In southeast Albuquerque, on Waterfall Drive in the Southeast Heights, Believer Church is a non-denominational Christian church known for Jesus-centered worship, a multigenerational family of ministries, and practical service to Albuquerque. Twelve people began it in a living room in 1980. Today, its 10 AM Sunday gathering combines worship, teaching straight from Scripture, and prayer, while separate children's and middle-school environments let parents stay in the room. That rhythm continues through the week with small groups, recovery, student gatherings, and LoveABQ outreach.
A Living Room Start on Waterfall Drive
Believer Church began in 1980 when Marshall and Cindi Townsley gathered twelve people in a living room in Northeast Albuquerque. They asked what would happen if the church looked like the city it was sent to. From the beginning, the church emphasized the grace of God and invited people to rest in his unchanging character. It grew from a handful of people into a congregation and then into a building on Waterfall Drive in Southeast Heights.
For most of its history, the church was known as Believers Center of Albuquerque. As leadership passed to a new generation, the name became Believer Church, a simpler expression of the same conviction: people who believe Jesus and follow him together. The name changed. The mission never did. Believer Church says its mission is to make followers of Jesus, and its vision is a church full of people who look a little more like Jesus each year. Its motto, Follow Jesus. Love Albuquerque., connects worship and biblical teaching with responsibility to the city.
Lead pastors David and Jordan Eiffert now carry that legacy. David grew up in the church and began in vocational ministry as its youth pastor. Jordan came up through service and special events. Together they have more than forty years of combined ministry experience and are appointed by and accountable to the church's Governing Board. Their shared responsibility is to continue the grace-centered teaching of earlier generations while reaching Albuquerque with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Sunday at 10 AM: A First Visit with Room to Breathe
The main service begins at 10 AM at 320 Waterfall Dr SE. Most Sundays run about 75 minutes and include worship, teaching straight from the Bible, prayer, and space to respond. The gathering is held in English. People who are new to church do not need to know the songs, understand the format, or have any religious background in advance. Sit wherever you want, take part as you are able, and listen at your own pace.
Parking is free on campus just off Waterfall Drive. Visitors enter through the main entrance, where hosts can direct them to the auditorium, restrooms, coffee, the information center, or the appropriate children's check-in. Families with young children are encouraged to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early so a host can walk them through check-in and help the adults find a seat afterward. BC Mid School students begin with the congregation for worship and then move to their own youth room.
The church is deliberate about making first-time visitors comfortable. No one will single you out, ask you to stand, chase you down for money, or require you to give or bring anything. Most people dress casually, so wear whatever helps you feel comfortable walking in. After the service, people who want prayer can find a prayer team at the front. Those who simply want to leave are also free to do so without explanation.
No appointment is required. The optional Plan Your Visit form simply lets the church expect you, assist with children's check-in, and answer questions before you arrive.
Tuesday at 7 PM: Bible Study and Three Generations
Tuesday at 7 PM is another central gathering. Believers Bible Study gives adults time to open the Bible together, while BC Kids and BC Youth meet at the same time in age-appropriate rooms. Parents do not have to choose between their own discipleship and their children's ministry. The Tuesday gathering is a real Bible study for adults, with worship and teaching for students rather than a child-care arrangement while the adults meet.
The wider weekly rhythm also includes BC Recovery on Wednesdays from 6 to 8 PM and BC Young Adults on the first Thursday of each month from 7 to 8 PM. Two monthly practices extend that rhythm: founding pastors Marshall and Cindi Townsley lead Pray First on the first Tuesday, and the first Sunday of each month gathers the church for worship, baptism, Communion, child dedication, and an orientation for newer families.
A Place for Babies, Students, Young Adults and Adults
BC Kids: Teaching Built for Each Age
BC Kids serves children from birth through age 12 during both Sunday at 10 AM and Tuesday at 7 PM. Its three environments are designed around the needs of the children in each room. The nursery for ages 0-2 is calm and hands-on, with a nursing mothers' room nearby. Preschoolers ages 3-5 move among Bible story, worship, and play. Elementary students ages 6-12 study the Bible with more discussion as they begin asking harder questions.
The children's teaching combines Scripture, worship, and play, but Believer Church is deliberate that it is not simply childcare while adults do the important part. The Bible teaching is not reduced to a watered-down version for children. Each age group has its own room and regular volunteers who learn the children's names. A parent may stay with a nervous child during the first visit.
Children's safety is visible in the volunteer process. Before serving in a room with children, every volunteer completes a background check, provides two references, and is a member of Believer Church in good standing. There are no exceptions to those requirements, even when the volunteer pool is short.
BC Mid School and BC Youth: Faith With Real-World Questions
Middle and high school students have distinct places within the church family. On Sunday mornings, BC Mid School has its own service at 10 AM. Students join the main room for worship and then move to the youth room for games, a lesson, small groups, and basketball. The environment is built for the questions students face regarding identity, anxiety, relationships, and faith.
On Tuesday nights at 7 PM, middle and high schoolers gather together for BC Youth. The evening includes worship, a message connected to what students are actually living, and time to build friendships with one another and with leaders. Nobody is put on the spot or expected to know the Bible beforehand. Leaders watch for students arriving alone and help them connect. The same background check, reference, and membership standards apply to youth leaders.
BC Young Adults: A Place to Belong While Life Changes
BC Young Adults serves people ages 18-30 on the first Thursday of each month from 7 to 8 PM. College, first jobs, first apartments, dating, moving, and deciding what they believe are all part of the landscape this ministry addresses. The monthly gathering combines worship, teaching, and genuine conversation, while small groups and serve teams provide connection throughout the rest of the month.
No church background, invitation, or already-sorted life is required. People who arrive without knowing anyone are met rather than left standing near the door. The church also describes itself as a multigenerational family that includes babies, children, students, parents, singles, young adults, and seniors who have been part of the congregation for decades.
Small Groups Where Faith Gets Practical
Small groups meet year-round in homes across Albuquerque and the surrounding metro area, as well as at the church and in local coffee shops. Some are organized around a Bible study, a season of life, or a shared interest, and new groups open each semester. The purpose is more than attendance: people become known, talk honestly about faith, share meals, pray, and make room for one another during ordinary life.
The variety reflects the life of the church:
- Aged to Perfection brings together seasoned believers for a meal, stories, care, and prayer.
- BC Men of Purpose emphasizes shared life, Scripture, honest relationships, and spiritual growth among men.
- Faith Buddies is a Bible-based fellowship for married or single adults.
- Daughters of Grace welcomes women at every stage and stage of faith for Scripture, encouragement, and honest conversation.
- Breakfast & Theology discusses the church's historic creeds and confessions in a relational setting over breakfast.
- The Fruitful Life centers worship, prayer, biblical discipleship, and authentic community.
- Girls Night combines Bible talks, worship, crafts, games, questions, food, and friendship.
- The Break Room gives young adult men a relaxed place for Bible study, laughter, brotherhood, and honest conversation.
- Sip Study Repeat meets over coffee or matcha for friendship and Bible study, and Strides of Faith combines a run, Scripture, and prayer for young men.
- Financial Peace University offers practical, Bible-based principles for budgeting, eliminating debt, saving, giving generously, and building a strong financial future.
- Men's Breakfast brings men together for prayer, conversation, and connection over a meal.
People who want to lead a group can open their home or step into a leadership role. Serving teams also give adults a way to belong through hosting, parking, children's ministry, worship, production, prayer, and outreach. For many people at Believer Church, serving becomes the place where friendships deepen.
BC Recovery: Freedom Through Grace and Community
BC Recovery meets on Wednesdays from 6 to 8 PM for 14-week semesters. It is a Christ-centered recovery ministry for anyone seeking freedom and restoration, including people dealing with addiction, alcohol, anxiety, grief, codependency, past trauma, or a habit that has taken control. Those who simply want a deeper relationship with Jesus are also welcome.
Each week includes biblical teaching, honest small-group discussion, and prayer with people who will not flinch at someone's story. Recovery is presented as more than changing unhealthy patterns; it is discovering identity in Christ and learning to walk in his grace. The curriculum is provided free, and no one is required to speak before they are ready. BC Recovery is Christ-centered rather than a step-based program.
Follow Jesus. Love Albuquerque.
LoveABQ is the church's city outreach ministry, and its slogan is treated as a practical commitment. Its work addresses four painful realities in Albuquerque: poverty, homelessness, addiction, and human trafficking. Volunteers distribute food bags at services, provide weekend food bags for students through Feed New Mexico Kids, and take food, hygiene kits, and prayer directly to people living on the street through mobile teams. The ministry also operates an annual Thanksgiving meal-box drive-through and supports families facing hardship with Christmas gifts.
LoveABQ service teams gather for monthly serve days involving meals, supply drops, and neighborhood projects. The aim is to work alongside schools, organizations, and neighbors who may never attend Believer Church. The church also supports global partners financially, including the Dream Center in Los Angeles, a children's home in Thailand, and partners in Romania. Mission work is therefore both local and global, rooted in the conviction that a church placed in one city can care about the whole world.
Prayer is woven through that practical life as well. A prayer team prays with anyone who asks after every service and follows up when requested. People do not need to be in crisis before approaching the team.
Fourteen Convictions, One Center: Jesus
Believer Church holds to fourteen biblical convictions. They are summarized here in the church's own terms, beginning with the conviction that shapes all the others: Jesus Christ is supreme over all things, and everything was created through him and for him.
- The Bible is the inspired Word of God, trustworthy and the final authority for belief and life.
- There is one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and Jesus is fully God and fully man, born of a virgin.
- People are saved from sin by grace through repentance and faith in Jesus, not by self-improvement.
- Water baptism outwardly expresses an inner faith, and Communion remembers Jesus' body and blood as the church shares the table together.
- Every believer is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and receive a prayer language of speaking in tongues. The gifts of the Spirit remain active in individuals and the church, practiced with order, humility, and love.
- Jesus is building his church, and every believer is meant to be a living part of it rather than remain alone.
- Divine healing is available through the work of Christ, and every believer is given power for an overcoming, victorious life.
- Jesus Christ will return. Eternal life belongs to those who believe, while eternal punishment awaits those who do not, making the gospel an open invitation to everyone.
Six practical commitments accompany those convictions: follow Jesus, lead with love, speak truth with grace, love the city, give freely, and be family. Together they express the church's insistence that faith must shape both what people believe and how they treat one another and Albuquerque.
The People Carrying the Week
David and Jordan Eiffert serve as lead pastors. David graduated from Charis Bible College with a degree in Biblical Studies before entering vocational ministry as Believer Church's youth pastor. Jordan graduated from the University of New Mexico before stepping into ministry as the church's service and special events coordinator. Their shared ministry extends across worship, teaching, discipleship, and leadership of the congregation.
Marshall and Cindi Townsley are the founding senior pastors. They planted the church in 1980, shaped its enduring emphasis on grace, and continue to lead the church family in prayer at the monthly Pray First gathering. Their influence remains part of the church's identity even as a new generation carries daily pastoral responsibility.
Shirley Howard serves as Family Pastor. Her work includes pastoral care for members, couples, and families through illness and grief, visits to hospitalized and homebound people, and connections to professional counselors when a need exceeds the scope of pastoral care.
Lauren Stewart leads the Next Gen team, overseeing the nursery through young-adult ministries, selecting curriculum, recruiting and training volunteers, and leading major Next Gen gatherings. Jensen Wyatt supports the same work by preparing rooms and materials, coordinating volunteers, and serving hands-on with children and youth. Noah Gallegos serves as Youth Coordinator with particular responsibility for middle school ministry, including leading the volunteer team, teaching students on rotation, and developing the mid-school environment.
Dahv Cuellar is Worship Pastor and leads worship at the Sunday and Tuesday services while overseeing vocalists, musicians, sound, and production. He also develops musicians and mentors the worship team with an emphasis on worship as the presence of God rather than a performance. Donald Gurule serves as Community Director, helping connect the church's people with its outreach work around Albuquerque.
Messages, Giving and a Continuing Rhythm
Believer Church's Sunday service is livestreamed at 10 AM Mountain Time through Church Online, YouTube, and Facebook. The stream begins a few minutes before the service, and no account or invitation is required to watch. Past messages are searchable in the sermon archive, with a full written transcript for reading, skimming, or finding a particular passage or topic. A separate Ask Me Anything archive contains direct answers to questions from church members about doubt, suffering, money, denominations, and what happens after death.
The church describes generosity as part of its life together rather than a religious obligation or price of belonging. Online and in-app gifts run through Pushpay, with one-time or recurring giving available. Gifts can also be delivered in person, mailed to 320 Waterfall Dr SE, or arranged in the form of stock and other assets. Believer Church is a registered nonprofit, and giving is tax deductible. The giving options include support for specific ministries, missions, or the general fund.
First Sunday is both a gathering and an entry point into the life of the church. Baptisms and child dedications take place, the church shares Communion, and a Start Here session introduces the church's story, beliefs, and ways of becoming involved. The Believer Church app for iPhone and Android also provides access to messages, giving, and church updates.
The office at 320 Waterfall Dr SE is staffed Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Believer Church's ongoing rhythm is simple and intergenerational: Sunday worship at 10 AM, Tuesday Bible study at 7 PM, and a shared life throughout the week at 320 Waterfall Dr SE in Albuquerque.