The story

We’ve not arrived…we’re moving closer…

In February 2025, families worshiping at Christ The Redeemer in Nampa but living in Boise, Meridian, and Star started gathering midweek in a location closer to their homes. The goal was simple: seek Jesus and support one another with fellowship, prayer, and encouragement from the Word of God. We ate together, laughed, cried, and watched God answer prayer after prayer after prayer. After six months of regular, biweekly gatherings, the question was put to us, “Is this a church?” We didn’t set out to become a church body; we were part of a wonderful, healthy, and gospel-centered church in Nampa. Christ The Redeemer, though, is a community on mission with Jesus and a church that follows the lead of the Spirit. Together, Redeemer and our small gathering started to discern the answer to the question, “Is God on the move here?”

After much prayer and seeking the Lord together, we concluded God had drawn us together to live on mission and worship closer to our homes, to our neighbors, in our own parish (parish is a way of saying “village” or “city”). God called us together; He confirmed the calling, and He built the church.

Yet, as we stepped out in obedience to the Lord’s call, the Spirit brought one word to our minds, one word that would guide us and define us: rest.

Many of us have been a part of church plants in the past, and the hectic, metric-driven, program-heavy method of church planting felt overwhelming, like a heavy burden none of us wanted to or could carry. Jesus, though, said, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” We wanted that, the rest of Christ, to be our rhythm, pattern, experience, and desire.

So, we’re a church at rest, seeking to help each other know and live in the peace of Jesus, and communicating Jesus and His rest to our neighbors and community. We’re learning. We’ve not arrived, not even close. Through the Word, though, by the Spirit, and with the support of one another, we’re moving closer to Jesus and to His rest.