Holding on to Jesus has shaped Venture Church since its inception in the Seattle area. When Ty Hutton and his wife first moved to Seattle, Washington, they were invited to attend by their neighbors, Brandon and Di Beals, who both serve as pastors of Venture Church.
“Within 10 minutes of stepping inside Venture Church, everything changed,” says Hutton, who was immediately impressed by the openness, honesty, and vulnerability he witnessed. “The genuine spirit that permeates every aspect of the church instantly made us feel at home.”
Hutton believes this authentic atmosphere is what attracts so many people to the congregation. He has witnessed an explosion of hungry people looking for truth, which they find through the Jesus-centric leadership at Venture Church.
Prior to moving to Washington 20 years ago, Pastors Brandon and Di were youth ministers in Modesto, California. When they relocated to Seattle, they started Venture. It’s miraculous that Venture has thrived given its location.
“To say that church has a minimal influence in the Seattle area is an understatement,” observes Brandon.
National stats show that Seattle is the least-churched region in America. In fact, since the city of Mill Creek was founded in the 1970s, not one church building had been built within the city limits until Venture. And it almost didn’t get built as there were numerous issues—from pushback by the city council and politicians to escalating construction prices and financial constraints.
“We had raised every penny I thought we could raise. We’d maxed out our loans, and were short. The lender called to tell me they were backing out. For all intents and purposes, the project was dead,” explains Brandon. The plan was to pivot and move out of the city, but then one of the owners (church attendees are called owners rather than members at Venture) who had followed the Beals from California to Washington donated $50,000. Others caught the spirit of generosity and within a half hour, the church had raised the $2,000,000 needed to finish the project.
In the middle of the building fiasco, Brandon experienced a health scare when the right side of his body went numb. Doctors initially thought he’d had a stroke, but it turned out to be a full-on anxiety breakdown.
“That wasn’t in my paradigm,” says Brandon. “My social media handle is ‘fightpastor.’ I’m supposed to be this bold, courageous, fearless leader, and I couldn’t function due to debilitating anxiety.”
That experience taught Brandon to change his perspective. Now he thinks of keeping one hand clenched and one hand open. The tight fist represents his hold on Jesus while the open hand is his hold on everything else.
“As soon as I tighten my grip on the church or anything else and I loosen my grip on Jesus, my anxiety goes up,” he recognizes.
Seattle is full of highly educated, affluent people who don’t think they need God. Brandon, however, believes that we are all born with a hole in our hearts that can only be filled with Jesus.
“We try to fill the void with physical fitness, relationships, affluence, education, career, drugs, but it’s like chasing the wind,” states Brandon. “What’s lacking is a relationship with Jesus.”
Three years ago, the staff at Venture knew something was missing so they began holding worship and prayer revival nights. Before long, the Holy Spirit started moving at Venture and everything changed.
Brandon testifies that “once the Holy Spirit breathed on our church, it exploded.”
As for Hutton, he’s amazed at the transformations that have taken place in his family since embracing Christ.
“When you look at where our family had been prior to coming to Venture compared to where we are now, it’s wonderful,” he says.