History of Montage
Montage Bible Church began in March 2016, but there were certainly stirrings about this fellowship long before its launch date. Roughly five years before Montage came to fruition, Pastor James Hansen had been in discussions about a church plant with Pastor Ken Hutcherson, then Senior Pastor of Antioch Bible Church. Both men prayed and explored the possibility of Pastor James planting a daughter church for Antioch, but with struggling church finances and Pastor Hutch’s health in decline, it seemed apparent that the idea of a formal church plant would have to go into hibernation
for a while.
In December of 2013, Pastor Hutch was called home to be with the Lord. He had led the cross-cultural church he had planted with Pastors Mark Webster and Dwight Englund for 29 years. His commitment to Scripture rather than
culture, his passion for people over programs, and his heartbeat for a multicultural church instead of a congregation where everybody looks alike are the things for which many people will remember him.
But two years after his passing, the embers of a church plant again caught fire. Pastor James and his wife, Linda, sought the Lord’s direction for their new phase of ministry life together. In the end, they had Jesus; they had each other; and they had the call of God on their life to start a new work for the Lord. Despite all of the uncertainties, they couldn’t have felt more at peace with stepping out of what was familiar and setting course into uncharted territories. In God’s sovereignty, James and Linda partnered with another couple, Corey and Cori Belle, to plant Montage. After a few months of praying and planning together, the four of them watched God open a door for this new church plant in March 2016 by providing a church facility to rent on Saturday nights. We called Lighthouse Foursquare our temporary home for 3 years until the Lord had different plans for us.
We were grateful for the hospitality of Pastor Bill Hill at Lighthouse Foursquare, but our leadership was convinced that the Lord wanted us to move from worshipping together on Saturday evenings to Sunday mornings. We looked over a number of options and the clearest path before us was to partner with a local school. Though architectural plans were drawn up to make the best use of space for both parties, we had no idea what the Lord had for us around the corner. On the week of our 3rd Anniversary, the leadership of Montage visited a church facility in Bothell that was about to be put up for sale the very next week. We placed an offer on that building and we owned it within a month. Over the next several months, the people of Montage put their finances and sweat equity into renovating the facility we now call home. Our grand opening was held the week of Thanksgiving 2019, which will always serve as a reminder of how
grateful we are for God’s guidance and unexpected provision.
To put it simply: Montage has a history and it goes all the way back to Antioch. Not just Antioch Bible Church, but the ancient city of Antioch. As we read in Acts 11, Antioch is where the early followers of Jesus were first called Christians. These unashamed disciples wore their Savior’s moniker proudly and set out to change the world for His glory. It is their footsteps in which we follow.
We may be young, but we walk on an old path. We may have recently been birthed, but we believe the Lord has called us to this ministry before the foundation of the world. As the Lord shows His daily favor to us, Montage’s story is still being written. Indeed, the faithfulness He shows us today will be tomorrow’s reminder of yesterday’s blessings.