What is your story?
When did you come to Radiant?
Why did you stay?

20th YEAR STORIES

Brian Matherly

In late 2019, Deanna and I were looking for a church to call “Home”. We found ourselves at Radiant in Visalia one morning. We heard from Steve Whitmer, and thought, “The pastor of this church can really teach the word! And what a golden voice!” We came back the following Sunday and heard Mark Condie preach. We thought to ourselves, “ the guy last week must’ve been a guest speaker. This must be the pastor. He did a great job!” So of course, we had to come back again. The third Sunday, this man stood before us and started talking. Before I knew it, he was asking the worship team to come back up. We felt like he had opened up God‘s word and had a conversation with us. Travis doesn’t preach at us or to us, he has such an incredible way of communicating the word of God. We were hooked. By the way, each of those first three Sundays, we could not get out of the church without at least three or four people introducing themselves and welcoming us to the church. We not only found our new church “Home”, we found our new church “Family”.

DANIEL RICE

The first time I attended Radiant was in March of 2008. We were in the old ex-auto shop building on NE 1st Street and I was there because the girl I was into (my wife ReNelle) introduced me to Travis at a Rock for Water concert at the Cellar Door and they both invited me to come to church the next day. On my first morning at Radiant, I was a bit taken aback by some folks’ exuberance, as a student from the discipleship school loudly sang in tongues and drummed on the back of my chair during worship. I was a bit overstimulated and stepped outside for the rest of the music service that morning, but Trav asked me out for a burrito afterward and I became so drawn in by his genuine concern and the familial feel of the church that I came back every Sunday afterward. This honest and generous approach to loving relationships called me into the risk of church and discipleship in spite of my desire for comfort and control, the blessing I needed most in my life.

Art Quintero

The first time I attended Radiant was in 2022 at the Mill. I had never been a churchgoer, and I was living very much for the world and for myself. I didn’t comprehend it at the time, but the Spirit was alive in the worship and preaching and it wasn’t like any church I expected or experienced before. It was enticing. My wife (girlfriend at the time) wanted to be with someone who was chasing after God so I kept coming back. God got me with the ol “bait and switch,” but it was the best thing that ever happened to me because of the relationship I have with Christ now.

Larry Schmidt

We first attended Radiant in 2008 after we retired from our jobs. Radiant was in the little building on NE 1st Ave. There were people were sitting on the floor because it was so packed. What the heck were we doing there, because we were like Methuselah and his wife compared to the rest of the congregation. Here was this group of young, hungry believers wanting more of God. And we wanted that same thing in our lives. Because we were burned out and looking for a place where people still hungered for more of God. Our first Sunday we were welcomed in by Connie Armerding saying you are an answer to prayer, because we want older people to be a part of the church. And she prayed over us at the front door. We have stayed because this church still hungers and prays for a move of God, and I am praying that God will answer that prayer before I die. I want to be a part of that revival.

Megan Piepgrass

I Noel and I first attended Radiant in 2010 when it was meeting at the Rotary Theater, and Elisha Reynoso was heading up the Kid’s Program. I remember walking up the steps to delicious homemade muffins and Lindsay Bailey (Baldwin). It felt warm, inviting, and full of life. Upon entering the auditorium, we saw the Ainleys and Jeffersons who were significant people in our lives from childhood, through college and even Janelle having picked Gunnar and me up from Kaweah Delta hospital the day after he was born, brought us to her house, fed me a sandwich and let us hang out until Noel could pick us up after he finished a final exam at Fresno State. After the service, both Noel and I went up to the altar to meet with God, cry and be prayed for, and then the Jeffersons invited us to go to lunch. We stuck around because we knew we had found a people who loved God wholeheartedly, and within this community we would have deep, sincere and lasting friendships.

Glenn POWER

When I first walked into Radiant Church, its name wasn’t Radiant, and it wasn’t in a church. It was in Travis and Tiffany’s home. I had just graduated college and looking around at the young faces in that crowded home on a Sunday night, it looked as if everyone had just finished college—or perhaps high school. This was a group of people with more acne than gray hair. But acne wasn’t their biggest problem. The birth-name of Radiant was Cultivate Church, and the unfortunate abbreviation—“cult”—did not go unnoticed by many onlookers at the time. Of course, Cultivate would grow and become “rad”, and the gray hairs would come. But I didn’t stay at Radiant because it was a cool house church with fun people my age; I stayed because, at its foundations, the leadership had their sights on Jesus above all else, they lived in radical transparency, and they had a vision to bring prodigals back home to God. That captured my heart. And although the church has gone through many seasons and stages since then, these foundations have proved to be solid ground.

CHARLENE BENOY

I first attended Radiant in 2009 while we were meeting on NE 1st Street. I was not following Jesus at the time, and had dismissed church altogether because I didn’t like what I had seen at the churches I had tried to attend in the past. I started coming with my boyfriend, Daniel (now-husband), and told him, “I’ll go because it’s important to you, but don’t expect anything from me.” The Lord had other plans, and I was baptized 6 months later! The Lord captured my heart, and surrounded me with Godly women who love doing life together.

ZAPPHIRE HARTLEY

In January 2011, at First Presbyterian, I walked into a church that I thought was way too alive to be in such an old building. What stood out was Renelle Rice’s red keyboard and my inability to figure out if she was Kim Walker or not. I was also struck that the Bible was not being taught with blind acceptance but in a way that invited us to wrestle with living it out. I realized that living out those tensions was the way these people lived, not just on Sunday, but during the week and I wanted in.

JANELLE AINLEY

We first visited Radiant Church in 2005 when it met in the Grove house. After chasing around our then 1.5 year old daughter the whole time, I told Matt, we aren’t going back until they have childcare. Fast forward 5 years and we decided to give it another try. Radiant had moved and they had a kids’ class! It was an all-ages, free for all, kind of class, but we weren’t going to be picky. We knew we were home. We had a huge longing for friendship, community, and were excited to be a part of something. We found best friends to raise our kids and do life with. We have walked through the loss of 2 parents with our church by our side. We have fallen more and more in love with Jesus, and have loved being a part of putting HIS brilliance on display.

JERROD TURNER

I came to Radiant Visalia on NW 1st Street in 2008. It was a converted garage that smelled like motor oil & anointing oil. On my first Sunday, I supernaturally encountered the Holy Spirit, and my cessationist mind was shaken to the point I had to stay to find out what (or better, who) this was. I was filled with the Holy Spirit & lived in community with a church family that would disciple me and spur me on to Gospel mission for the next 16 years.

DANIEL KUNKLE

I first walked into Radiant Church in 2012, back when it was still meeting near Oval Park. I was just 16. What struck me immediately was the atmosphere—there was a real, tangible joy in the room. People didn’t seem free; they were free. Something about that stuck with me. Even as a teenager with a still-forming sense of the world, I remember thinking, “Whatever this is, I want it.” I never really decided to stay at Radiant; I just kept coming back. Week after week, drawn by the joy and freedom I saw in the people around me. Now, more than a decade later, I live 3,000 miles away from Radiant. But I’m still holding on to, and chasing after, that same joy, freedom, and hope in Jesus I first glimpsed all those years ago.

ANTHONY SAMPIETRO

The first time I attended Radiant, the church was gathering in the building on NE First, one street east of Oval Park. I attended hoping to lead my older brother into faith, and that Jesus had the power to deliver us both from addiction to drugs and lead us out of the lifestyles we were living. I had a previous God encounter about 6 years prior and found myself attending the Saviors youth group where the Radiant church leadership was heavily involved prior to starting Radiant. The group of people were passionate towards Jesus and were hungry for more. I was moved by their love for Jesus and one another, so it felt right to join back to them and the continued pursuit to love Jesus. I stumbled a lot with my identity in Christ and was in and out of the church over the following 6-7 years from 2006-2012, but every time I came up for air the church was still going and growing. I came back committed in 2014 and have been here ever since.

 

CLAY GARLAND

The first time I attended Radiant was on NW 3rd in 2011. Mindy and our kids had been to several services before I came. See, I was happy with the church we had been attending, with its “older” pastor, “older” ministry volunteers and big enough to stay “anonymous”. Honestly, I wasn’t keen on the idea of going to a small church pastored by a kid I remembered from high school, sorry Trav. We were dealing with some marital problems and I only attended to appease Mindy, But The Lord, He had other plans. From the moment I walked into that little building I felt something I had never felt in a church before. I felt something REAL, I felt seen, I felt convicted and I witnessed a man break out in full body chills with tears streaming down his face scream out at the top of his lungs during worship, and it didn’t feel fake, it WASN’T fake! I wanted in. Then the sermon started and I swore it was written with me in mind, it was everything I needed to hear at that time. Appeasing my wife was one of the greatest decisions ever made for me.

JESSICA CAVALE

I first came to Radiant on a Sunday launch into a series on Nehemiah, where Daniel and ReNelle Rice had made a CD to go along with the study! I didn’t know any of the songs, but felt a spirit of authenticity & such deep Biblical truth that I felt God in a powerful and significant way. In this small little building next to the Thai food place, I was coming from a Christian Reformed background and wasn’t sure what to expect… With some dear new friends (Audra and Brittany) we sat in the back on this little velvet bench. This little bench I’ll never forget… 1. Because it sat across from a tiny corner bathroom and you could hear everything through the door! Haha! 2. Because I sat there and knew my life was changing. I had never felt the Holy Spirit like I did that day.

PHOEBE BURTON

We first visited Radiant in 2018. We could feel the Holy Spirit moving, but Brandon thought the worship was wild, so we weren’t yet committed. But, on our fourth Sunday, a woman who sat next to me shared a word with me, even though it was out of her comfort zone. She said that God wanted me to rest. This was the word that God had been highlighting to me. When I prayed and read scripture, He was telling me to rest, but I was wrestling with it. I realized I wanted to be in a church where people hear from God, and are bold enough to lean over and whisper it to a stranger.

Ashley Seldago

The first time I attended Radiant was online during COVID and I didn’t realize at the time that the pastor I was watching scream from the top of the parking garage was leading the church I never knew I needed. Fast forward a year or so, and the yellow door outside of Component keeps drawing my attention. Eventually, I convince my friend to go knock on the door with me, and it’s Travis that answers it, gives us a tour, and I start asking me questions about God.

Kim Carrillo

Our first service at Radiant was the evening of Maundy Thursday in 2019. We were going through a painful process of leaving another church, and that Thursday at Radiant we experienced genuine love and openness from people who didn’t even know us. We were guided through powerful prayer and foot-washing, and witnessed believers gather around a table symbolizing the Last Supper. To me it looked like a miracle as just a few pitchers of grape juice provided full communion glasses for all of us in attendance! After that evening we knew Radiant would become our church home.

KANOA SALAZAR

My first experience at Radiant was at a house on Grove where I distinctly remember one evening someone expressing a need to pay a medical bill, and someone else immediately meeting that need with some cash they had recently stumbled upon. That drew me in, and I told my future husband if he wanted to marry me, he’d better come too. Mike and I were initially drawn in by Travis’ sermon jokes and Matt Sampietro’s retro George Straight t-shirt, but have continued to attend because we have felt the Lord time and time again move it upon our hearts to serve and be fed here. Jesus forever!

BRITANY ROSALES

In the summer of 2013, I had just lost my 4-month-old daughter and was overwhelmed with grief and struggling to find peace. When I walked into Radiant, it was unlike any church experience I had ever known. The atmosphere was filled with the Spirit of God, and there was a profound sense of joy that I hadn’t known in such a difficult time. At 19, I found teachings that truly resonated with my own life. Now, at 31, I’m so thankful to see my kids worshiping and experiencing the Lord in the same way I did, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the impact Radiant Church has had on our lives.

Donnie Barns

I first came to a Radiant service in 2009. The building was super small and had old benches and chairs that had seen much better days. The group was really young. I think I sat at the back (not that it was that far from the front in the place). 😄 The energy was unique. It felt like a house church that had barely outgrown a house. Like a college kid that had just moved to a dorm, but was still coming home on the weekends.

I’d been part of two churches that split by the time I was 21, and I had been forced out of my starry-eyed youth group optimism at a younger age than most. My experiences in churches over the previous decade had been pretty awful. I was still very committed to following Jesus, but I felt lost about how that was supposed to look as a community…
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So, I was initially wary of joining another early-stage church, because I’d already seen first-hand how that can go bad. And Pastor Travis was a really young pastor, which made me a little nervous too, but as I got to know him, I learned that he was very self-aware, which made me feel like the place had a chance to not immediately self-destruct.

The warmth was what always stood out to me about Radiant. “Vibes” weren’t really part of the cultural lexicon back then, but there was a vibe to the place and the people. Not perfect, not without its own quirks and shortcomings (there was plenty of young-adult angst in the air, and I include myself in that), but it felt like a group of people that was really serious about trying to follow Jesus while also trying to not take themselves too seriously. It was a vibe that I connected with.

The mix of holding both the Holy Spirit and the intellectual sides of the faith in equal importance was a tension that struck me as really healthy and good, too.

So, in spite of my misgivings and concerns about what I might be getting myself into (again), I stuck around. When I had to move in 2016, leaving Radiant was the toughest part of leaving Visalia, and I still miss it.

Chris Jolly

The First time we attended Radiant was in the summer of 2013 at the building on NW Third. We visited several times that summer as our daughter Ellie was joining a Radiant Mission Trip to Mexico. The visits sort of run together but I remember the building was always packed, and we were frequently late. We were always warmly greeted, and the greeters would find seats for us. Every Sunday the Holy Spirit used the preaching to convict us, That was something I hadn’t experienced in many years. One particular Sunday, the only 2 empty seats were on the front row, directly in front of the podium, I mean if I leaned forward, I would hit my head on it. In the beginning I was very uncomfortable, but soon realized that the Lord had sat me there for a purpose and was using Radiant, Travis, and the whole experience to soften my heart. In addition to the “Sunday morning experience” we were drawn to Radiant by their passion to love and serve the community. We quickly jumped in and have been at home in the Radiant community since.

Andy & Chelsea Rotuno

When we first moved from Burbank to serve as full-time missionaries at Gleanings, we met Travis and Tiff through mutual friends and just had to check out their church. Our first Sunday at Radiant we felt at home—Holy Spirit kind of home—and we were very impressed with the sincere worship, friendly but real people, and fun family activities. Andy’s first event was the father-daughter dance where Eliana and Avery gave Andy and Travis a makeup makeover. From there, our kids grew closer to the Lord in Radiant youth group, and we keep coming back because Radiant is a God-fearing, God-honoring church.