ABOUT
NEW LIFE CHURCH EXISTS TO INVITE MORE PEOPLE TO BE FILLED UP WITH NEW LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST.
New Life Church is a Christian church that welcomes all ages of people who want to know more about Jesus Christ and the fullness of life in Him. This is a church that has many people who are exploring the Christian faith – attracted by our slogan:
No Church Experience Required.
We invite you to see for yourself how exciting church can be when the focus is simple and people are free to go after God with passion! Keep reading to learn more about our story and how New Life Church came into being!
OUR STORY
New Life Church was founded by Pastors Doug & Crystal Heisel, who have multiplied their leadership over the years by inviting incredible people to serve alongside them.
New Life Church's doors opened for its first Sunday Gathering on January 17, 1999, at Crow Canyon Cinemas in San Ramon, California. The church was the manifestation of the dreams of Founding Pastors Doug Heisel and Crystal Heisel. They were called to create a home for the unchurched while they were working as associate pastors at another Bay Area church. Two years before New Life's first gathering, they began to make moves toward their God-given dream. Together, they sold their home, moved across the county, pulled their kids out of private school, and used their new home as the church office.
For the next five years, the church continued to meet at the theatre where they grew quickly enough to need a larger space. God did a miracle by introducing them to a church in Alamo, California with a paid-off building in need of senior leadership. The situation prompted the two churches to ask, "could we do more together than apart?" The churches voted unanimously to merge. Overnight, New Life Church had its first permanent facility. This miracle allowed New Life to grow and continue its mission to reach the San Francisco Bay Area for Christ.
Since 1999, New Life Church has assisted church plants across the world, including those in Mexico, Africa, India, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, the church has two permanent facilities on opposite ends of the 680 corridor, in Dublin and Alamo, as well as a thriving and growing online community.
LEADERSHIP
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Doug Heisel
Doug Heisel, along with his wife, Crystal, is the Founding and Senior Pastor of New Life Church. Since January 1999, they have led New Life as it has grown into a multisite church, influencing people for Jesus around the globe. Doug has a passion to communicate God’s Word in relevant and practical ways. His commitment to seeing all ages and backgrounds of people discover and fulfill their God-given purpose has led to transformation in people over the last three decades. Doug and Crystal have three adult daughters who also serve the Lord in various full-time church ministry roles.
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Crystal Heisel
Crystal has an infectious love for people and life. Her passion is championing and encouraging others to live and thrive in their God-given purpose. She has a vision to see every woman experience the life-changing transformation of Jesus, knowing her value, and that her story matters. Because she has a desire to see others thrive in their calling while using their gifts, leading and equipping others to step out of their comfort zone is a part of her life. Crystal is a pastor, speaker, mother, and grandmother. She and her husband, Doug, are the founding pastors of New Life Church.
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Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson and his wife, Becky, have faithfully served New Life Church for nearly two decades, working with students, young adults, and ministries encompassing all ages, preparing them to lead a local church. Together they have given special emphasis to raising the next generation; empowering young leaders to serve the church and to meet the needs of their community. This includes their two daughters, Kylee and Madison. Ben is known for his creative and relational speaking style that allows Ben to share his love for his Savior, along with his lessons learned about living, loving, and leading.
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Trevor Van Kempen
Trevor Van Kempen has been in youth ministry for over five years, but since he grew up in a pastor’s home, he’s been in ministry for his entire life. After growing up in Las Vegas, Trevor moved to the Bay Area in 2018. He’s passionate about seeing students embrace faith while living lives influenced by Jesus. Supporting students on campus, in their extracurriculars, and at weekly youth services are some of his favorite parts of ministry. Trevor loves New Life, especially the people he gets to serve. Trevor is married to his amazing wife, Holly, and together they are raising an army of boys.
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Carrie Morgan
Carrie Morgan has worked at New Life Church since 2002, and has called it home since after college. She is the New Life Kid’s Pastor and the champion of outreach projects throughout the Bay Area. Carrie loves spending time with her husband and three kids, and gets a kick out of traveling and experiencing new adventures – wherever they may be! She’s passionate about creating a safe and fun place for kids in our community to find Jesus and grow their faith. She’s driven by caring for others through serving, and loves bringing others alongside her to experience the joy of serving those in need.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
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GOD
The One True God has revealed himself as the eternally self-existent “I AM,” the Creator of heaven and earth, the Redeemer of mankind. He has revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 43:10,11, Mt. 28:19, Luke 3:22).
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JESUS
The only Son of God, Savior, and Soon Coming King. The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare his: virgin birth (Mt. 1:23; Lk. 1:31,35); sinless life (Heb. 7:26;1 Pt. 2:22); miracles (Ac. 2:22; 10:38); substitutionary work on the cross (1 Co. 15:3; 2 Co. 5:21); bodily resurrection from the dead (Mt. 28:6; Lk. 24:39; 1 Co. 15:4); exaltation to the right hand of God (Ac. 1:9,11; 2:33; Ph. 2:9,11; Hb.1:3); and his personal and imminent return, and millennial reign (1 Th. 4:16-17, Re. 19:11-14, 20:1-6).
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THE HOLY SPIRIT
The third person of the Trinity and giver of Supernatural Gifts. The Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhead who indwells, baptizes, and gives supernatural gifts to all believers, for empowerment to witness and serve. His present work is the same as that in the New Testament (Lk. 24:49; Ac. 1:4-8, 2:4; 1 Co. 12:1-31, Jm. 5:14-16).
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THE BIBLE
The only time-tested inspired Word of God, The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and life (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21).
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MANKIND
With a sinful nature, in need of salvation and sanctification, mankind was created good and upright. By voluntary disobedience mankind, fell into sin and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God (Ge. 1:26,27; 2:17; 3:6; Rm. 5:12-19). Mankind’s only hope of salvation is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, giving us forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and power to live separated from evil (Jn. 3:16, Rm. 10:9-10, 12:1).
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THE CHURCH
God’s agency in this world. The church is to carry out the work of Christ in this world, equip people for ministry, and maintain the ordinances of the Church — baptism by immersion and communion (Mk. 16:15-16, 1 Co. 11:26, Eph. 4:11-16). We also believe we are to affirm God’s plan for marriage as being a sacred union between one man and one woman in a legally recognized marriage. This was stated by God in Gen 2:22-24; quoted again by Jesus in Matt 19:4-6; and underscored by the Apostle Paul in Eph 5:31.
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OUR FUTURE
Death for the believer is not an event to be feared but a promotion to anticipate. Jesus is right now preparing an eternal home for all who know him, so we may live with him forever (1 Th. 4:16, 17; Rm. 8:23; Titus 2:13; 1 Co. 15:51.52; Re. 21 and 22).
VALUES THAT DEFINE US
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EXTRAVAGANT GRACE
We celebrate and share life that is saturated by the extravagant grace of Jesus. We fixate on His perfection not our performance. Our entire ministry overflows from this reality.
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BOLD FAITH
When it’s too big for us, it’s just right for God. We do not believe the lie that “God will never give us more than we can handle.” God will often give us more that we can handle so we are forced to depend on His power and sovereignty. We will not insult a BIG GOD with small thinking or safe living. So we pray big prayers and keep stepping into the greater things God has for us.
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RIDICULOUS GENEROSITY
We will lead the way in generosity, out of recognition of how ridiculously generous Jesus is to us. We all start as spiritual consumers but soon we can’t help but become spiritual contributors. We learn that we will never out give God, as His blessing will always surpass our giving. Our staff and congregation joyfully put God first, and we feel honored to watch Him advance His work through us: locally, regionally and globally. We believe that bringing our tithes and offerings is an act of worship and we do this with great joy.
OUR FAITH STATEMENTS
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EVERYONE NEEDS JESUS AND HE IS THE ONLY WAY
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.’”- Matthew 1:23
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EVERYONE NEEDS GOD'S WORD
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” - 2 Timothy 3:16
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EVERYONE NEEDS THE CHURCH
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” - Matthew 28:19