Celebrating Five Years
Anthem Church officially launched as a new church on October 17, 2021. Crossroads Bible Church commissioned and prayed over us as they sent us out, and we are so grateful to now celebrate five years as a church!
We are so grateful to celebrate Anthem Church’s upcoming fifth birthday! Back on October 17, 2021, after a season of praying and preparing, Crossroads Bible Church sent us out to officially launch as a new church plant. We stepped into the unknown with faith and hope, as well as, with no idea what God would do over the next five years: the people He would bring, the lives He would change, the leaders He would raise up, or even the new churches He would start through us. It has been an incredible journey of watching God work and provide, and this October we want to stop, look back, and celebrate His faithfulness together.
Five years ago, we stepped out in faith to start Anthem Church with a conviction that God had brought the world into our neighborhood with a purpose for us. At the time, more than 60,000 foreign-born residents from over 90 countries called Bellevue home, with thousands more expected in the years ahead. Many had come from places where they had little access to the gospel. We believed Jesus’ call to make disciples of every people group was not only sending the church into the world, but that the Lord was bringing the world to us. And so we began with a desire to be a faithful witness to our neighbors, especially those from the many cultures and nations God was bringing to the Eastside.
From the beginning, Anthem has been God’s building project. Not a project measured in bricks and walls, but in people transformed through a relationship with Jesus. Ephesians 4:7–16 describes Christ building His church as His people are equipped for ministry, grow together toward maturity, and each member does their part in connection to Christ. Over these five years, we have had the privilege of watching Him do just that and more. God has brought people together from different cultures and backgrounds, changed lives through the gospel, formed an ethnically diverse community that genuinely cares for one another, and raised up people to serve, shepherd, and reach the lost.
And there is so much to celebrate. What began with eight people has grown into a multiethnic church family of 109 adults, youth, and kids connected through 10 groups and representing 15 different ethnic backgrounds. Over five years, we have celebrated 48 first-time decisions for Jesus, 15 baptisms, and two daughter churches, while welcoming more than 980 people into our fellowship through 316 Sunday gatherings. And what began as one small ESL class has grown into 325 Talk Time and ESL classes serving more than 150 English-language learners from around the world.
Our five-year celebration on October 18 (click here to register) is a chance to stop in the middle of God’s building project and celebrate all that He has done, is doing, and will continue to do. We are not looking back at a finished product. We are looking back at five years of God’s faithfulness and at hundreds of people and stories that remind us He is still at work, transforming lives and using His people to build His church.
As we look ahead, our prayer is that God will continue building us into the presence of Christ in our community: a church that forms deep community, faithfully reaches people with the gospel, and raises up leaders who make disciples who make disciples. We are profoundly grateful for how God has brought us this far, and we look forward to gathering on October 18 to celebrate His faithfulness together and to step with faith into whatever He has for Anthem Church next.