JUST LIKE YOU,

Redemption City Church has a story. A story that is victories and setbacks, highs and lows; and most importantly growth in Jesus! Simply put, we are a group of imperfect people excited to grow our relationship with a perfect God; learning day by day what it means to live for Jesus; and how to love Jesus and others well.

​A LOOK INTO HISTORY

Who we are today is directly tied to our story. Below you can go on a journey through the history of our church, which gives a behind the scenes access to the complete story that so many people have joyfully been a part of. May this be an opportunity for you to get to know us better as you prayerfully discern rather your story might intersect with our story in this season of your life.

BEFORE THE LAUNCH...

Before the lauch, there was groundwork that needed to be laid. A team that needed to be built. People that needed to be met. And a city that needed to be explored. Redemption City Church did not start as a church plant that was sent out by an existing church or organization. Nor did we have any seed money to hit the ground running with. What we had was an unwavering belief that God had brought us together to do three things: love God, love people, and to disciple all who desire hope and redemption for life. Our story in many ways has been both a miracle and testiment to just how faithful God is.
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IT ALL STARTED WITH A VISION

In 2012 Pastor Brandon had a very tragic bodily experience that left him debilitated from the neck down, and with great sadness left him unable to continue his ministry as affirmed/impending Lead Pastor at Reach Worship Center in Stockton California. In the most difficult season of his life, it was there that God met Brandon most intimately. And the vision of Redemption City Church began in his heart. 

THE CRUCIAL RELOCATION

​The crucial relocation to be near a world renowned clinic that specializes in treating people with complex injuires and illnesses is what brought Pastor Brandon to Portland Oregon. Two years removed from his injury; God brought Brandon here to finally recevie the speciality of care he needed. And this therapy and healing journey began. All the while, God ministered to him about Redemption City Church. And Brandon stored these things in his heart. 
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NAVIGATING A NEW LAND

Moving to a new city can be challenging in a variety of ways for anyone. But to add a severe injury and no job for either Brandon or his wife Jillian and only what they had saved; things were bleak to say the least. But they trusted that God had sent them to Oregon; and so they pressed forward. Thankfully, three people from their home church in Stockton, CA decided to support The Rachal family for their first year. Justin and Vanessa Chao and Adrian Hernandez all left California and lived with The Rachal’s to provide support and care to the family. With a belief in Brandon’s calling and vision for ministry, Justin, Vanessa, and Adrian served as God’s steady hand of provision. These moments and sacrifices are the critical foundations that prepared the soil for Redemption City Church to one day become a reality. Our story is a story of others who made critical sacrifices. 

WHEN GOD PLACES A CALLING

Whem God's places a call on someone's life, it is very evident to see. Despite the losses, God perserved Brandon's passion to see people meet Jesus and to learn how to make much of Him. That heartbeat and grace overflowed into what became Making Much of Christ Ministries Network. MMCM launched back in January 2016 and became a trusted online ministry where thought-provoking blogs, podcasts, interviews, and other gospel-centered support was offered to those in need of Jesus; no matter where they are at on their journey. Our story is a story of God's calling and a young man's faith in it. 
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BUILDING A MINISTRY

"For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything" Hebrews 3:4  | With God, Pastor Brandon a volunteer staff to support the growth of the organization. Eventually a couple thousand people across the nation were impacted by MMCM, including those right here in Oregon. Those who joined the staff of MMCM are a part of the building blocks that helped MMCM be the launch pad to Pastor Brandon's next ministry journey, and the reason for Redemption City Church today. Our story is a story of others who made critical volunteer sacrifices. ​

OPPORTUNITIES AND MILESTONES

As Brandon grew physically-stronger month by month, MMCM had widened to the point where an article made its way to Sonrise Church Hillsboro which caught the eye of a key leader of that ministry. Not soon after, Brandon received the opportunity to return to church ministry! It was a huge milestone! Filled with gratitude, Brandon served as a Staff Coach, pastoral, counselor, and Young Adult Pastor for two years. This would be the next building block to the inception of Redemption City Church is today. Our story is a story of opporunties that came from other's obedience to God.
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GOSPEL CALLINGS

Just like in any God story, the enemy will do whatever he can to thwart the beauty that God creates. Unfortunately the enemy got a piece of the story, and that was through Ezekiel leaving and abandoning Pastor Brandon in the middle of their commitments, and work they had been putting in for their future church plant. This left Pastor Brandon devastated, and alone without any real support or partner for what he had set out to do. This was tragic because Pastor Brandon had worked his way out of the ashes through suffering, and was finally making steps, and it all seemed to crumble before him. Having to take a step back to recollect himself and revaluate what to do next, in steps Jack Davis, who at the time was the Children Pastor of Sonrise Church Hillsboro. This serves as a building block to who we are today, and that is Redemption City Church. 
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GOD HAS A WAY

of meeting us in some of the most difficult moments, and really providing the God-centered support that we didn't even know we needed. God did that when he stirred up Jack's heart to approach Pastor Brandon in joining the church plant with him. Not ever having a desire to be apart of a church plant, Jack felt something different when it came to Pastor Brandon. And it was that he believed in the call and vision on Pastor Brandon's life; and he wanted to be a part of that. This is when Pastor Brandon and Jack both began to vision and build out the framework for what we call Redemption City Church. The two of them had respectfully stepped away from their jobs at Sonrise Church, and began the journey of a church plant.  
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CULTIVATING THE SOIL

The work began in April of 2019. With Pastor Brandon being new to the land of Beaverton/Hillsboro, and Jack being fairly new as well, the connect points were not the highest to build a new church off of. But they were determined to do it no matter the obstacle that was in their way. The connections that had been made were from both of their respective ministries, and they proved to be vital to the start of Redemption City Church. Redemption City Church launched on June 9th of 2019, and Pastor Brandon and Jack made their commitment in April of 2019. This became crunch time since they only had three months to prepare for what became the start of Redemption City Church. It was three months of vision creating, vision casting, mission building, and mission implementing. It was extremely hard work and long hours to literally build a church out of nothing, but God was moving. He kept supplying vision, hope, and preparing the ground for the work He was going to do through Redemption City Church. 
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THE LAUNCH DAY WAS HERE

and there was so much to be excited about. There was so many God blessing that were all over the place. We had a building to start with, which as a new church plant with no seed money or support, is absolutely unheard of. We have to thank Abe and Sofia LASTNAME for that blessing. We had key contributors step in to join the church plant. People like Kaitlyn Iseminger, Amanda Smith, Vanessa Davis, Jillian Rachal, Briana Rachal, Joseph and Dora Haynes. These people caught onto the vision that God gave Pastor Brandon, and they wanted to be a part of it. This brought a fullness to launch day, and we were ready to get the ball rolling. 
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THE JOURNEY HAD STARTED

June 9th, 2019 is a day that we will not forget. This date will always be etched in the books as the day we had our first church service. It was special. We had over 50+ people attend our first service which is quite incredible, especially coming from the ground up. We had friends and family member come and show their support which provided us with great momentum moving forward. This day was a wonderful moment of God displaying how good He is. The story of Pastor Brandon's vision for a future church plant, all the people who either gave, supported, or joined him on this journey, give us the ability to look back in awe to see all the building blocks that brought for this incredible day. 

DESPITE US BEING SMALL

we really felt like a big church. We wanted to be a church that could really supply the needs for all people who came to attend. We started in our first ever series, which was our DNA Series, focused on who we are as people of God and as RCC. We launched Men's Den Night and our Women's ministry, which both had such a impact on the men and women of our church. We launched the Redeemed Kids Club, which provided full curriculum for our kids in the church. We had three baptisms and over 15 people join to be covenant member within the first five months of even being a church. God was really moving and people were transforming right in front of our eyes. 
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GOD WAS WORKING

While we were not growing wide in a vast amount of numbers, what we did see was the people of Redemption City Church growing deep. Here at RCC we aim to not live a superficial life with God, but a real, vibrant, maturation like relationship with God. This is the lens we navigate our teachings, small groups, ministries, and outreaches through. Our aim as Redemption City Church was not to try and build a church so fast that we couldn't keep up with the growth as a leadership team, but instead lean into God to build depth, strength, and courage as a church so we can be sturdy. We want to be a church that lasts in our community, and we believe God had been working in a way to do this. 

2020 WAS THE YEAR

where everything changed for us, just as it did for the entire world. Deep into our Ephesians Series at the time, things were rolling for us as a church. Having to navigate some storms, we still were in vibrant position. We were about to move into a new building that was going to be amazing for us and our reach for the community, but all of a sudden, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. And this has gone on to shape the last three years for us as a church. 
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NAVIGATING THE COMPLEXITIES

With many people in the RCC community having a high risk for serious implications if they were to contract the virus, we took it upon ourselves as a church to respond at the highest level possible. This is where church from home began to birth. We wanted to not only reach our members and regular attenders for weekly service, and other ministry outreaches. We also wanted to broaden our reach beyond the walls of Oregon. We began to take advantage of the online world, creating sermon experiences, online discipleship, and so much more. 

TO BE HONEST

the past three years have still been extremely hard for us as a church. We have lost members, we have lost regular attenders, and it was difficult for us as a small ministry to really make an impact or reach to our community when the entire world was shut down. We still experienced the reality that we are a new church, and all of our touchpoints that we want and need to make in order to grow, are no longer available. So, we decided to "close" our doors for the time being to recoup, reload, and gain strength for the time that we launch back into the world as Redemption City Church. 
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WHAT WERE WE UP TOO? 

As a church we really wanted to grow in three important areas, and we knew that these areas were going to be what made us to be a vibrant church that had powerful kingdom impact. 
Personally - As a Church Community - As a Hospital for all People
The pandemic really pushed us as a church to look at these three areas very intently while having the ability to do something about what we found. In order for us to make the impact we want as a church, we first as the people need to be right with God, and then we need to be unified on the same mission and vision, and we have to have the deep desire to be dwelling with the lost, broken, and those who are far from Jesus. 
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THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME

has finally come where we are ready to open our doors back up, and step into all that God puts in front of us. We have walked through multiple sermon series, discipleship, community building. We have grown, transformed, and fueled with passion to see God made much of all around us. 
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OUR STORY IS ONLY BEGINNING 

Redemption City Church has not even operated as a full public expression for even a year as a body. We truly are a young church that has a transformational message that we want to spread all across the community and beyond. Which means our story is still just beginning. Whether you have been with us from the beginning or are interested in joining the story today. We want you to be a part of it all. It will never be to late to join the greatest story in the world, and that is God's story for all of our lives. 
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