Our History

The First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Redding was started in 1965 under the leadership of Rev. Ellis Martin. The congregation met in a small church, on East Street, and in 1968, Ellis moved on and the church we occupied was sold. Dell Souther led us to the Presbyterian Church where we stayed there for many years, hoping that we could move on to a place of our own.

When Rev. Henry Searle retired and moved to Redding, he joined us and eventually we moved to the Women’s Improvement Clubhouse. We met every other Saturday night with Rev. Larry Love as traveling minister. In 1983, we hired Rev. Glenn Warner and moved to the Washington Mutual Bank at Mt. Shasta Mall. After a short while, the bank remodeled and Glenn retired. We then rented the chapel at the Baptist Church on Eureka Way. In 1986, we hired Rev. Steve Fietz, who was with us for about seven years.

During this time, we purchased over four acres of property at the corner of Placer and Buenaventura and we hired Rev. Heather Hennessey in 1993. We moved out of the Baptist Church and set up an outside worship area on our property, under the trees. It was nice until it got HOT. Lawncrest Chapel offered us their chapel for Sunday worship. We grew in numbers and saved for a permanent facility. In 1996, we had a “church-raising” where folks came from all over and helped us raise the walls. Not long after we completed the first building, we realized that it was too small, so we expanded it. In time, we completed the next phase, the Burrell Building, a two story building with classrooms, restrooms, and fellowship room. The Church started a thrift store, Second Helpings, at 2636 Churn Creek Rd. in 2011 that benefits local charities in the area besides the church.

Heather retired in 2012 and in early 2015, Rev. Janet Chapman came to be our Pastor. Pastor Janet has been in ministry for 25 years serving congregations in Fort Worth, TX; Kansas City, MO; and Selma, CA. She has two young adult daughters, two cats, and two dogs; enjoys swimming, kayaking and horseback riding; and loves serving God within the Body of Christ.