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.
