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Take a Walk Down Memory Lane
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Looking back helps us to dream and look to the future. This year we celebrate 25 years of ministry in the Northwest with Pastors Kevin and Sheila Gerald. Not only are we celebrating victories we have achieved along the way, we are also looking ahead to the next 25 years.
Champion Life Magazine had a chance to sit down with Pastors Kevin & Sheila to talk about their first 25 years of ministry in the Pacific Northwest, how they got here, and where they see Champions Centre going. Champion Life: What brought you to the NW? Kevin: We started coming to the Northwest from St. Louis, MO to be part of the Jesus of Nazareth (J.O.N) Passion Play in the early 1980s, when we were in our twenties. The Passion Play, which was written by Sheila’s brother Steve Munsey, became a major outdoor tourist attraction in the summer months for over 20 years in Puyallup, WA. We would come in the late spring to be part of rehearsals and help out through the summer months with the production. Sheila: Honestly, I just came along for the ride. The summer before we would end up moving
here, I jumped in at seven months pregnant with Jodi. With my stomach in the way, I made up for the production!
Champion Life: When did you become a pastor in the NW? Kevin: We came to help the church that had been partnering with the Passion Play in Puyallup locate and name a pastor. I traveled alone back and forth from St. Louis to Puyallup for a few months preaching on weekends for the church and working with the church board because the church was in significant debt. After a couple months, we really felt God calling us to stay in the Northwest and I was voted in to become the pastor. That was the summer of 1986. Sheila: Kevin came out before me to help the church, preach on Sundays and get the Amphitheatre summer season on course. I missed him and so did our daughter Jodi, then, 3 and 1/2 years old. I was not even
thinking about staying when we came out to visit. I was there to support Kevin. We are both preacher's kids, so I was just focused on my future with Kevin as eventually being the lead Pastor at His father's church in Missouri. I was ready to head back home to the easy road where “Everyone knows my name!" I just thought that was God's plan for our future. So anything different than that was beyond what I ever imagined. After being here for a couple of months, one day my husband out of the blue says, "I think God has called us here." Of course, the first thing that came out of my mouth was something like I hadn't got the update from God. I remember he very calmly asked, "Did you pray about this?" It was hard to admit anything in that moment, but I can truly say that God has you in mind and will let you know the next move if you listen.
1981
1982
1986
Jesus of Nazareth, a major outdoor tourist attraction in the NW for over 22 years begins during the summer months. Scrooge the Musical begins in the winter at People’s Church.
Peoples Church builds a church with wooden dome inspired by the Tacoma Dome.
Kevin and Sheila Gerald move to the Northwest to pastor Meridian Christian Ministries in Puyallup. The congregation began with 70 people.
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MCM hosted Jesus of Nazareth Production on site.
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Champion Life: What were some of the challenges that you faced in the beginning? Kevin: One of the biggest challenges we faced was the church was thousands of dollars in debt with no strategy to recover until we stepped in. The first year we were here we took our very first “Liberty Offering”... at that point it was call “Debt Destruction Offering” or something like that, and we brought in around $7000. It was enough to pay for 13 or 14 bills. So our church of 70 people or so rallied together, paid off some bills and burned the bills as a monument! Another challenge was obviously that we moved our family of three more
than 2500 miles away from any family or friends. That was a huge personal challenge.
Sheila: It was a challenge for me as a woman feeling a loss of security financially; plus, as a young mom with no family support to help me, and as a young leader, I felt very alone. Financially we walked by faith. We didn't have a church supporting us as a planting church. There wasn’t even money to afford a moving truck to move our belongings from our home in the Midwest to the Northwest (or even to bring our cars)! That really limited me from having my familiar surroundings and getting around to do things. Kevin had challenges in getting the church back on track and up on its feet. I really challenged myself to not complain and to keep his spirit lifted. Many times I would make it a big deal doing small things with all three of us as a family.
Champion Life: What were some of the steps you took to grow the church and get to a place of security? Kevin: We made a plan, we had some bold conversations with lenders, and we continued to manage Jesus of Nazareth production and saw thousands of people pray a life changing prayer of salvation at the end of each show. For the next five years we saw our church attendance grow from 70 people in to more than 1500 people in a very unchurched part of our nation. We encouraged our church family to invite and bring people to church with them. Word of mouth is a powerful tool of church growth. Sheila: Although I knew that I married an amazing man, I just have to say I really saw Kevin walk in a higher level of confidence and wisdom when we moved to the Northwest. Champion Life: After five years of growth, what happened?
1991
1992
1998
Meridian Christian Ministries grows from 70 to over 1600 in 5 years. Looking to expand the campus, but the county denies progress because of water problems.
Meridian Christian Ministries merges with the People’s Church in a unique “marriage” of two congregations to become Covenant Celebration Church.
Wisdom for Life Leadership School is established and classes begin for people looking for relevant leadership development.
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Kevin: We were looking to expand the campus, but the county continued to deny any structural expansion because of water problems. So, we were faced with the decision of what to do and where to go. I have to admit, I wondered if it was some kind of a sign that I was supposed to move back to where my dad was a pastor, but I was committed to the Northwest and we really felt like God had called us to this region. So we were in a bit of a holding pattern. Sheila: I remember one night, Kevin was talking to me and saying that maybe this was a sign for us to go back home to the Midwest. Doors seemed to be closing with the county to further build. He knew what God had put inside him and the next phase for growth was put on hold. After about 30 days of prayers other doors began to open. It was a move—but it was just eight miles down the road.
Champion Life: So, you feel like you were taking laps around a mountain, and then there was an opportunity that opened up, what was it? Kevin: In 1991, a few months after we had given up on expanding our Puyallup campus, we were contacted by People’s Church in Tacoma. They were in some financial difficulty and since we had a track record of financial turnaround—and because I believe we had positioned ourselves in a way that always honored Pastor Owen Shackett and his ministry at People’s Church—they approached me about merging the churches together and making Sheila and I the senior pastors. Champion Life: Was it an easy decision? Kevin: I don’t know that it was easy. But, after a lot of prayer and counsel we took on the challenge of merging two different churches and began the process of bringing another impossible financial situation to a
ett, y Shack n & Bett Church e w O r s Pasto of People Founders
worth yo
1999
2001
2002
Project 2000 is launched to raise funds to expand the children’s and youth departments in a major capital campaign. Several million dollars are raised over a couple of years.
Champions Centre addition has grand opening in the fall with beautiful classrooms, play zone, youth auditorium, game zones, offices, bookstore and more.
First Women’s Women’s Conference Conference.
The Coffee Shop opens daily proudly serving Starbucks Coffee.
Relationship Conference
Feb 9-10
May 19-20
Covenant Celebration Church changes its name to Champions Centre. Summer Conference for EVERYONE
First Team Church Aug 1-3 Conference.
Men’s Conference
Oct 6-7
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through. God always provided.
Champion Life: Church merges hadn’t really been talked about, were there things in the transition that stood out?
strategic plan of success and faith. It took a lot of faith in that transition.
Sheila: I was happy that we weren’t moving out of state, I had just begun to feel more connected in this area—so when we felt like we were in a holding pattern and wondering what was next I didn’t want to pick up and move far away. At the same time, I knew the pressure and stress that taking a church out of financial debt brought on Kevin and knew it was going to be a challenge. The first day we were senior pastors we had to let more than 15 staff go between both of our churches!
Kevin: It was tough, right after we merged we had a natural influx of the two churches coming together as well as new people walking through the doors for the first time, but we also had plenty of people walking out the door because the church they had known was changing—and a lot of people are resistant to change. We had a lot of transition going on in our teams, in our budgets, in our membership. I had to fly to Wisconsin to meet with a board of lenders and boldly negotiate a miracle—we
Champion Life: How did your faith keep you steady through those first few years of transition? Sheila: I think us both being PK’s (preacher’s kids) helped out a lot because we knew God would provide. We believed that He wouldn’t call us to something and then let us down. There were plenty of days and nights when I could see the pressures of church weighing Kevin down, but I did my best to keep our home life fun and light. I tried to keep a positive attitude with Jodi, because it was important to us that she grew up loving the house of God and not despising it. I “faithed it ‘til I made it” plenty of days.
worth your time.
got close to $1 million dollars written off of the People’s Church debt and laid out our plan of action. There were difficult times, but our team worked hard and God always came
Champion Life: What are some things that stand out in the past few years of Champions Centre?
Relationship Conference
Feb 9-10
Women’s Conference
May 19-20
2005
2006
2007
Champions Centre records their first worship CD, Because of You.
First ever— Men’s Men’s Conference Conference Oct is launched. 6-7
The second CD recording, Nothing Compares, is produced.
Summer Conference for EVERYONE
Aug 1-3
Champions Foundation begins. A second location is added at an elementary school in Bellevue, WA and plans begin to look for a permanent location.
Champion Life Magazine is launched.
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Building begins in Bellevue of the new Champions Centre location.
Champions Forever Home opens in Johannesburg, South Africa for orphans of the AIDS epidemic.
Kevin: Wow, the last five years we’ve started a new campus in Bellevue, we started a new relationship conference called MESH and we had our first men’s conference just a couple years ago. In 2007, we launched Champions Foundation so that we could continue to reach our community under an umbrella that the corporate world could back and get behind instead of relying solely on the church. (Sheila: And, we opened our first Champions Forever Home in Johannesburg, South Africa for children affected by the AIDS epidemic). Just this year, we opened 148th Ave Coffee Shop at our Bellevue Campus during the week to reach out to the college students and business community in that area. Sheila: Church life is always busy around Champions Centre—but we wouldn’t have it any other way! Champion Life: You’ve been in ministry in
2008 Bellevue building is dedicated, and Champions Centre is now officially one church with two locations.
the Northwest for 25 years now, what does that mean to you? Kevin: We feel like there has been a good foundation laid, and now we can launch into even bigger and greater things because of the groundwork that is there. Most pastors only stay at a church for three years on average, so we feel blessed and also proud that we’ve pushed through tough times and capitalized on good times and made it this far. But we’re not done!
Honestly. There are things we are doing right now that are causing us to rediscover the raw faith that we had when we began. We know that God has to show up to make it successful. We’ll continue to step out—We see great things ahead!
Champion Life: What is ahead? Kevin: It would be easy to just sort of coast through from here and live on past accomplishments, but we’re committed to continue to take risks, push our faith to the limits and believe God will do big things! It’s a privilege to be pastoring in such a great part of the country. We feel like the best is yet to come.
worth your time.
2009
2011
First Relationship Relationship Conference Conference. Feb 9-10
148th Coffee Shop is opened in Bellevue attracting local businesses and Bellevue College students.
Celebrate Recovery beginsWomen’s meeting Conference on May 19-20 Tuesday nights in Champs Auditorium. Summer Conference for EVERYONE
The first ever Easter 3D is filmed marking the largest attended weekend in Champions Centre history.
Men’s Conference
WFL becomes Champions Centre College.
Aug 1-3
Oct 6-7
Celebrating 25 years of ministry, the church looks to the future with great expectations.
www.championscentre.com/conferences
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