The story of a church that began in Bonney Lake.

Open Life Church is the result of a divine interruption during a board meeting at Northwest Family Church (NFC) on February 10, 2009 in Auburn, WA. The Northwest Ministry Network was present and asking if anyone on that church’s staff would feel the call to start a new church in Bonney Lake. It was church that would exist for those who were not already in a relationship with Jesus. Thad Huff, youth pastor for 13 years at that point with the last 4 being at NFC, felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit, and the journey of determining if it was God, or the pizza he ate earlier that night, began. (Narrator: It wasn’t the pizza) Having lived in Bonney Lake for 4 years at that point, Thad & Dana Huff and family accepted the shift in focus from youth in Auburn to the unchurched in their community after a few weeks of discerning if this was surely God speaking!  Without a doubt...it was God. 

Thad & Dana assembled a team by asking many of their friends through Facebook and neighbors if they would join in on the mission of Jesus in Bonney Lake; “people leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus.” Over the course of the summer of 2009, the formation point of a launch team began. They settled on a pre-launch gathering in the Huff home in the fall of 2009. A few dozen people gathered with their families and began to pray and believe for a church that would be a benefit to the community and one day gather in a market place worship environment within the community. 

On January 10, 2010, Open Life started meeting weekly in the Regal Theater with 121 people (pictured here). Since the launch, Open Life has experienced great favor and has become a key organization in the life of the city of Bonney Lake, as they build and serve the community through moments like the, School Supply Give, the Community Big Give, and being strategically generous through various community partnerships. They have now moved the weekly gathering to Bonney Lake High School in the heart of the city and enjoy being able to invest back into the local school district.

Open Life learned early in our story that we wanted to be a benefit to the community. We invested highly in the community by partnering with people who were doing things well to help where it hurts locally.

The biggest event to this date that we launched in 2010 was the Community Big Give. A Thanksgiving meal distribution for those experiencing food insecurity within our region. Over the years this has become one of the largest events to serve the community in East Pierce County. It all began with 150 meals and a love for people and has become such a powerful moment in our community's year.  READ MORE HERE...

We are still mobile, and after 2020 displaced us to lean in on our relationships within the community, we are excited to be back to the schools for worship again.  There is just something about meeting in the marketplace of the community that allows the guard to be down for those who have never been to church.

We are so thankful for those who carry the vision of this strategy of church with us. 

We discovered during 2020-2022 that we needed even more intentional effort towards discipleship and a place to consistently equip and empower the church. So we set our sights on right spaces within the community for a ministry hub. We moved a 5 year vision back to a this year vision for 2021 and pursue a space that will be able to host classes, worship team nights, youth and more. In the spring of 2021 we found an opportunity we leaned into and God did a miracle of provision for Open Life to purchase the century old building, the Finn Hall, off of 234th and 410 hwy. We have since named the facility The Gathering Place and are in talks currently with the County to permit the improvements to the facility. Read the full story HERE.