Believers welcome: Church finds new home on Golf Course Road

RIO RANCHO — Unity and Faith Ministries has a new building to call home.

On Nov. 1, the nondenominational church celebrated its second opening since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to be virtual after just opening on Southern Boulevard. Bishop Christopher Keeling Sr. is seeing to a small location at 1015 Golf Course Road now.

“What a blessing it is to see you all here today to help us celebrate a day that God knew was coming. We didn’t necessarily know when it was going to come, but we knew it was going to come,” Keeling told a group at the celebration.

Residents in Rio Rancho will recognize the building from when it used to be Anthony Delgado All State Insurance. For Keeling, the opening was a long time coming, and the owner of the building, Delgado, along with “God’s work” gave the church an opportunity to open again.

Keeling said the church’s previous landlord worked out of state and made it difficult for the church to thrive. When Keeling found out Delgado owned the building, plans went into motion to open the church.

“It was difficult, but through hard work from everybody in the congregation, even though we’re small, we got it done,” he said.

“God has been preparing us from 2019 for this move, and we had no idea that it was going to come to it when it came to it. It was an awesome blessing and a relief, a stress reliever.”

He added that Delgado was a “staple to the community” for more than 25 years.

“Everybody around here, for the most part, knows him. He was a staple in this community, so I’m just hoping and praying that we, as Unity and Faith will be that staple here in the same building,” he said.

Keeling received high praise from a couple of his ministers. Clint Cleaver joined Keeling in his mission to open a church.

“We met through the Citizens Police Academy. There was a connection between the two of us, coming from different walks in life, different states, Even though we had similar interests, similar jobs in the past. It was a connection between the two of us, and I felt it; he felt it,” Cleaver said.

After observing Keeling’s way of teaching the word of God, Cleaver felt Unity and Faith was the place to be.

“He didn’t speak of his congregation other than, ‘It’s a family,’” he said. “One day I text him, ‘I’m gonna be be at church on Sunday, come check you out all right?’ I came in and felt immediately at home.”

Keeling then asked Cleaver to preach for him, and after he prayed about it, Cleaver decided to join the ranks for more reasons than his own personal needs.

“I see a need for this particular church in this community,” he said.

Keeling talked about what makes the congregation “a family.” A big thing is the acceptance of all demographics, which Keeling insisted on. He added that he never saw his fellow church-goers as anything but members of the congregation.

“We didn’t focus on demographics where we lived. We lived where we lived, and we associated with who was there. I grew up on a block with 24 houses. Fourteen were African-American. Ten were Caucasian. It was great. They were my brothers and sisters, my friends, my confidants, the ones that got me in trouble when I did something wrong. When I did something wrong, they counseled me and chastised me as if they were my parents. It didn’t matter,” Keeling said. “So coming here to Rio Rancho was nothing different from that.”

He said he expects his congregation at Unity and Faith to be a mix of people when it comes to ethnicity, language and faith.

“The word of God is universal. I want them to understand the word of God, and by understanding the word of God, you can apply the word of God to your living,” Keeling said. “If you don’t understand it, I get it. You can’t apply it. So we focus ourselves on teaching from the Bible. And even when we talk about reading the Bible, it’s like read the one you understand, because if you don’t understand it, the King James or (whatever) version, you’re not going to apply any of it to your life.”

That system is inspired by the name of the church, according to Keeling. “The first part of it is Unity and then Faith, period,” he said.

No matter where people are coming from, he said, the words they will hear are, “Come on in.”

Keeling was also supported by Chaplain and retired Pastor Jeff Carr from Mesa Baptist Church, Sandoval County Commissioner Jordan Juarez and Ministers Fellowship of Albuquerque Vicinity/Pastor of The Word of God Church of Rio Rancho, Dr. Geleta Smith.

Several pastors and chaplains also showed support, including Raymond Archibeque, John Henigan, Raymond Keeling and Michelle Pacheco.

For more information, visit my.linkpod.site/Unity-Faith-Ministries.