ABOUT US
At Alife, we are a group of people
WHO DON'T WANT TO JUST DO CHURCH WE WANT TO BE THE CHURCH.
We are brave enough to let Holy Spirit lead us.
We are brave enough to become the ones who bring heaven to where we live.
We don’t just want to learn more about Jesus; we want to become the family,
the church, Jesus had in mind.
God has used the church to bring what He wants to the world many times.
We have experienced God’s presence. We have experienced God’s power. Most of the time, this has come from a few key people leading.
In 2020, something shifted.
It is no longer about a few people bringing God to everyone else. It is now about everyone becoming the church Jesus had in mind.
We have been stripped back to the bones of what the church was birthed in.
The first-century church gathered in courtyards and experienced the presence of God through fellowship, communion, and testimonies. They got a taste of His Kingdom and then brought that Kingdom out into their communities.
We set up our structures to encourage the same culture that the first-century church embraced.
It is not about one or two people feeding the family; it is about becoming His family filled with power and love.
Our scheduled gathering time is meant to be just a taste of what it is like to be His church.
We are creating a structure that helps everyone become the church.
We want you to experience God's presence and healing,
but we also want you to help others experience
God’s presence and healing.
We want you to become so excited that God can use you to bring heaven to earth that you can’t wait to bring that to your work or family.
If this sounds like something you would be brave enough to do with us,
come join us.
We are becoming His brave family where; we all get to bring His heaven to earth.
WHY
HOW
WHAT
to become HIS church
to bravely become who YOU were born to be
find avenues to become fully you
OUR WHY
Matthew 16:18-19
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock,
I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
This is a foundational scripture for us and to all who want to become the church that changes the world.
If we are to become this church Jesus has in mind, we need to know what “this rock” is. We believe the ROCK is; knowing who He is, and hearing who we are directly from Him. We are getting a glimpse of our purpose partnered with Jesus.
When we know this with all our heart, we will take the territory that hell has occupied for a long time, and we will be given the keys of His kingdom to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue, and have dominion. Then we the church will take the ground that is otherwise occupied by darkness. We will also receive keys of the Kingdom that empower us to have a supernatural impact.
OUR HOW
Becoming the church isn't just about Sunday mornings, that is just a small expression of it. Sunday mornings are just a taste of what Jesus is calling us to experience, become and give. It's a sample of what living as His church and in His Kingdom, can look like.
We want to support you in your walk with God as you bravely become all that you were designed to be. As a church family, we prioritize ways for you to become healthy physically, spiritually, and mentally.
We help you discover your Identity and find out who God really is. We provide pathways to become His church in our workplace and business. We have outlets for you to go reach those people in places beyond the gates. We provide ways for you to be the church to others right from your home.
OUR WHAT
We have heard from God to focus on seven ways to become His church. We are much more than programs or a Sunday morning event. We do however still have ways for you to experience what God is doing, starting with a Sunday morning experience.
2. Identity
7. Equipping School
OUR DIFFERENCE
Jonathan and Danie speak together and share their unique perspectives
We do interviews with people who God is moving in and through from within our church and beyond.
We are authentic and choose to be vulnerable with our story and lead by letting Jesus change us in front of everyone.
We are willing to follow Holy Spirit’s lead even when we have other plans.
We make many opportunities for people to be activated in what Jesus is teaching us.
OUR TEAM
PASTOR
JONATHAN HANSON
I have always wanted to be part of God's dream coming true here on earth as it is in heaven. Even as a young boy, I remember seeing how Jesus would change the world through unselfish people who loved Him. I believe that Jesus will change the world through His bride, the church. I have always thought that the church is people, not a place we go to, and I also believe that Jesus will show up where people gather together, whether on Sunday or any day of the week.
MORE ABOUT JONATHAN
PASTOR
DANIE HANSON
His dream and mine are for people to embrace who they are made to be. We not only embrace this but love who we are made to radiate.
We are the corporate expression of this beauty together. We are each a unique expression of a facet of God, whose image we are made in.
We are the church, and we get to bring that abundant life to everyone in our reach.
MORE ABOUT DANIE
OFFICE MANAGER &
HEAD OF HOSPITALITY
JOANNA DOYLE
I was born and raised here in Bellingham, Washington and at Alife Church. It was my first home. I’ve known and loved Jesus for as long as I can remember and while it took a bit longer to warm up to myself, and Bellingham for that matter (side note I prefer warm climates), here I find myself in this place of fit. I left in my early twenties for nearly a decade and began a journey of coming home to myself. My favorite thing in the whole world is that feeling you get when you step into a place that feels like home. Along the way, God has helped me find within myself the ability to create that space wherever I go, and I have found a calling in creating that space for others. Whether it’s in the office, at ALife for an event, sitting on a couch, or at a table, I hope to help make each one feel like a beautiful space where Holy Spirit dwells and where you might feel loved, honored and simply like you found a bit of home.
PRODUCTION MANAGER &
HEAD OF FACILITIES
ERIK DRAKE
I have been a part of the Alife family for 20 years. I can look back and see in so many instances where Jesus had my back and put people in my life to help heal and grow me into who I am today. Over the last 10 years I’ve really started to know WHO Jesus is and connect with his dreams for humanity. I share a heart to help change the systematic perception of what church has become and help a people become what God really intended as the church. By far, my favorite thing to see is people experiencing a full expression of Jesus in their lives and for that expression to turn into relationship and for that relationship to turn into real, tangible, life giving change in their own lives. So much so, that it emanates off them onto the people around them both in our Alife community and the community outside of a building.
WORSHIP LEAD
AMY SMALL
I started serving at Alife as a response to a word from the Lord, He was calling out my creativity and saying that it was time to let it come out. Shortly after that, I joined the worship team. That was over 3 years ago now - it started as an act of obedience and continues as so much more. I have always been struck by the way music touches people in ways that nothing else can. As a worship leader, it is my goal to help people open their hearts, enter into worship, and connect with their Father. I love what an atmosphere of worship does, and I LOVE to see people experience breakthrough, healing, and freedom through the vehicle of worship. . . and ultimately carry it over into their daily lives - living a life of worship as who they are truly meant to be!
In my free time you’ll find me laughing with my husband Micah, homeschooling our 5 kids, working out, or dreaming about my future farm/homestead!
SPIRITUAL PARENTS
TED & BONNIE HANSON
Ted & Bonnie founded Abundant Life church over 20 years ago and still remain an integral part of the ministry. Ted travels extensively around the world sharing the message of grace that is ingrained into the foundation of ALife. He trains and equips believers through his ministry House of Bread as well as Christ Life training- an intensive ministry school and internship program. Bonnie continues to be a steady keel of wisdom and encouragement to the leaders and the church as a whole.
AWESOME HUMAN &
CHURCH INTERN
MEG REEVE
I have been at Alife Church for almost 8 years. I moved here after attending G42 (a Christian Leadership Academy in the south of Spain) - it was a moment of choosing to walk a path that I had no idea where it would go. I have worked at churches and been a part of communication teams, worship teams and working with kids for most of my life but only in the last ten years or so have I truly started to understand who I am and who Christ is in my life. I have truly appreciated the way Christ has weaved throughout my story; even when I couldn’t see it and have continued to see so many different facets of who He is. Serving the kids at Alife and helping plan their lessons each Sunday and helping fill in wherever I’m needed allows me to have a glimpse at watching people step more into who they are and be exactly who they are meant to be.
I have always wanted to be part of God's dream coming true here on earth as it is in heaven. Even as a young boy, I remember seeing how Jesus would change the world through unselfish people who loved Him. I believe that Jesus will change the world through His bride, the church.
I have always thought that the church is people, not a place we go to, and I also believe that Jesus will show up where people gather together, whether on Sunday or any day of the week.
I could not see myself bringing the presence of God or leading people to become His church, but I did see myself supporting the church through financial support and serving where needed. I grew up doing both of those very well. I was on a worship team from the age of 12. I was on prophetic teams prophesying over people and involved in our youth group. At 17, I wanted to be a kingdom entrepreneur. Everything I tried in business to pursue did not produce the fruit we aimed for.
At age 30, Danie and I were asked to take over the church. I was still at the place where I did not want to lead people to become His church, but I felt that pull in my heart.
I knew God was asking us to do something we did not believe we could do. We know the church needs to change but to believe that God would change His stuck church through us felt impossible.
Several years after being pastors, we had a rude awakening that we were not making the impact we thought we would. We lost so many friends and people who we thought were committed to becoming like Christ with us no matter what. All my fears came flooding back, and all I could think of was that my best efforts just made the church (His people) worse. These were all the reasons I did not want to do this in the first place.
God took me on a journey of hearing who He is in my life and who I am. Before that, I was hoping He would prove who I am to others by healing them and helping them come alive through me. I now know that I needed some lies to be exposed and then replaced with Truth that only Jesus can do. Ever since that time, my mission has changed from wanting Jesus to show off through my life, to becoming whole and becoming close to Jesus. My heart and relationship with Jesus are changing in ways I did not expect. I am becoming who He says I am, and He is who He says He is in my life. This newfound experience with Jesus is having a profound impact on the people around us.
JONATHAN'S STORY
DANIE'S STORY
I have been passionate my entire life about living my life with the transparency of glass. My personality is; If I think it, I say it, and then I do it kind of gal.
I was born into a Christian family and have been on a lifelong mission to embrace and be a very different and unique, joyful expression of my favorite person ever born, Jesus. I married my Boyfriend of 23 years now, and we have two beautiful daughters.
I have never dreamt of or desired to become a pastor nor be involved that closely in Ministry. Why? You ask. Well, I felt I could never fit in the title of pastor, or shall I say, a pastor that I have seen in my lifetime. Think of a round peg in a square hole. I felt I couldn't fit the bill engrained in my thinking. I was too much, and I felt I was too much. And my views and beliefs (And changing beliefs) along my journey of life sounded scary and like I would have to try and conform to what I thought it had to look like. My life and my family's life are on display as the threshold for so much criticism and judgment. Sounds appealing, right? I would lose myself. I would die inside. I'd be seen differently. So, I thought. After We had our second daughter, we both knew God was asking us to say yes, not for me, but for others.
It wasn't without a few choice words with God, I knew. It was time. So, I bit the bullet and choked down my pride.
It wasn't without a few choice words with God, I knew. It was time. So, I bit the bullet and choked down my pride.
I said yes.
My dream is the church (I consider myself the church), living and wildly showing what Jesus came to do. And that was displayed in power and true love. What I especially like about Jesus so much is His life and how He displayed it so clearly to us, so passionately and so recklessly. It is so beautiful. He didn't apologize for being too much, doing unusual things. I mean, he flipped tables to set them straight. That was definitely something I could get on board with, that level of commitment to passion.
My growth and love for Jesus has only grown.
By partnering with Holy Spirit to let light consume, heal, to get all shame the heck out. It takes its hold off. And sets wildly free the place that used to rule your heart. To be free, truly free.
I have a gift for speaking the truth. I don't know if you'd call that a gift or not, Ha-ha, but I still do it. I live my life knowing that the only person I answer to in the end is God. So why not live my life with that as my foundation? It sure takes the load off of pleasing any other humans. This has truly given me the most profound peace, even in my darkest times of addiction, depression, pain, and grief.
I'm not afraid to go to the challenging, self dealt shame, messy, and dark places, with myself or others, in any arena. Because unloading all the unnecessary baggage, finding who you were made to be. It's being seen by the only One that matters. Everything else just falls away when you know you are deeply and truly loved. Fully embracing who I was designed to be. Free from conformity and idealism. It's a dangerously powerful stance when you know who you are. And you start to live life in it. Full embrace mode.
