10 Years and Counting for East Bay Church
Allison Penn, freelance writer
“Time flies when you are having fun”, says Doug Heisel, lead pastor of New Life Church in Alamo. “Looking back, we can hardly believe that ten years have gone by since we first opened our doors to the local community. “
It all started at 9:45 a.m., on a foggy Sunday morning, January 17, 1999. 164 people walked through the doors of San Ramon’s Crow Canyon Cinemas. The movie theater would become the weekend location for the first five years of New Life. The lobby and five of the six theater’s auditoriums were transformed into a virtual church in hopes of establishing a place where people of all backgrounds could feel comfortable and call New Life Church their ‘home’.
Heisel recalls the hard work he, his family and a great core team of volunteers put into creating a less traditional “come as you are’” church. Getting the word out required money, sweat and comfortable shoes. New Life printed and mailed 20,000 colorful flyers to San Ramon residents. They also raised more than $70,000, with help from Calvary Temple, Concord, where Heisel served as associate pastor for seven years. The core New Life team literally hit the streets and talked to people face to face about their opinions of what they were looking for in a church. That information was used to help tailor New Life Church’s services to meet local residents’ expectations.
By the end of their second year, solving space issues became a familiar issue for this new church to manage. They started by adding a second service on Sundays to accommodate the number of people who were drawn to the casual environment. By its fourth year, driving to a movie theater for church was a regular experience to more than 400 attendees.
The staff at New Life began developing additional programs targeted specifically at areas where they saw opportunities to serve. Ministries for kids, women and teens were some of those areas. “It was amazing to see so many people not only interesting in attending but excited to invite their friends,” Heisel commented.
As space issues continued to challenge the new church, it became apparent to all attending that a more permanent location was the next step. Within one week of a church fundraising effort, Heisel received a call from his former employer, Harley Allen, from Calvary Temple. Allen asked Heisel if he had heard that an affiliate congregation in Alamo was in need of a pastor and had a structure already built for 400 people. Heisel called it a match made in heaven. After several months of prayer and discussion, both organizations felt “they could do more together than separate.” On May 7, 2004 they held their first service together, with over 500 people attending.
Since the move to Alamo, New Life Church’s growth has accelerated. They now offer three weekend services to accommodate over 1000 attendees: one Saturday night service at 6 p.m. and two services on Sunday (9 and 10:30 a.m.). Maybe it is because people feel it is a safe place to come, consider the claims of Christ and hear relevant messages from the Bible that can benefit everyday life. Maybe it’s the great music or the kids and teen programs. Maybe it’s their commitment to supporting other non-profit Christian organizations and Missionaries around the world. Whatever it is, more than 2000 people over the past 10 years have come to call this friendly environment their church home.
Not only has the membership grown tremendously but also the staff of New Life Church. Most recently, Gary Jones, long time Christ follower and former lead pastor in San Diego, along with Kevin Noonan, former associate from Sacramento, were added in the past 15 months. Both men have key roles in developing community based programs and managing future satellite locations for New Life. Not only are the three guys a great leadership team, but they also have a lot of fun with each other and this comes across in the weekend services.
Members say the “no church experience required” theme really applies and that is why after a decade of growth and thousands of dollars donated, New Life Church will be opening a facility back in San Ramon, the roots where New Life began 10 years ago. The grand opening is set for Easter weekend in the Gale Ranch Middle School. One of their new mottos is, “One Church – Two Locations”.
Heisel, Jones and Noonan will be celebrating New Life Alamo’s 10 year anniversary during its weekend services, on Feb 28 & March 1. A celebration not only for the 10 years past but for the new beginning, in San Ramon.
