Engaging God, Church, and Culture on Woodward Avenue
Redeeming Love Church meets at 42 Woodward Avenue in Troy, New York, where the steady hum of the Capital Region's oldest city meets a sanctuary full of contemporary worship and prayer for the sick. The congregation traces its roots to a 1986 home group that outgrew its living room, moved through the Danish Brotherhood Hall in North Troy, and settled on Woodward Avenue two years later. Lead Pastor Matthew Medick sums up the church's posture with a threefold motto: Engage God, Engage Church, Engage Culture - learning to experience God's presence, doing life in community, and carrying the love of Christ to neighbors outside the four walls.
Sunday mornings begin at 10 a.m. with a service designed for first-time guests and longtime believers alike. The team that opens the doors is led by Pastor Matt and Pastor Stacey Medick, a husband-and-wife team who traded nearly two decades of running a plant nursery and landscaping business in Clifton Park for full-time ministry in 2018.
From a Living Room in 1986 to a Capital Region Church
The church's story is woven through four pastoral eras. In 1986, Chris Garabedian started a small group in his home. Within two years the group had outgrown the living room and was holding services at the Danish Brotherhood Hall, taking the name Redeeming Love Gospel Church. By 1988 the congregation had moved again, this time into its current home at 42 Woodward Avenue, and Pastor Jim Carter had stepped in as senior pastor with a vision to know the Lord and make Him known.
In 1995, Pastor Thomas Sardella took the helm and refined the call into Reach, Raise, and Release the Next Generation. During his tenure the congregation invested deeply in families, children's ministry, and outreach across the Capital Region. In 2016, the church shortened its name to Redeeming Love Church, and in 2018 Matthew Medick - a spiritual son of Pastor Tom - was installed as Lead Pastor. Healings began breaking out in the services in 2019 and continue today, and in October 2023 Stacey Medick became the first woman ordained at Redeeming Love.
Pastor Tom and his wife Lynn now serve as Pastor Emeritus. Their son Joshua and his wife Hailey serve in Texas, while Pastor Matt and Pastor Stacey are supported by a leadership team of Apostolic Elders and Church Elders.
Sundays at Ten: Worship, the Word, and Healing Prayer
A typical Sunday at Redeeming Love opens with a friendly welcome and contemporary worship music designed to usher in the presence of God. Ushers and greeters hand out connection cards, seat latecomers, and collect tithes, while the sound and livefeed teams keep both the in-room experience and the online stream running smoothly. The live broadcast travels to Vimeo and Facebook every Sunday at 10 a.m., and a sermon archive stretches back through the church's podcast feed.
After worship, teaching, and ministry time, members of the Prayer and Healing Team gather at the front to pray for physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Visitors who want prayer are invited to come forward, and the team follows up on testimonies that flow from those moments - including stories of a young boy with appendicitis cleared before surgery, a child born paralyzed who later walked with a walker, and a man whose pacemaker simply could not be found two weeks after prayer.
Dress is informal and the atmosphere is described by the church as friendly. Visitors are welcome to come as they are.
Engage Kids: No Junior Holy Spirit
Children are part of Sunday worship from the start. After the music portion of the service, kids are prayed for and dismissed to Engage Kids, where trained and background-checked teachers walk them through age-appropriate Bible lessons, worship, crafts, and - distinctively - lessons on hearing from and encountering the Holy Spirit for themselves. The conviction behind the program is summed up in a single phrase: there is no junior Holy Spirit.
Engage Kids is organized into three classrooms: a nursery for babies and toddlers, a class for younger children who learn about God through play and exploration, and a class for older children who begin to engage the Holy Spirit and develop a deeper walk with Christ. The children's ministry is directed by Brian and Amy Smith, who lead the LEAH homeschool co-op that meets at the church and supports more than a dozen Capital District families.
For parents of infants and restless little ones, a room called the Hollow offers a nursing station, privacy for nursing mothers, a diaper-changing area, and a livestream of the service so no one misses the message. Safe check-in at the entrance assigns each child a security-coded name tag that only the matching parent or guardian can present at pickup.
Engage Groups Through the Week
The midweek life of the church is built around Engage Groups, twelve-week small groups with a four-to-six week break between semesters. Topics range from Bible studies and book discussions to prayer-focused cohorts and activities. The fall semester runs roughly from late September to mid-December, and groups meet across Troy, Poestenkill, Halfmoon, and at the church.
Recent offerings include Praying the Word Over Our Loved Ones on Monday nights in Poestenkill (led by Amy Smith), Living From the Unseen - a book study on accessing the spirit realm (Mondays in Halfmoon with Pastor Stacey Medick), and Healing 101, the entry point for anyone wanting to join the Prayer and Healing Team. A Men's Fellowship Night meets Mondays in Troy for snacks, prayer, and conversation, while Tuesday evenings gather around Being an Example of Christ.
Thursday groups cover three tracks at three hours of the day: Contend for parents and grandparents praying for their families (10 a.m.), Consistency in Prayer in Troy (6:30 p.m.), and Exploring Matthew's Gospel using N. T. Wright's study guide at the church (6:30 p.m.). Friday nights are reserved for youth in seventh through twelfth grade, working through John Bevere's The Awe of God with leaders Angelia and Zach Jenkins.
Foundations, Membership, and Spiritual Freedom
The church's Grow pathway walks new and maturing believers through the basics of Christian life. Water baptism is by full immersion as an outward declaration of an inward decision. Baby dedications give parents a public opportunity to commit to raising their children in the Lord. Membership in Redeeming Love requires four classes (Membership 101 through 104) and a short meeting with Pastor Matt, and it unlocks eligibility for several serving teams and priority scheduling with the pastor.
Two deeper tracks run alongside membership. Liberation is the church's Biblically based deliverance ministry, in which a trained team walks participants through renouncing unclean spirits and closing doors to spiritual attack; people who complete it often report freedom from anger, anxiety, depression, fear, unforgiveness, and other strongholds. Foundations is an annual twelve-week Engage Group covering the basic practices every believer should be walking in - prayer, Scripture reading, fasting, and beyond.
An Activating Your Spiritual Gifts Engage Group helps believers identify and begin to operate in the gifts the Holy Spirit has given them.
Holy Spirit Encounter Nights and the Healing Ministry
Prayer saturates the life of the church. The Holy Spirit Encounter Night meets the first Wednesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. - a time to welcome, listen to, and move with the Holy Spirit in a safe environment. Whether attempts at the gifts succeed or stumble, the room cheers one another on for stepping out. Intercessory Prayer gathers on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. under the leadership of Linda Kachedourian, a woman credited with birthing Redeeming Love through prayer; her heart is for churches across the Capital Region to gather before the throne of grace.
The Healing Ministry, led by Elizabeth Beck, extends that prayer into physical needs. Combined with the Prayer and Healing Team that responds at the end of each Sunday service, the ministry is a steady thread through the church's identity.
Standing With Local and Global Partners
Redeeming Love supports a constellation of organizations that share its heart for life, mercy, and the gospel. CompassCare is a network of pro-life pregnancy centers offering free medical services, pregnancy options counseling, and an introduction to the gospel. A Refuge Place provides weekend meals in downtown Troy alongside support programs for those rebuilding their lives. Jezreel International ships medical, food, and hygiene supplies to disaster-stricken areas around the world. CarePortal connects the church with Rensselaer County Social Services to meet the real-time needs of vulnerable children and families, and the local team is led by Liz Bulson. The Veterans Miracle Center in Albany provides free essentials and support services to veterans, active-duty military, and their families, and HIS Table - run out of Victorious Life Christian Church in downtown Troy - offers free homemade meals paired with fellowship, prayer, and gospel encouragement.
A Larger Home on the Horizon
Redeeming Love has launched a Kingdom Growth Campaign to move into a new building less than four miles from Woodward Avenue. The planned facility is over three times the size of the current one, with a sanctuary that seats 600, an entire wing of classrooms from its previous life as a school, and over thirteen acres of land. Built in the 1980s and in need of extensive renovation, the building will become the new home of Redeeming Love Church as soon as funds, faith, and finished work align.
Tithing and offerings underwrite that vision and the ministries that flow from it. Gifts can be made in service using envelopes found in chair backs, online through the church's secure giving page, or by mail to 42 Woodward Avenue, Troy, NY 12180. The church office is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment at 518-272-0571.
More than forty years after a small group began in a Troy living room, Redeeming Love Church still gathers around the same three commitments Pastor Matt set out at his installation: to engage God, to engage one another, and to engage the world just beyond the door.