Pastor Chris and Tatum are both from Redlands. In 1999 they moved to Orange County and served on staff at a church for 14 years. During that time God began to shape a dream in their heart of planting a church with a simple goal – helping people come to know Jesus and live out their unique purpose in life. They envisioned a place so filled with life that you couldn’t wait to get there. A place that would help people from every generation and every walk of life live in the fullness God has for them.

In late 2013, Chris and his wife moved their family back to their hometown and began building a team of people committed to seeing that dream become a reality. On January 19th, 2014, with the help of over 50 people on the launch team, Citizens Church began. That Sunday over 500 people attended our first service at the Fox Theater in downtown Redlands.

From the beginning, Citizens Church has been marked by a passion for helping people find a place to call home. The life-giving message of the Gospel, energizing atmosphere, and simple style of Citizens Church brought immediate growth. In its first year, after starting with 350 in the second week, the church grew to 550 people in weekly attendance and saw nearly 200 people commit their lives to Christ. At its 2nd year birthday, Citizens had grown to almost 1000 people attending the weekend services and hundreds in small groups all over the Inland Empire.

Today, Citizens Church continues to have a front-row seat to seeing God work.  Lives are being changed through life in Christ week after week.  People are coming to know God, grow in community, discover purpose and make a difference in the world around them. We invite you to see for yourself how exciting church can be when the focus is simple and people are free to go after God with passion.