our God is a faithful promise keeper, for He sees us in our trials and makes a way in our uncertainty, amplifying His strength in our weakness.

Story of God at Work in Boise

A life that emulates Jesus is a life of coming and going, of sending and blessing those you encounter, and of complete obedience to the direction given by the Lord. The life of the disciple of Jesus is not their own, for they are living for their Heavenly Father as ministers of reconciliation, carrying out His divine will while on Earth. To reconcile is to venture into the darkness to pull a brother or a sister out and into the light. To reconcile is to reunite creation with its Creator, to tell the truth, even when it’s unwelcome, to move to places where the name of Jesus is offensive. As new creations in Christ Jesus, we are called to look and live differently, all because of Him, even if it means doing something that’s never been done before. 

Forging a new path through planting churches in areas of desperate need for the gospel is deeply embedded in the DNA of Resonate Church. Enduring in seasons that feel hardly effective, being faithful with little, and becoming deeply dependent on Christ have been our song. We can do the hard things because we aren’t doing them alone. At this point in Resonate Church’s story, the scary thing, the thing that hadn’t been done before was planting a collegiate church in a big city. Remembering stories of people coming from death to life in the meek places of Cheney, Pullman, Moscow, Ellensburg, Eugene, and Monmouth, the movement of God had been evident. But what if we were to take a risk, as a church, as believers, doing something outside of the norm to reach people who had not yet heard the antidote for their life ridden with sin and destruction? With a metropolitan population of just over 750,000, Boise ID is a place of rapid growth, quite different from the places Resonate Church had planted previously. Not letting these differences stop them from being sent, newly married Luis and Sammi Cuevas made the 300-mile move to Boise alongside their team comprised of families, students, young professionals, a guy from San Diego met through Elevate and Resonate staff members, all deeply desiring to see God move in the hearts of the people on the campus and in the city. If you’re going to do something hard, it’s far better to do it alongside people fighting the same battle.

Although several churches in Boise have established roots over the years and multiple college-focused ministries had been aiming to reach the 20,000 students at Boise State University, there was still a need. 5% of the student body had been reached and would call themself a Christian. Large cities are often known for their chaos and thus a people caught up in their own day-to-day, making them not easily interruptable nor interested in slowing down to take in the reality of their desperate need for Jesus and the message of the gospel. From pride parades downtown to the darkness of fraternity and sorority life, the idolization of performance, and accolades through athletics and academics, the people of Boise were being tugged in so many destructive directions at once. The need was evident and the team was ready by the grace of God.

Settling into Boise at the beginning of the summer of 2018, the Cuevas’ and their team weren’t alone, as an additional group of 13 people was sent down with them for a summer project called “Elevate 21” which aimed to get things moving in the early stages of planting a church in a new city. They helped the Boise team settle in, meet students, and strategize how to best reach them in the school year to come. Infiltrating the busyness of the people of Boise’s lives appeared to be the most fruitful strategy. One of the team members, Nicolle Vo, was working part-time at Panda Express on campus and sat down with a guy named Marc at lunch, leveraging her break time to reach students. Asking intentional questions and listening intently, Nicolle discovered that Marc had been to a Resonate service with his girlfriend, now wife,  Gabby in Pullman where she went to school. From there Marc got connected with Jonah, a Resonate Boise staff member, who taught him about missional living. Marc is now a pastor in training on campus reaching the next generation. God asks for our obedience and in making ourselves available to the unforeseen work He is doing in the big cities and the small farm towns, He receives the utmost glory, lives are forever changed, and ultimately, that is worth sacrificing worldly comforts and luxuries.

Making themselves available to students was a game changer amidst the hustle and bustle of those on campus and within the city of Boise. There were several religious clubs on campus and a multitude of churches in the city limits of Boise, yet so many were choosing a false gospel or living in dead religion. That same year Marc was met, a girl named Emily approached Jonah at the table they had put up at the campus involvement fair. As she approached him she said “I’m interested in learning more about following Jesus”, despite working at the Catholic church table next to Resonates. The power of making themselves both available and interruptable to engaging with God’s people by the prompting of the Holy Spirit continuously led to fruitful ministry, bringing people from death to life. From that interaction, Emily got connected to a life-changing community centered around Jesus, gave her life to Christ, was baptized at one of the first baptism services, and now serves on the Resonate Collective staff team. There is a difference between Jesus having complete lordship in your life and simply going through the motions of being a “good person” who goes to church on the weekends. When you come face to face with God, your future can’t help but bow before His sovereignty, leaving the trajectory of your life to follow an encounter with Christ forever changed.

Beginning by gathering in a team member's home for Sunday Gathering to moving to a local church the team was eager to start meeting near campus because Boise was a bigger city than they were all used to. Before this location shift it was hard to get students to come with them 20 minutes away to house church, but knowing their needs, God made a way. After making the gospel accessible to students by infiltrating their dorms and campus spaces, the team started to see God bring people to Him and then send them back to reach their peers. The forged community and the surplus of job opportunities kept many of these people in Boise after graduation. As Jonah shifted to the lead pastor role, he aimed to build on Luis' desire to see college students reached with the gospel of Jesus. This has led them to equip and send families all over the city of Boise for the good of the kingdom of God. Ministry doesn’t stop once you graduate college and neither does the city and campuses need for freedom through the truth of the gospel. A piece of the original church planting team and still in Boise to this day, Brooke Staszkow says “No one is here because they want to be a part of the trendiest church or the biggest services or because we have no issues. We are all here because we love each other and we are passionate about helping college students & our young professional peers find the love of Christ and the community we have.” City life is not for everyone, but redemption through Jesus is, and the BSU team pressed on because of that truth.

“City life is not for everyone, but redemption through Jesus is, and the BSU team pressed on because of that truth.”

Cities may make or break you but we endure despite our reaction to our location because Jesus endured. Brooke, in her reflection, says, “I think God has been glorified by our endurance. Church planting is no easy task, and I’ve seen people stick it out year after year because they believe that God is still doing a good work on our campus.”. Boise is a desirable place for people to work, build a family, and develop friendships as young professionals. One person, Brayan, was a part of their congregation, and he turned down high-paying jobs at Boeing so that he could stay in Boise and remain connected to this family of believers post-grad. Despite facing difficulty through restrategizing post-pandemic, an exodus of team members, the death of a faithful leader in the church, and hard conversations, God has remained faithful, honoring their endurance and giving them a steadfast spirit. 

Intentional patterns of consistent obedience amongst the team members of Resonate Boise have led them to overcome hardship time and time again. When team members leave, God has remained. When students reject extended invitations to build friendships or even reject the gospel in its entirety, God is still faithful. When it was hard to break through city life and make meaningful connections, God provided. The team present in Boise has been loyal to one another and their calling, sticking it out to see God’s promised harvest and movement.

Story of God at Work in Monmouth

Over two thousand years ago, the Messiah came humbly as a baby in a barn within the city limits of a town many had never heard of before, and yet we are still often surprised when God shows up in the meek spaces and unheard-of places throughout the world. On a much smaller scale, the city of Monmouth, Oregon parallels, being a town only a few know or spend extensive time in, until our Heavenly Father sent faithful followers to plow a field He desired to plant seeds in and later reap a plentiful harvest. In the early 1850s, a group of Christian pioneers moved from Monmouth, Illinois, to a 600-acre plot of land on the west coast, which would later be known as Monmouth, Oregon. There, these believers not only founded a city but also a university, originally called Monmouth University and now referred to as Western Oregon University. The legacy of faith in the Willamette Valley plowed the soil of the cities, preparing them for the movement of faith that was to come just shy of 200 years later.

“Moving to Monmouth to plant a church on the campus of Western Oregon University was eventually brought up to Colin, to which he promptly looked up the city on his laptop and immediately slammed it shut, thinking, “There’s no way I’m moving there.””

After planting multiple churches on various college campuses throughout the Mountain West, the need for the gospel was dire and students' receptiveness was evident. Hearing about the push to plant 21 churches by 2021, Colin Luoma received the clarity and direction he needed to dive deeper into the reality of his future, which was slowly becoming clearer. Due to Resonate planting for the first time in Oregon in 2016  there was an apparent need for more connectivity amongst Resonate churches within the same state. Being invested in living missionally, Colin and several other young men throughout Resonate Church’s network were part of a cohort led by Resonate’s original planter, Keith Weiser to process how planting churches and becoming a pastor would shape their futures. Moving to Monmouth to plant a church on the campus of Western Oregon University was eventually brought up to Colin, to which he promptly looked up the city on his laptop and immediately slammed it shut, thinking, “There’s no way I’m moving there.”. Colin’s mind would later change when he stepped foot on campus, meeting students in desperate need for the gospel when visiting on a scouting trip prior to moving. 

Saying that he would go wherever his leaders asked him to, Colin and his fiance Jessi, as well as just under 20 others, made the trek from Ellensburg, WA to Monmouth, OR; their sights set on bringing Heaven to Earth in the quant town just miles outside of the I-5 corridor. This team of people made the move in 2017 and quickly noticed that few of the 6,000 students at Western Oregon hung out in their student union building, let alone on campus at all, forging the unique challenge of finding people to connect with and invite. Meeting on campus throughout the week to seek out students and holding church in a team member's house on Sundays, this team held onto the promise of a plentiful harvest despite the difficulty of connecting with students. In September of 2017, they launched their first gathering, meeting in a church off campus, praying that the little exposure they had to the student body would bring at least a handful of students through the doors. Slowly but surely, 60 people trickled in, and despite the sound system not working for the first five minutes of their gathering, the gospel was still shared, and the name of Jesus was brought glory.

Western Oregon University doesn’t have a large athletic department to allure students, nor does it have sororities or fraternities, making it clear the student body needed something or someone to generate unity and community. This notion encouraged the team in Monmouth, as they believed they could be the group to gather people who typically trended towards isolation. Within the first year of moving to Monmouth, an employee of the university’s student affairs department approached the team, telling them he loved what they were doing on campus and that he believed what they were doing was exciting and needed, and until he retired, he continued to partner with the team through campus events. Being welcomed onto campus by people like this staff member took down a barrier other church plants have had, making it easy to establish predictable patterns on campus and creating familiarity amongst the students they crossed paths with. Resonate Monmouth had over 100 people connected within the first year of being on campus, quickly growing in momentum. The decades of prayer for favor made by the Christian pioneers who arrived in Monmouth over a hundred years prior came to fruition right before the eyes of the team. Not only was God at work in their obedient efforts toward reaching the students, but He had already been at work long before they stepped foot on campus in 2017. 

Six months into planting, the team held their first baptism service, where 12 people declared Jesus as Lord amongst the 200 who had shown up to watch their proclamations. It became evident to Colin that not only was there one God who could save but that the people in this tiny town were actively receptive to the gospel and that God was moving mightily in their midst. God’s intentional providence was clearly at work in this city despite the barriers the team initially felt. Over the years of reaching students, sharing the gospel, and gathering on campus, the goal began to shift from being seen on campus to cultivating an environment within the city that the people they reached would want to stick around for after graduating college. One of many who helped work towards this goal was Ben Wenzl, who moved with Colin to plant in Monmouth in 2017 and just three years ago transitioned to a leader pastor role as Colin and another team were sent out to bring the gospel to Corvallis Oregon. Since Colin, his wife, and their team moved to Oregon State University in 2021, Resonate Monmouth has adopted a new identity, blending collegiate and young professional ministries within their congregation. Due to urban sprawl and cost of living factors, the city of Monmouth has also evolved, making it a place of growth and new beginnings for many. As a result of the 21x21 culture that encouraged Colin to plan in Monmouth, Ben committed to go with Colin in 2017 but also take on the lead pastor role, realizing that being sent for the sake of making the name of Jesus known should be a “normal response to the gospel.” From sending their students to a church plant in Salt Lake City to sending out Colin and a team to plant in Corvallis, 90 people declaring Jesus as Lord publicly through baptism, and sending a guy from their church to Japan with the International Mission Board, Ben describes this movement of God in Monmouth as that of a mustard seed, something that starts incredibly small but grows to become bigger than expected, leaving an undeniable impact.

Time and time again, our Heavenly Father moves amidst the unassuming, working outside our finite expectations, reminding us that He has never forgotten us. Places deemed the opposite of a dream destination, home to humble people doing ordinary things, are the very spaces in which our God orchestrates the extraordinary. Colin says, “the greatest thing you can do for your family is to live for something more than yourself,” making it clear that the path of humility is that of the greatest impact. Being far from family members, not living in the same city as the best childcare programs, driving a used car with thousands of miles, and having “dry seasons” of ministry are all worth it to extend God the utmost glory. You don’t have to be rich, you don’t have to be insanely smart, nor do you have to be incredibly popular to belong and feel at home, and the community forged in Monmouth exemplifies just that. 

From struggling to be seen by students on campus to becoming the biggest organization on campus, God was faithful. From feeling like a test as a 3rd generation church plant to sending out a church of their own, God was faithful. From the prayerful venture of a group of pioneers establishing a university in Monmouth to an urgent collegiate church planting movement reaching the university over a hundred years later, God was faithful. There has never been a moment when the city of Monmouth, Western Oregon University, and all of its inhabitants were forsaken, for we serve a God who is steadfast and rich in mercy. Just as our God came from the small forgotten towns of Nazareth and Bethelem, a movement of God was birthed from a place just as quaint; God-things come from unexpected places, ultimately giving Him the utmost glory.

Story of God at Work in Bellingham

Living mission-minded for the sake of delivering the gospel to the ends of the Earth is a life that is beautiful, incredibly worthwhile, and most definitely challenging. There are areas of the world that appear to be more appealing than others, making them a dream destination to some and not quite to others, yet the need for the gospel is dire regardless of how outwardly inviting those places may feel to us. But we serve a God who has eyes for the unexpected, the in-between, and even those who reject Him. He has the power and ability to reconcile people of all backgrounds to Himself; we are merely the tool He graciously uses to do so here on Earth. 

In the winter of 2019, after a shift in leadership, James Clark was pulled aside and asked to lead the church plant that was being sent to the Western Washington University campus in Bellingham, Washington. This city is known for its progressive ideas, beautiful natural landscape, and history of hostility towards the Christian faith. Despite moving to this city not being his initial plan or feeling qualified by any means, James and his wife decided to go, believing in the affirmations their leaders spoke over them, deeming them just right for the position they were about to take. A whirlwind of a decision brought James, his wife, and their team of 24, to the place that would eventually become their home, slowly trickling in and settling over the months of May and June of 2019.

“ He has the power and ability to reconcile people of all backgrounds to Himself; we are merely the tool He graciously uses to do so here on Earth. ”

Intending to hold a launch service for Easter 2020, James and his team set out on campus in an effort to cast as wide of a net as possible. In the 6-7 months approaching their launch date, they created predictable patterns of campus time, fun events like King of the Hill, coffee dates, tabling, and passing out free things to students who would stop by on their walk to class. During that first week on campus, one student, Kiley, was walking on campus, thinking about how someone had recently told her to find a church within the first two weeks of being a college student. Not looking too intensely for a church, Kiley happened to stumble across a table full of excited faces, giving away hot cocoa underneath a pop-up tent marked with Resonate Church branding one afternoon. She stopped to see what the people at this table were doing, met a girl named Anna, and ended up talking to her for nearly an hour, uncovering connections and feeling genuinely cared for. This conversation led to them going on a hike and then showing up to what she would later know as Resonate’s Sunday Gathering, all the while realizing that God was moving in her heart and ordaining her steps. Something as simple as a sweet drink and good conversation can be the entryway to stepping out of loneliness and into life-changing community. Kiley would go on to continue to live missionally, desiring to reach other students, just as she had been not long ago. From disciple-maker to student leader, and eventually staff member, the ripple effect of the obedience of people like Kiley on this team planted in Bellingham would make all of the difference.

Shortly after Kiley was met and connected, alongside many other students, the unthinkable happened; a global pandemic closed the doors to many establishments, turning their experiences into virtual ones, and bringing the momentum of this team working towards their launch service to an unfortunate halt. But God, knowing exactly what was to occur, had plans to move in spite of our world feeling as though it had stopped. Sunday Gatherings and Village small groups moved to computer and TV screens, and believe it or not, people showed up despite the unconventionality! Reflecting on doing ministry during COVID, James refers to that time as “a gift” because it allowed their core team to grow and mature, as things relied on previously were stripped away, changing the culture of their leadership team and church for the better over time. 

Coming out of the restrictions following the pandemic, Sunday Gatherings picked back up, as did villages, and even more so, prayer that the students would desire to fight against the isolation they had been stuck in previously. Things started off slow, with attendance being fairly low, and despite the discouragement that this was, it brought the team to prayer and rethinking strategies for reaching students. When life gets tough, it’s easy to try to fix the problem instead of submitting worries to Christ first; our instinct isn’t always to rejoice in greater dependence on Him. For many of us, prayer has become a last-ditch effort to make things better, but for the Bellingham team, it became something vital. Talking frequently with God was no longer a suggestion to get through the hard but essential to enduring faithfully. The culture and people of Resonate Bellingham were slowly sanctified through the rough, ultimately multiplying resiliency, complete dependence on the Lord, and the sense of feeling deeply known by those enduring alongside throughout their congregation.

Learning what it meant to forge through the wilderness of a hard season prepared the people of this church for what was to come, displaying God’s sovereignty before their very eyes.   As things changed and grew, the staff and church members in Bellingham sent out a church to be planted in Fort Collins at Colorado State University in December of 2022. Despite the chaos of the world at the time, God was still on the move, bringing the sentiment of Isaiah 43:19 alive within their team, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland". Not only was God doing a new thing in the lives of the people in Bellingham, but also in their church after facing the loss of pivotal members who moved to bring that same hope of the “new thing” to another college campus. Although a solid amount of their staff team and church members had recently left to bring the gospel to the lives of college students in Colorado, God was faithful to show up in Bellingham. In a season of newness, God reminded the staff and students that there had never been a moment where He had forgotten them, answering prayers tangibly once more. Reviving their ministry at the beginning of the school year in 2023, within the first two weeks of school, the Lord connected them to 15 freshmen. These freshmen were seeking a church to dive into the depths with them, and they found exactly that as they were connected. They began giving their time and resources towards reaching their campus themselves. Since the moment the leadership team set foot into Bellingham to the current state of their ministry, they have seen just over 30 people be baptized, many experiencing true death to life because they decided to put their faith and trust in Jesus and for others, the seeds of the gospel have been planted into their lives for the very first time. There is victory in Jesus' name for the students of Western Washington University and the people in the city of Bellingham, for He is making a way where there once appeared to be none. God has glorified Himself through the birthing of a church that stands firm in the truth of the Bible, overcoming the culturally normative pressure to conform to the patterns of the world.

Despite the hardship of team members leaving, sending out a church plant with many of the best and most consistent team members, the ramifications of COVID, and operating in a city where the label of bigotry is tacked onto any non-affirming Jesus movements, God has made Himself known. Circumstantially, opening and maintaining a church at Western Washington University appeared and often felt impossible, yet God displayed that He is outside of our worldly circumstances and expectations. In a time of barriers and hardship, God was and is in the business of bringing people from death to life, solidifying the truth that He is always faithful, regardless of our situation, circumstance, location, or cultural barriers. He is faithful, and He will continue to prove it, just as He has in Bellingham over the last 5 years.

Story of God at Work in Missoula

Tucked into a valley of the Rocky Mountains, Missoula, Montana, is a place known for its glorious natural landscape and people who remain there for the outdoor jungle gym that it is; a place wildly obsessed with creation but not entirely with its Creator. Known by many Christians and missionaries as a "church planter's graveyard", Missoula, and the University of Montana, desperately needed God to provide stability and a church that relentlessly pursued the lost. Fortunately for this city, a group of people adamant about sharing the gospel, fueled by the steadfastness and consistency of their Heavenly Father decided the reputation of the city would no longer dictate the eternity of its inhabitants.

After a trip to various Mountain West universities in the middle of a snowy winter, Keith Wieser and a group of young men interested in church planting returned to Pullman with a clear direction to pursue the cities and campuses found in Boise, ID, Missoula, MT, and Pocatello, ID. The next piece to this puzzle was who would lead these new churches, when would this team move, and who would they take with them?

Coming to the University of Idaho in 2014, Preston Rhodes arrived on campus with the desire to pursue an engineering career with NASA. Instead, he experienced immense heart change as Jesus began to sit more and more firmly on the throne of his life, entirely shifting the trajectory of his future midway through his sophomore year. Within the first two weeks of Preston's freshmen year, he met two men connected to Resonate. From there he became more invested in faith-centered community and spent his first summer vacation in college at a discipleship program in San Diego, known as Elevate. Returning to Moscow from this summer program, Preston came to campus on fire for the Lord. He deeply desired to live missionally and recalls calling his parents one night to tell them that he was no longer going to be an engineer after graduating, but a missionary instead. Following a summer project to East Asia, where the desperate need for the gospel to be spread was apparent, Preston recalls approaching Keith Wieser while tearing down pipe and drape after a Sunday Gathering in September of 2017. With certainty, Preston said "Hey Keith, I want you to know that I'm in, do with me whatever you want", to which Keith responded, "What do you know about Missoula?"; and from there plans took form, scout trips ensued, and conversations about a future core team began. Within two years of putting his "yes" on the table, Preston graduated college, married his wife Tracy, and was officially hired onto Resonate Staff. He was trained to plant a church, built out a core team, and made the nearly 300-mile move to Missoula, Montana.

A year before Preston moved to Missoula with his core team, a group of six was sent to lay the groundwork through continual scouting, gospel sharing, and relationship building. Between their arrival in the summer of 2018 and the arrival of the rest of the team in the summer of 2019, the team of six spent hours on campus, held impromptu swing dancing nights next to dorms, moved freshmen into their residence halls, threw frisbees around, climbed rocks with new friends, and welcomed recently-met connections into their home for dinner five nights a week. Jess Austin, one piece of the six-person team, remembers that during a scouting trip before moving in 2018, "God was opening relational doors like crazy", showing her and the rest of the team that God wanted to do something in Missoula and that He wanted to use Resonate. During this same trip, Jess experienced God moving in a multitude of ways that solidified her commitment to living sent. During one instance she happened to reconnect with a friend from elementary school she hadn't spoken to in years, only for that friend to give her and her team a tour of campus, as well as a sorority where she met a girl, Emma. She told Jess they specifically needed a "college church for students". Not only did Emma confirm the needs of the university the team had already started to see, but she eventually became one of many who felt like family and is a part of Resonate Missoula to this day. The need was clear and the team was committed to reaching the lost, believing if God was for them, who or what could stand against?

Flash forward to May of 2019, Preston and the rest of their core team of 20, joined Jess and the rest of the group of six in Missoula, moving into their homes and getting the lay of the land. They spent the summer gathering in living rooms for house church on Sundays, and the days in between on campus, growing closer to one another as a team and growing in hope and anticipation for the school year that was ahead of them. Following the University of Montana's move-in and Week of Welcome, after many hours spent extending invites, the Missoula team held their first Sunday Gathering on August 19th, 2019 in an event venue downtown called "The Public House". Their staff team recalls thinking to themselves "Oh, we're really doing this now!" as nearly 60 people trickled into the building for the service that was about to unfold. Within a few weeks, they were able to move their Sunday Gathering to a theater on campus in the student union building. This was an answered prayer, as this space was more accessible for students living on and off campus to encounter not just Resonate Church, but God Himself. The impact of moving from a space downtown to an on-campus location was felt pretty quickly, with nearly 12 students committed to living missionally towards their peers, five student villages, and nine death-to-life stories all within the first year on campus. The church planters' "graveyard" appeared to slowly be shifting into a ripe harvest field for those willing to labor.

“Effective ministry has proven to not be the big ticket events that occur annually, but rather doing the hard things, feeling the weight of sacrifice, and offering themselves to the lost in the mundane moments of everyday life.”

Not only was God working to shift the narrative of ministry potential in Missoula, but He also had plans to reach the University of Montana football team, previously known for allegations of misconduct. Within the last two years, the men in Resonate Missoula's leadership team have found unique favor among the players. Many of these athletes committed their limited free time to the gathering on Sundays, growing their faith in bible studies, and even getting baptized. Despite the depths of the pain found in the brokenness we all bear as humans in a sinful world, God has revealed to not only the football team but the campus and community that there has never been a moment they were forgotten. Deuteronomy 31:8 reminds us, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged". God works mightily in areas we can't imagine redeemed, glorifying Himself in circumstances that seem impossibly hopeless or without direction. God still moved despite Resonate Missoula being planted just six months before the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed doors and instilled gathering restrictions. By declaring Jesus as Lord, 21 people came from death to life between the spring of 2020 to the lifting of COVID restrictions in 2022. Effective ministry has proven to not be the big ticket events that occur annually, but rather doing the hard things, feeling the weight of sacrifice, and offering themselves to the lost in the mundane moments of everyday life.

The culture of "follow me as I follow Christ" established a resounding sense of family, stability, and sacrifice within the church body of Resonate Missoula. This eventually led half of their staff team and many church members, including two women Jess Austin met as students, to plant a new church at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado, forsaking the comfort of their homes in Missoula. There's truly nothing like moving hundreds of miles to share the gospel and disciple college students only for those same students to leverage their own lives and move hundreds of miles yet again to do the same thing. This made it clear to Jess that "God was doing something bigger" than what she had envisioned when moving to Missoula quickly after graduating from college in 2018.

God used Resonate Missoula to show that He is the God of life, changing this town from a ministry graveyard to a fruitful church. God has used His faithful servants to bring redemption in the lives of athletes, to teach students to live missionally, and by sending out a church plant. God has made it abundantly clear that He not only has the power but also the desire to redeem any and all things. There has never been a moment when our Heavenly Father declared the city and campus in Missoula as "too far gone", let alone forgotten or thought less of a town, a sports team, or a people group because of what others labeled them as. Our God doesn't operate under the labels and limits placed upon us. The sins of our past, our love for the Father's creation apart from Him, our suffocating expectations, and unavoidable realities all bow at the feet of Jesus. There is nothing that our God can't do, for He is in the business of making all things new.

Story of God at Work in Ellensburg

How often do we miss out on the abundance of a relationship, a town, a book, or a meal because we take our assumptions too seriously, only believing in the worth of something from its face value? If we’re honest with ourselves, we do this far more than we think. The college town I thought would be boring is now a place I cherish and call home. The foods I thought I hated because of their look or smell are now things I long for in each meal. The people I thought I had nothing in common with are now my closest friends. God has a way of humbling our hearts and making the mundane extraordinary. 

The year was 2013, and Resonate Church had two growing collegiate ministries on the campuses of the University of Idaho and Washington State University. Hearing the faint whisper of God asking Resonate to think bigger, conversations began to unfold about where to go next. The church planting legacy for gospel sharing began to gain traction. Leaders and staff members at the time started praying about and going on “Scout Trips” to potential locations for a church plant, traveling to Ellensburg, Cheney, and Missoula. On these trips, God began to clarify the cities Resonate should plant in first, allowing staff members to meet students on these campuses who would later be a part of their launch team. All the while, Jacob Dahl, a staff member at the time, had recently returned from a church-led trip to East Asia, processing where God would call him and his wife, Jess, to live missionally. They thought East Asia might be the place or maybe the familiarity of Pullman, but God gave a direct call in their asks for clarity. One evening in his apartment, Jacob had a significant encounter with God, receiving an astonishingly clear vision about his future in ministry and the church plant he was to be a part of. Jacob refers to this vision from the Lord as close as he’s ever been to experiencing God audibly, making it unmistakably clear that God had a purpose for him and his wife in the future church plant the leaders of Resonate were pursuing. When God speaks to you and makes Himself known, a response is always required. What will you do, where will you go, how will you live?

In May of 2014, Jacob, Jess, and their team made their way to Ellensburg, a city known as a pit stop town filled with farmers and young adults after a degree, to bring the goodness of the gospel and a life-changing community. If you’re from Washington or have traveled through the west on Interstate 90, you would likely have either breezed on by or stopped to fill your tank and grab a snack in Ellensburg. To many, this town is merely a blink in their time traveling, not ever going beyond a half-mile radius of the highway exits, but our God had bigger plans for this farm town nestled just east of the Cascade Mountains.

“When God speaks to you and makes Himself known, a response is always required. What will you do, where will you go, how will you live?”

One month after moving, Jacob and his team held their first preview service for the students at Central Washington University during their last week of school, and later, they would have their launch service on September 28th, 2014, upon their return for the fall quarter. In between these big moments, a culture of gospel sharing quickly and often began to be formed as Jacob and his team worked toward the goal of sharing the death and resurrection of Jesus 300 times or more in periods of 4 weeks at a time. Maximizing the time they had while students were present before the summer break was crucial and incredibly effective; God honored the intentionality set before His bride. 

Proving that the harvest truly is as plentiful as it says in Luke 10:2, God blessed the Ellensburg church plant in their first year with 41 students coming from death to life and declaring Jesus as Lord through baptism. Evangelistic efforts became a strong suit for the team, and they had their eyes set on the goal of sending another team to plant a church within 3 years of their own plant, genuinely living into the ideas of sacrifice and mission outlined throughout scripture. By 2017, their staff team had grown, their student leadership increased, a second gathering for families in the community had launched, and God empowered them to send a team to plant a church at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon. Within this time, crucial team members, Ted and Jacquelyn Wolfe,  were met as freshmen, came from death to life, joined Ellensburg’s staff team, and would later be unified in marriage. Students bought into the mission of sharing the gospel and living sent was high; students experienced the freedom of living transparently and, because of that, lived in a fortified community that many viewed as family. 

Many students, like Ted, had lived a double life, not fully committed to the things of the Lord in every facet of their lives. However, through consistent pursuit and a culture of honesty, repentance, and belief in the entirety of the gospel, it became a part of Resonate Church’s anthem. Ted recalls processing through the trajectory of his future during his senior year of college, asking himself and his wife-to-be, Jacquelyn, “What do we truly want our lives to be about?” guiding them to begin thinking about church planting, engaging in the missional culture of their church on a personal level. 

Around year 6 of living in Ellensburg, the Dahls started praying about what it could look like if they were to plant another church, allowing younger leaders in their church a chance to live into their callings, while also reaching more cities themselves. They sent a team of people from their church to plant in Bozeman, Montana, in 2019, which Jacquelyn and Ted thought they might be a part of until Jacob and Jess asked them to consult the Lord in the prospect of taking over their roles of pastoral leadership in Ellensburg instead, as the Dahls were about to move as well. The relentless pace being set was matched time and time again, and the Wolfes stepped into what the Dahls and, ultimately, the Lord were inviting them to, saying yes to the call to pastor. In awe, Jacob remembers feeling humbled at the idea that God would use people in their mid to late twenties without seminary degrees to reach hundreds of college students for His namesake, reveling in the honor it’s been to serve the city of Ellensburg for the years God allowed. 

As leadership transitions were made, Jacob, Jess, and their now two children moved to Seattle, Washington, to bring a Resonate Church to the students of the University of Washington. Time and time again, a need was acknowledged and met through the honest acceptance of the current reality and a desire to live in the ways God was asking them to meet it. Leaving this town behind, it became clear to the Dahls that this tiny, often polarizing town was not merely the pit stop on a road trip across the state that it once was but rather a place where Jesus moved mightily, used them beyond their means, provided endlessly, truly building His kingdom out of their obedient “Yes” to the call the live sent. When asked what makes giving your life and your family’s time to something like the local church, Ted responded, “It never gets old hearing someone confess, experience kairos, and watch something click when they’re experiencing the tangibility of God’s character.” Jacob answered this question by saying that his children have seen scripture come to life as they learn why they live sent, telling them, “We move because people don’t know Jesus, joy, love, and peace.” Sacrificing the highly esteemed children’s program and well-paying jobs in the climbing of the corporate ladder is worth it because his kids know what living beyond themselves looks like, and more importantly, they see that church is people and not just a place. 

“Leaving this town behind, it became clear to the Dahls that this tiny, often polarizing town, was not merely the pit stop on a road trip across the state that it once was, but rather a place where Jesus moved mightily, used them beyond their means, provided endlessly, truly building His kingdom out of their obedient “Yes” to the call the live sent”

From inconspicuous beginnings came the outpouring of awe and reverence for the holiness of God, leading to an unforgettable impact on the lives of the campus and community of Ellensburg. A place voted #1 pit stop town with little to offer to the one glancing by became the ripe harvest field of the laborers willing to see beyond what meets the eye. Somewhere that felt temporary for many transformed into the place where they met the one true God came to the end of themselves, and were granted eternal life. What a kindness it is to set aside our preconceived notions to share the one true message that every soul longs to know; it doesn’t matter if you have a chip on your shoulder, if you vote red or blue, if you’re a college student or office personnel, the hole in our soul longs for Jesus and although we don’t deserve it, He sees us, He knows us, and He cares deeply for us. Ellensburg may have been undesired by man, but there was never a moment when its inhabitants weren’t desired by Him.

Story of God at Work in Moscow

The story of Moscow is one of ebb and flow. The storms will come, as they always do, but amidst the confusion and uncertainty, this church prevailed in hope due to the depth of God’s faithfulness and an expectancy of brighter days ahead. It doesn’t have to be grand or astounding, but the body of believers at this church experienced the blessing God places on their faithful obedience. 

 No matter who you are or what you do, you know you can’t do this life alone. It may be tempting or seem more manageable, but we would be selling ourselves a lie if we operated out of the belief that who we spend time around doesn’t matter and that we are merely here to coexist. Maybe family has been anything but simple, and friendships have never lasted. Still, a collection of people can become a family that endures through trial, proving to be stronger as a result, laying a foundation for a unified body, and this story is just that. 

In 2006, Matthew and April Young moved to Moscow, Idaho, a small but lively town on the northwestern border of the state, neighboring fellow university town, Pullman, Washington; the move was rooted in a desire to minister to people in a place outside of the bible belt, as both Matthew and April had come from Texas to the Northwest several years prior for seminary school in the Portland area. The Youngs took over ministry roles in a local Baptist church within Moscow upon their move, grabbing onto an opportunity to be near a 4-year university that wasn’t a commuter school, was outside of the bible belt region, and was just under 10 miles from their dear friends, Paige and Keith Wieser, who had made the move from Texas to Portland to Pullman not to long before they had.

University of Idaho, Moscow

Their time in Moscow began by being a part of a ministry that already had weekly gatherings, resources, and connections within the town, contrary to what God would invite them into the building in the months and years to come. As they spent a semester getting to know students on and off campus, they would meet with their friends across the state border, the conversation often moving towards the church the Wiesers were praying about planting for Washington State University students and the community of Pullman. Although Matthew and April weren’t entirely on board yet to plant a church in Moscow, they were and remain incredibly supportive of the ministry the Wiesers desired to establish, attending Resonate Pullman’s launch service in August of 2007. From there, they began to build connections with the Wieser’s team, serving one another through offering to lead worship at a Tuesday Gathering, helping staff members raise funds, creating relationships founded in reliability, and ultimately paving the way for a culture of community to be deeply embedded in the ministry of Moscow. 

Four months after sitting in the rented chairs at the event center of Pullman’s launch service, Matthew and April, with their toddler son and newborn daughter, attended a November retreat where they distinctly recall being asked to start small villages on the campus of the University of Idaho. Students had been traveling to Pullman for the Resonate Sunday Gathering and needed a small group to connect with in their city. Being a family of four, Matthew and April weren’t sure how to balance meeting college students on campus while raising their young children. Yet, they committed to doing so despite challenges after discussing it with one another and consulting the Lord. 

The difficulties of being a campus minister and a parent of young kids called for a change in the way Matthew and April did things, leading to the building of their team that would later comprise a launch team of their very own. As they began to try hosting small groups at the University of Idaho, several students came to check it out. About 15 or so of those students became regulars, encouraging them to press into the change before them. In May of 2008, Matthew and April purchased a new home, committing to Paige and Keith that they would plant a Resonate Church in Moscow in the upcoming school year. Knowing change would come after the retreat back in November, this change didn’t feel entirely like a surprise, as God was slowly but surely letting them take glimpses at the carefully crafted plan He had in store. The Youngs didn’t move out to Moscow, intending to plant a church. Yet, God faithfully encouraged them through their obedience in the mundane moments, the joyful praises, and the challenging experiences.

“The Youngs didn’t move out to Moscow, intending to plant a church. Yet, God faithfully encouraged them through their obedience in the mundane moments, the joyful praises, and the challenging experiences. ”

From cheerleaders of their church planting friends to church planters themselves that fall, the Youngs and their team handed out hundreds of flyers on campus, inviting students to their launch gathering and into fellowship they hoped would become like family. The Nuart Theatre in downtown Moscow housed the church plant’s first worship gathering in the fall of 2008. As the worship team from Resonate Pullman rushed over from their evening service to lead Moscow’s gathering, 60 people trickled into the theatre, expecting what God would do and interested to see what this new church was all about. Around 30-40 of those initial 60 stuck around, attending one of the two villages. The idea of closing what had just started was tossed around as the strategies and approaches to building a church felt uncertain, attendance was rough at times, and more help was needed. God revealed to them through the leveling of expectations and the truth of their current reality that He hadn’t forgotten about them and sent the team solid leadership to assist them in their growing pains. 

The idea of what success looked like felt foreign and not applicable to the state of the early church plant in Matthew’s mind. Yet, he was comforted by the ways that the Lord was still using their efforts to reach the lost through campus gatherings and their ability to show up consistently. It was clear that what they were doing was important, whether they could see it or not, and thus, the Youngs and their team pressed on.

Between 2009 and 2010, things began to change once more, as their team's innovation brought a refreshing excitement to the culture of their evolving ministry. People began to see Resonate Moscow as a church that was different than anything they had experienced before, launching the fall semester with a Music and Magic show that engaged the students and community in a new and creative way that packed out the theater.  Soon, they welcomed 200 people into Sunday gatherings and nearly 300 for a baptism service. The consistent faithfulness and behind-the-scenes service became the launching pad God would use to grow them into the church they are today, sending several teams to plant in other locations across the Mountain West, countless students to mission and serve trips, creating foundational discipleship resources, all the while facilitating the hunger to know Jesus into life-changing encounters with Him.

University of Idaho, Moscow

With the stress of transitioning to be fully on staff with Resonate, raising financial support, and a family, God made it clear to Matthew and April that they weren’t done in Moscow. On a flight back home in the summer of 2011, a woman sitting next to April on the plane asked her about what she does for work, to which April described the strategy and value of reaching college students in the name of Jesus. After going back to their books for the remainder of the flight, the same woman who had inquired about April’s job previously looked up from what she was reading, telling April, “I’m supposed to support you and introduce you to my dad,” growing their ministry partnership team and strengthening their faith. Moments like these reminded both April and Matthew that God knows their needs, cares for them, and will make way for them to stay in Moscow and continue shepherding their young church. 

From that point on, it quickly became clear to Matthew that “What happens between Sundays is where the gravity is. People here show up and are so connected and invested in one another’s lives. They hear the gospel and then see it lived out”, and appear to be left forever changed, as multitudes of people have caught the vision of being sent, sacrificing their young adult years to bring the gospel to campuses near and far. Met as a freshman during Week of Welcome in 2016, Emma Smith describes the culture of Resonate Moscow as “a family who are deeply connected and incredibly resilient, committing to the things God invites them into” despite the hardship. Emma and her husband Logan are some of those people, leaving behind the city that has become home to them over the years to plant a church at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom alongside other faithful leaders from this church. The most beautiful thing about this is that they aren’t unique in leveraging their lives for the sake of sharing the gospel. They are doing what so many already who have gone before them have done: Living a life on mission and for a greater purpose has become the heartbeat of their church. They share the sentiment that God’s glory is worth any and all sacrifice, saying, “What else is there to do?” If not, commit your whole life to serving the bride of Christ.

“What happens between Sundays is where the gravity is. People here show up and are so connected and invested in one another’s lives. They hear the gospel and then see it lived out”

From sending out three teams to plant churches in separate cities to facilitating a culture of generosity, service, and sacrifice, Resonate Moscow has become a community that strives to emulate the life and character of Christ for the glory of God over everything. In times of struggle with few staff members to seasons of triumph, as people of their congregation live into the high calling of the Great Commission, God has never ceased to show up, always making a way when there appears to be none. Moscow is not merely a community surrounded by farmland with a University at its center, but rather a vast field ripe for the harvest where God is at work. 

Story of God at work in Pullman

The greatest Storyteller of all time has authored one book and endless lives. God writes the kinds of stories that are unforgettable, the kinds of stories that only make sense when you see that He is the author; the kinds of stories that change hearts and shift futures. It has been a humbling honor to be the bearer of stories with the magnitude in which Resonate Church operates; the ripple effect of obedience has left the Mountain West forever changed, and soon enough, the nations beyond as well. 

There is no better way to tell the story of Resonate Church, and more specifically, Resonate Pullman than inviting you to think deeply about the things you care most about. Have you ever loved someone so much that you would do anything they asked of you? That you would commit your life to them? For the believer, this might feel reminiscent of your personal encounter with Christ. The captivating beauty of who our Jesus is and what He’s inviting us into is often incredibly irresistible to our souls, making “no” an un-stomachable response despite the perceived difficulties our minds wander to. Our fears, desires, hopes, and dreams pale in comparison to the greater story our Father is inviting us into. 

Keith and Paige Wieser were faced with this reality in 2004 when they ventured from Portland to Pullman to take over a ministry planted by a woman from Oklahoma in 1975. Fresh out of seminary; looking to hear from God and venture where He called, they left a presumably comfortable position near friends in Portland to a new city that felt unfamiliar, and even undesirable; when you desire the will of the One you love more than anything else, saying yes becomes variably easier. The resounding question the Lord kept meeting Keith with along the journey was “Do you trust me?”, something we all wrestle with at one point or another, and this move from Texas to Portland and later Portland to Pullman wouldn’t be the last time trust in the Lord was called into action. 

“The resounding question the Lord kept meeting Keith with along the journey was “Do you trust me?”, something we all wrestle with at one point or another, and this move from Texas to Portland and later Portland to Pullman wouldn’t be the last time trust in the Lord was called into action. ”

Throughout Paige’s time processing what the Lord was saying to her, she couldn’t shake three resounding details of where she and Keith should go and what would differentiate this place God was calling them to from any other ministry opportunity; the breadcrumbs the Lord fed them in their moments of uncertainty were that what they were called to do would be out of the bible belt, with young people, presumably college students, and that something about this movement they were to be a part of would be undeniably “different”. Moving to Pullman, Washington was clearly out of the south, they knew it was a university town where they would interact with young people often, but the “this will be different” piece didn’t quite make itself clear within the first two years on the Palouse. 

From 2004 to 2005, Paige and Keith would invest in the local church and community, and meet students on and off campus, all the while hearing the low whisper of the Lord encouraging them to remember the “something different” part He had spoken to them during their process of deciding where to move. Despite days of low attendance to bible studies or students promising to show up to events only to never be seen again, God was still at work. It became clear that asking college students to come to them to hear the gospel and experience life changing community wouldn’t be nearly as effective as going to them, seeking them out, and pursuing them intentionally. Something had to change in order to walk fully in the different kind of church movement that God was faithful to remind them of time and time again. Over many discussions with friends, supervisors, and other wise counsel, Paige and Keith decided to again take a leap of faith. As they dreamed of what was to come, in December of 2005, Paige, feeling the weight of impending change, said to Keith in surrender, “What do we have to lose if this is what we know the Lord wants us to do?”, referring to the notion that if they are to make an impact and pursue the entirety of what God has called them into, they would have to act and not just wait. The reality of both Heaven and Hell being real and the brokenness of the college campus before them collided into a call to action for the Wieser family. 

Washington State University, Pullman

Shortly after this moment, Paige and Keith began meeting bi-weekly at a local church to nail down the details with students, community members, and church friends who craved to see death to life on the Washington State University campus, just exactly how they would accomplish this. They would later have their first “core team” meeting at a bookstore on Colorado Street, dreaming about the lives that would be changed and asking God, through prayer, to do something far beyond what they could ask, think, or imagine. From the first “core team” meeting on February 11th to May, they began to gather with 60 people; God quickly responding to their prayers of desperation. Just as things were beginning to pick up with excitement and hope, the school year came to an end for the summer, sending everyone separate ways for several months. In our minds limited by worldly circumstances, we would be tempted to think that all momentum would be killed and that the next school year would be even harder as the team would need to start from scratch again. But God had other plans.

Come August, the core team of leaders heading this movement, would come back together to piece their entire launch plan for the school year and preview service content, praying God would do something incomprehensible. Two weeks later, on August 19th, 2007, the chairs were set up in their rented space, 5,000 flyers were handed out, hundreds of people on Facebook were asked to come out, and yet still, they had no gauge of who would be loyal to the half-hearted “Yes” they received from those invited to the launch service. Pacing back and forth in the back room, Keith was going over his notes and overseeing last minute tasks, only to be interrupted by Paige, overwhelmed by the Spirit of God at work at that very moment, sharing with him that he’s “not going to believe this, but people are still arriving”, and to their surprise 190 people showed up, breaking the room’s fire code and their personal expectations for what God could do with their yes. Keith heard the gentle whisper of the Lord amidst chaos, speaking to the 22-year-old boy from Texas who wanted to be a part of something bigger than himself, “See, if you just trust me…”.  From that point on it was evident that people truly wanted to be a part of the life-changing community centered around a world-changing purpose rooted in the gospel truths of Jesus that they had longed to see be revealed from the moment they moved to Pullman. 

“he’s “not going to believe this, but people are still arriving”, and to their surprise 190 people showed up, breaking the room’s fire code and their personal expectations for what God could do with their yes.”

Paige and Keith would continue to gather with their young children, students and community members, asking them to stick around if what they were discussing “resonates” with them, and from there the Resonate Collegiate Church Planting movement was born. The work of God didn’t stop there, as thousands of students would come in contact with a church that started as a dream to reach young people different than the traditional means of a Sunday gathering. The church has experienced leaders of great caliber and humble hearts, has been the launchpad and birthplace of 16 church plants across the mountain west, and the place of sacrifice for families young and old. The current pastor, Chris Routen, who was met as a first-year student in a fraternity house at WSU Pullman, says that by God’s grace, being a part of church planting and pastoral leadership have been the “healthiest things [my wife Tannis and I] have ever done for our marriage” and the “fortifier” of his family as they live missionally. God sees our sacrifice, honors it, and graciously reminds us that our labor is not in vain as we seek the building of His Kingdom above all else. 

While many of us were children or unruly teenagers, God was leading Paige and Keith to invest in the lives of those they didn’t know but knew they needed to reach. In moments of doubt and choosing the safer options over the bold step of faith, God was orchestrating a beautiful symphony that would culminate to the body of believers formed in Pullman on the college campus. The resounding heartbeat of Resonate Pullman is the truth that it is at its healthiest and most potent form when giving itself away. In the same way, a cork tree lives for a thousand years and thrives when pieces of it get cut off and planted to grow elsewhere, never to grow greater than its small stature, but nonetheless the birthplace of generational fruit. The city marked by Greek life parties, rebellion, and sub-par football is being reclaimed by God as the place of eternal rescue and everlasting redemption.