Life Church celebrates 10 years in Rio Rancho

RIO RANCHO — Members celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Life Church in Rio Rancho Jan. 16 and will have a celebration for its members Sunday, Jan. 19. Pastor Keith Phifer, who has been at the Rio Rancho location for eight of those years, was grinning ear-to-ear at the ribbon cutting that Jan. 15.

“I was on staff at one of our other locations before I came out here. But we moved out here about eight years ago and so we’ve been a part of Life Church, Rio Rancho, for eight up to 10 years. But I’ve been on staff with Life Church for about 12,” he said.

He first attended Life Church as a college student and later became more involved as his family grew.

“Then as my wife and I started having kids, a young family, Life Church was where we would attend church, and it’s where we grew in our faith a lot. After attending for probably six or seven years, then I actually came on staff at one of our Oklahoma locations,” Phifer said.

Now, he serves as pastor in Rio Rancho.

The 10-year anniversary, for Phifer, is a sign that it was meant to come to Rio Rancho.

“I think a big takeaway for me is one, this was a big step for Life Church to come to New Mexico. At that point, all of our other locations were Oklahoma or east. And so we had actually tried to go to Phoenix and it actually didn’t work. We had two campuses in Phoenix for about two years, maybe three years, and they were unsuccessful. They ended up having to shut down, and it was a devastating experience for the people that were attending church there and also for our leadership. So to come to New Mexico, back west, was a big step of faith,” he said. “To think about Pastor Jerome (the previous pastor of Rio Rancho Life Church), who invited us to come to New Mexico and the faith that it took for him. But also for our leadership to say, ‘Hey, I think this is what God wants us to do,’ and to look back at that and say it was all about timing and how God knew where we were supposed to be, when we were supposed to be there. Through what’s happened in our country, in our state, through COVID, for us to get to be here and be a part of creating space for people to come find hope and healing, also resource the community as best we can.”

He said he thinks the reason the Rio Rancho location succeeded has everything to do with the relationships and connections people form at the church.

“It really boils down to relationships. ... When you find a group of people like-minded like that and it’s a group of people you want to be friends with, that relationships will grow together with, that’s hard to walk away from. I absolutely believe that God built us for a relationship, and when you find authentic relationships with people, it’s just not normal in the world around us,” he said.

He added that Rio Rancho was already good at that.

“We are in a special community, and there’s a different kind of appetite for that here and there’s just a level of authenticity that exists here,” he said.

Additionally, Phifer says the congregation at the Rio Rancho location is growing with the city and that it is fertile ground for them.

“Our passion is for our church to look like our community. Whatever the community looks like when you walk through the grocery store or you’re at the ballfield, that’s what we want our church to look like,” he said.

Besides the incentive to find Jesus and be on a journey with God, Phifer says the connections and community outreach is a large part of the church as well.

“Church isn’t just a place you go to, but when you actually get connected and you find hope and we have an opportunity to serve, it’s not just what happens in these four walls,” he said.

He added that people don’t just walk in and walk out at Life Church.

“That’s not what God’s calling us to do. That’s not what the Bible teaches us. So serving in the community is an act of love and it’s an act of obedience. We were really fortunate to connect with Storehouse West and Read West because they do things that we just could never do, and they do it so well,” Phifer said.

Read West and Storehouse West also attended the ribbon cutting to support the anniversary.

“When we got connected with them, both through financial resource but also volunteers to go with their faith and share what they have through acts of service to the community around us, I think it’s what it means to be a Christ follower, and live out your faith and put your faith to action,” he said.

He also personally likes to help because he can’t stand to see people suffering.

“I have four sons, and I just hate the idea that kids don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” he said.

With Read West, he appreciates people who can utilize that resource and the “human element of people to have goals, dreams and desires.”

One resource that Rio Rancho’s Life Church offers is digital access to service, worship and prayer. Phifer said as the world modernizes, the church tries to keep up by providing ways for people to attend church.

“We believe that the church should lead the way in innovation. Wherever people are, they should have an opportunity to hear the gospel to experience life change,” he added.

This includes a livestream of services, a Bible app and YouTube. Phifer says this is also a for people to listen to the gospel in their native language. The online Life Church service also has a chat room so people can still be actively part of the service as opposed to just watching it on a screen from home.

The modern look to Rio Rancho’s Life Church was no accident, either.

“Back when it was Destiny Center before Life Church, Pastor Jerome had a real passion for creating a space that felt not intimidating, that felt comfortable for anybody to come into it, to feel almost like a community center rather than a church. So people are disarmed because it can be intimidating to walk through a church door. Anything that could be done to help eliminate some of that hesitation and intimidation ... that’s what Pastor Jerome’s heart really was all about was creating a space for the community to be a part of, to be iconic in that space but also for people to feel comfortable to come into,” Phifer said.

He added that it has served a purpose as a unique space these past 10 years.

“I think back at the last 10 years, I think about the stories of people — marriages have been restored. Or even, I can think of a story that marriage wasn’t restored, but a guy found friends and a place where he could bring his kids to get connected and to find hope and in his darkest days. We’ve seen God do a lot over 10 years,” he said.

He said each of those stories is a person. “I look back at the 10 years and you can see the forest. But when you look at the individual trees, those are people that God’s used in a really special way,” Phifer added.

He wants the community to know that Life Church is a place where people can go to be cared for and loved.

Life Church has services on Sunday and a youth service on Wednesdays. There are times to go throughout the day as well. For more information, visit life.church.