Who We Are

In the winter of 2000, God placed it upon the hearts of the Pastors Sal and Rhonda DiMare to plant a new church in the Wenatchee Valley. The goal for this new church was to help people who are not now worshippers of God to become worshippers, and so Wenatchee Valley Praise Center was born according to Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.” (NIV)

This calling from the Lord was first placed into the hands of dozens of people who committed to praying and interceding for the church.

In March, a handful of people – fifteen in all – met for three weeks at Cedar’s Inn Motel in a conference room to plan how we might start a church.  Excitement was building quickly and we decided to start with our first public service on April second. We secured the use of the Grant Elementary School Gymnasium and one other classroom. The huge gym seemed to swallow up our tiny congregation but we worshipped intently to fill the room.

As fall approached, we were made aware of a building that might suit our purposes.  The building was originally built as a real estate office and presented some challenges to make it into a sanctuary, classrooms and an office. The building was rented at first and then purchased in the Spring of 2001. From the very first Sunday in the new facility, attendance began to rise. Then, with a blast of advertising in mid November, we saw even more visitors begin to come.

The church has been blessed with steady growth. In November of 2002, we began having two services on Sunday mornings to accommodate the people that wanted to come. Our next challenge was in the fact that our classrooms and nursery were undersized. As God continued to bless, we were able to purchase a modular classroom and remodel it to create more space for the children. Together with an expanded and newly remodeled nursery, there is plenty of room for the children.

One other area that has seen great growth is our Uturn youth ministry.  John and Amy Brossoit have faithfully served in this ministry to a place where now there are over 200 teens meeting here in two services each week. As of September of 2003, we placed John and Amy Brossoit on staff as Youth Pastors.

God continues to bless in many ways here at Wenatchee Valley Praise Center. We are anticipating that as we continue to grow, we would bring glory to Jesus Christ in our community. Our thanks go out to all who have worked so hard with us: Laboring in prayer, in ministry, in giving and in worshipping together with us. Above all, our thanksgiving is raised to our King whose kingdom we are seeking, whose heart we are finding, and whose praises we are proclaiming.