How it all started...
It’s impossible to tell the whole story of All City—or properly honor every person who helped bring this dream to life—but there’s one detail that’s incredibly important: the story actually started through Lauren, Joe and Katrina’s daughter.
In the summer of 2018, Lauren had a dream that her dad came to Portland and started a church. Just a few months earlier, Lauren had sensed God speaking loud and clear, calling her to leave Santa Cruz and move to Portland to pursue music. She stepped out in faith and moved away from her family. Naturally, her dream about her dad coming to Portland could have easily been dismissed as simply missing her family. But then, during a FaceTime conversation with her dad, she told him about it. That’s when things got interesting. Lauren wasn’t the only one who had the dream. Her dad had too—the same dream! And if that wasn’t enough, one of Joe’s best friends, Danny, had experienced something very similar.
Something was stirring.
Hope Church, where Joe was serving as an Associate Pastor, fully supported this new adventure. And months later, Joe and Katrina loaded up a U-Haul, headed north on I-5 to Portland, reunited with Lauren, and together stepped into the unknown. They had a dream. They had faith. And they had no idea what God was about to do. In the fall of 2020, Joe met the pastor of Trinity Fellowship in the South Tabor neighborhood of Southeast Portland, less than two miles from his home. After much prayer and counsel, Trinity made an extraordinary decision: they relinquished ownership and control of their building and property to All City.
We were blown away. It was an incredible act of generosity and an unmistakable reminder of God’s provision. Generations of people had prayed, worshiped, served, sacrificed, and invested in that property—and All City was being invited to carry the story forward.
In January 2021, we held our first launch team and interest meeting. Thirty people showed up. We started meeting every week. We ate together. Prayed together. Dreamed together. Served together. And we believed together that Jesus wanted to do something beautiful in this city.
Then, on Easter Sunday 2021, All City Church launched its first Sunday morning gathering. And what a ride it has been. Since then, we’ve watched Jesus change lives, build relationships, restore hope, create community, and do things we never could have manufactured on our own. He has been so incredibly faithful.
And now, with more than five years of God’s faithfulness in our rearview mirror, another chapter is beginning. It’s a big change—but there is also tremendous anticipation for what Jesus is doing next.
Years ago, Trinity Fellowship demonstrated extraordinary generosity by giving this building and property to us. And now, we have the opportunity to do something remarkably similar. We are giving it to Rose Church. Freely we have received. Freely we are giving. Because we’ve always believed something around here:
The church has never been a building. The church is people. God’s people.
And now our people are joining forces with Rose. Rose is an incredible church gathering just three miles away, and God is moving powerfully in their midst. They love Jesus. They love this city. And they are making a tremendous impact throughout Portland.
So this isn’t the end of the story. It’s the beginning of a new chapter. The name All City may be going away, but the people of All City aren’t going anywhere. We’re bringing our stories. Our relationships. Our gifts. Our passion for this city. Our love for people.
And everything Jesus has built in us over these past five years. And we’re bringing it all with us as we become part of the Rose Church family.
What began with a dream in 2018 has become more than we ever could have imagined. And the dream isn’t over. It’s just getting bigger. A brand-new day is ahead, and we can’t wait to see what Jesus does next. Come join us as we continue the mission to build big people: becoming like Jesus, in community, while growing in faith.
