President Bill Clinton once said, “The God I believe in is a God of second chances.”

Redeeming Life Fellowship, a new Sequim church, is based on that belief.

Formed by a group of five men, Redeeming Life Fellowship’s mission involves “searching out the lost to bring them God’s message of love, hope and healing. Demonstrating the desire of God’s heart for life in bountiful joy, freedom and fulfillment in Him.”

“This is a result of many years of waiting,” explained the Rev. Jeff Nelson, one of the five “founding fathers” and an experienced minister from Vermont.

“There were a lot of aspects of ministering that I didn’t feel were right, at least not right for me,” he said, explaining a multiple-year break from ministering. “Then the Lord started speaking to me and telling me it was time to get back into ministering.”

“Perhaps now I’ve suffered enough failure, disappointments, mistakes and grief that I can be used to touch people’s lives and bring the Lord’s healing to them,” he mused.

Nelson enlisted the aid of four friends to start the church: Mickey Denny, John Alger, Miguel Colon and Jim Kisser. “I told the Lord, ‘I am not interested in doing this alone. It will be a plurality of leadership,’ and the Lord gave me a group of men to surround me and keep me accountable,” Nelson said.

Though the men are at the forefront of the development, they do not take full credit. “While it’s true that five men form the core, without the women we wouldn’t be here,” Alger said.

Redeeming Life Fellowship already is touching people’s lives. According to Nelson, a woman called him after a recent service and said she’d never felt the presence of God so strongly or vibrantly.

“It’s distinctly possible that God himself will meet you on Sunday morning if you attend Redeeming Life Fellowship,” Alger said.

The service is different every week to promote variety, keep guests entertained and meet the needs of the people who are there on any given Sunday, Nelson emphasized. “We can’t make things happen in people’s lives but it is our desire to do things with clean hands and an open heart so when we gather as a church we sense the Lord’s pleasure and ability to change people’s lives,” he said. “We want to facilitate a place where people can truly communicate with God, hear his voice and begin healing.”

About 30 individuals attend Redeeming Life Fellowship. New members of all backgrounds are welcome.

“People should experience freedom and if they aren’t, by all means, they should come to a service,” Denny said.

The congregation is renting the historical schoolhouse through the end of 2008. An electronic chair lift is available to individuals who cannot walk up and down stairs.

Nelson’s main goal for Redeeming Life Fellowship is to get involved with other churches in the area, teaming up for worship, music, community outreach and other special events.

For more information, call 681-0729.



Gathering in God’s name

Redeeming Life Fellowship meets at 10 a.m. Sundays at the old Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, with the exceptions of April 27 and May 4 when the church will meet at 7 p.m. due to previously scheduled events in the schoolhouse. For more information, call pastor Jeff Nelson at 681-0729.