Tucked along College Drive NW in west Salem, Life Church has grown into one of the mid-Willamette Valley's most distinctive Spirit-filled congregations. From a main auditorium that holds more than three hundred and an adjoining Life Training Center that climbs the hill behind it, the church's rallying cry - Partnering with God to see His Kingdom Released - shapes everything from Sunday worship to inner-healing sessions and global missions giving.
What sets Life Church apart is the breadth of what happens around its Sunday service. Beyond a worship gathering that runs from 10:30 AM to about noon, the church operates a nursery and KIDS Life program, a Wednesday-night youth movement, a prophetic and healing prayer team, a weekly food and clothing bank called Life Essentials, a nine-month Life School for disciples, and a network of home-based Life Groups scattered from Monmouth to Salem. About eighteen percent of every regular offering is set aside for outreach, supporting missionaries from Russia to Mexico and local partners like Salem Dream Center and the Marion-Polk Food Share.
A Sunday Built Around Presence and Prayer
The Sunday rhythm at Life Church is intentionally unhurried. Doors open early so that anyone who wants to seek the Lord before the service can join pre-service prayer at 9:30 AM in the Upper Room, a worship and prayer space that also serves as the Upperroom prayer room during the week. At 10:00 AM the coffee bar opens and the Fellowship team pours drinks and snacks in the lobby; the team's stated goal is to help every guest feel seen, valued, and at home from the moment they arrive.
By 10:15 AM children are being checked in for KIDS Life and the nursery. At 10:30 AM the main service begins with extended, Spirit-led worship led by Worship Pastor Elaine Baziotis and her team, followed by Bible teaching from Lead Pastor Andrew Foster. Services typically wrap around noon, though leaders note that the gathering occasionally runs longer when the Holy Spirit leads. Immediately after the service, a healing prayer and ministry team gathers at the front of the auditorium to pray for anyone who wants physical healing, prophetic words, or simply a personal time of ministry.
The tone is warm and expressive. Guests are welcomed by the usher team and met with a cup of Legacy Coffee. There is no dress code; people arrive in everything from jeans to dresses. A designated Welcome Team exists for the express purpose of helping first-time visitors find their way, and an online What to Expect page walks newcomers through the flow of the morning in advance.
KIDS Life, Youth, and the Young Adult Table
Children's ministry at Life Church is run on the conviction that there is "no junior Holy Spirit." Reeny Jesudian leads KIDS Life for ages three through twelve, gathering them in the Great Room of the Life Training Center every Sunday at 10:15 AM. The morning includes high-energy worship, engaging Bible teaching, games, crafts, and small-group time, before breaking into age-appropriate classes for preschool, kindergarten through fifth grade, and older elementary students. The nursery, for ages zero to three, sits just across the hallway from the church offices in the main building, with a quiet side room reserved for nursing mothers.
For middle and high schoolers, Nathan and Chloe Andrews lead Youth at Life, which meets every Wednesday night from 6:30 to 8:00 PM in the Loft of the Life Training Center. The format is part worship, part message, part small groups, with plenty of room for games and friendship. Throughout the year, the youth calendar adds beach trips, family dinners, an annual Pumpkin All-Nighter in the fall, and other outings designed to make faith full of life.
Young adults ages 18 to 30 meet separately on Friday nights from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at rotating private residences, currently in Monmouth. Hosted by Jon Perry, the gatherings include a meal of burgers and brats, praise, and time to grow together in Jesus. Children are welcome to attend with their parents, although no childcare is provided.
Life Groups: The Heartbeat of Community
If Sunday is the front door, Life Groups are the living room of Life Church. The church describes its home groups around two simple goals: Jesus and connection. Groups of five to ten people gather in homes across Salem and Monmouth for Bible study, prayer, worship, and the kind of friendships that can carry someone through a hard season.
Current offerings include Brotherhood, a men's group led by Jon Perry; a global prayer and worship-focused group led by Steve and Midge Shaw; a writers' group for aspiring authors who want their craft to glorify the Lord; a personal-growth group led by David and Joy Hazel that meets Thursday evenings; a Men's Life Group led by Leonard Clark for Bible study and accountability; and a confidential Men's Integrity Group that walks through the Faithful & True workbook by Dr. Mark Laaser. A Family Life Group for parents of children under five, called Life with Littles, is currently on pause. Most groups are open to new participants; some have waiting lists, and a few are filling every seat.
For women, the Lifeboats small groups are intentionally small and led by a rotating cast of facilitators, each with a slightly different focus. Beyond the small groups, the women's ministry gathers for quarterly nights like RADIATE, an evening of fellowship and guest speakers, and one-off events such as Bunco nights in the Upperroom, with proceeds supporting an annual Women's Retreat.
Wholeness Ministries: Healing from the Inside Out
One of the most distinctive features of Life Church is its Wholeness Ministries, directed by Chantal Bradshaw. The ministry exists to bring inner healing, freedom, and a clearer sense of identity in Christ. Three main offerings form its backbone.
Sozo sessions are roughly two-hour one-on-one inner-healing times focused on deepening a believer's connection with Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Spirit Connection sessions address specific relational or personal concerns for individuals, couples, or families. Healing Prayer is offered every Sunday immediately after the service for anyone seeking physical healing, and the team teaches that because Jesus healed everyone who came to Him, healing remains the will of God today.
For those ready to go deeper, the Life Change Workshop is a two-day intensive held in the Life Training Center, limited to twenty-five participants, that focuses on lasting breakthrough and relational tools for walking in daily freedom. A periodic Awaken His Voice Prophetic Training Event introduces believers to recognizing and responding to the voice of God, anchored in 1 Corinthians 14.
The Prophetic Stream
Prophecy is woven into the identity of Life Church. Ann Finley serves as the congregation's Prophet of the House, and the church teaches that the prophetic ministry exists to ignite purpose, hope, and identity through the gift of prophecy and words of knowledge. On the last Sunday of every month, after the main service at 12:15 PM, prophetic sessions open in the Hope Room on a first-come, first-served basis. People can expect to be edified, encouraged, and comforted, the church explains; a prophetic word always carries an element of God's restoration and redemption.
A separate Prophetic Community Connection Group meets on the fourth Monday of every month at 6:30 PM in the Great Room of the Life Training Center, training believers to activate and pray together. No previous prophetic training is required. Occasional Encounter Nights - including the multi-church CONSUMED Worship Night, hosted alongside Solid Rock Community Church - give the wider community a chance to gather simply around worship.
Life Essentials: Outreach to Salem
Every Thursday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, the west side of the Life Training Center comes alive with the Life Essentials Food and Clothing Bank. Open to any family in need on an equal-opportunity basis, the pantry provides both groceries and clothing, supported by volunteers from the congregation and from across the community.
Outreach Pastor Andrew Miller, known to many as Bro Drew, oversees this and other local mission efforts. The church partners with Salem Dream Center, Salem House of Prayer, the Marion-Polk Food Share, and a roster of missionaries stretching from Russia (Nikolai and Tatyana Poliakov) to Mexico (Brandon and Bethany Baird of Impact Life and Huella de Impacto). Laurie Irion serves as a local missionary, Christina Z. as an evangelist to the nations, and Basant works in Asia. Eighteen percent of every regular tithe is transferred into a dedicated missions and outreach account, so giving to Life Church automatically includes giving to these partners.
A separate Care Team offers non-emergency support - occasional transportation, hospital visits, home visits, and check-in phone calls - though the church notes that it cannot provide financial assistance.
Men at Life and Seasoned Saints
Men's ministry at Life Church includes the Brotherhood men's group, the Leonard Clark-led Life Group, the Men's Integrity Group, and the annual Kingdom Rising Men's Conference. The conference, hosted in the Life Training Center, features guest speakers and a Friday-night joint worship service with Solid Rock Community Church.
For adults 55 and older, Seasoned Saints meets on the first and third Wednesday of every month from 9:30 to 11:00 AM in the Hope Room, offering community connection, worship, and Bible or topical study. The group is designed to build meaningful friendships and to keep older members of the congregation deeply woven into the life of the church.
Life School, Tomorrow's Champions, and Discipleship
Life School is a nine-month ministry training program that meets one evening per week on Tuesdays, designed for believers who want to go deeper in their walk with God and learn what it looks like to live in kingdom culture. The program ties into the broader Wholeness Wing of the Life Training Center, where additional classroom space is being added so that Life School can grow.
The church also maintains partnerships with two educational efforts. Tomorrow's Champions, a separate organization with its own campus in Salem, provides a positive academic, spiritual, emotional, and physical environment for children. Salt & Light Council, a non-political and non-partisan ministry, hosts classes inside the church that focus on promoting biblical moral values in the public square.
For those sensing a call to ministry themselves, the LCI Page (Life Church Initiative) collects leader applications, training videos, and ministry handbooks for everything from Kids Life volunteering to running a new Life Group.
Beliefs, Leadership, and the Apostolic Council
Life Church teaches a classic evangelical statement of faith, summarized in themes familiar to anyone who has spent time in a Spirit-filled congregation. Salvation is described as a gift received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). Baptism is taught as the public next step, a physical picture of dying and being raised with Christ (Romans 6:4). The church holds firmly to the inerrancy of Scripture, the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit (including prophecy and words of knowledge), the reality of spiritual warfare, and the call of every believer to live in the abundant life Jesus purchased on the cross (John 10:10).
The church's four stated cornerstones are: We know God is always good. We believe we are who God says we are. We choose relationship and connection. We value all people and influence our world.
Lead Pastor Andrew Foster and his wife Stephanie are part of a leadership team that includes Jodi Casebier, Don Pike, Josiah and Sarah Muckey, Jon Huntley, Bro Drew Miller, and Carolyn White. The team meets regularly to set the spiritual tone and direction of the church and intentionally maintains generational diversity. A separate Apostolic Council of seasoned leaders provides relational covering and is invited to speak into the body annually. A Stewardship team oversees the church's finances and budget.
The Campus Initiative and Life Training Center
Life Church sits on a hillside property with two main buildings: the original sanctuary building and the larger Life Training Center (LTC) downhill from it. The LTC houses the Great Room, the Loft where youth meet, the Upper Room prayer space, the Hope Room, classrooms, and a coffee bar. The vision for the LTC is to provide the additional space Life Church needs to grow its children, youth, and wholeness ministries.
A current Campus Initiative, estimated at $750,000 over three to five years, addresses a city-imposed zoning change that requires paving, storm drainage, ADA-compliant parking, driveway changes, and landscaping. The LTC remodel - which would add a Wholeness Wing with offices and a dividable large room for Sozo and counseling, a finished hallway for mobility access, storage and classrooms, ADA-compliant bathrooms, and a dedicated Youth Group Room - is on pause until the code work clears permits. Donors are invited to redirect giving toward the Campus Initiative in the meantime, and the church publishes an annual financial report for transparency.
Getting Connected
Visitors who want to learn more before visiting can sign up for the weekly email or take the Welcome to LIFE class, a six-week Sunday morning series that walks through the history, values, and ministries of the church. Life Church is also active on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, where Sunday services are livestreamed for those unable to attend in person.
Podcasts of recent messages are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music under the name Life Church Salem Podcast. For giving, the church offers online giving, text-to-give by texting the word give to 503-782-6030, and the option to mail a check to PO Box 5596, Salem, OR 97304.
Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and the main phone line (503-362-0362) and email inbox (info@lifechurchsalem.com) are the simplest ways to reach the staff during those hours.