Early History
Pastors Jim and Sharon Roam came to the Phoenix Valley with a wealth of ministry experience, successful ministries in Portland, Oregon; Lancaster, Ohio; and Bridgeton, Missouri. Their spirit of excellence and their passion to minister to the needs of people was evident in all they did.
After pastoring for eight years in Missouri, Pastor Roam felt God leading him on to a new challenge. As he prayed, a new dream was born. This dream was a desire to create a church in the Phoenix Valley where families and individuals could gather together to worship God and learn to live the greatest life possible…the Christ Life.
In the early stages, Christ Life Church met in the Roam’s home.
The church quickly moved from their home to the Quality Inn.
In 1994, as the church grew, it was moved to the Wyndham Garden Hotel.
And in 1995 to a leased space at Southern and Priest.
In 1996 they were able to purchase five acres at 1137 E. Warner Road in Tempe.
There the church expanded its facilities in 2000 by adding a multi-purpose building and a beautiful 800-seat Worship Center.
In April of 2004 Pastor Jim Roam passed from this life. The church continued to flourish under the direction of Pastor Sharon Roam and Associate Pastors.
In April of 2006, Pastor Phil & Pam Goldsberry took over the Senior Pastorship of Christ Life Church. Their rich background of church life, from planting churches to pastoring a mega church gave them the tools to step in and accentuate the ministry at Christ Life. But these “tools,” though practical and needed, were not their greatest…their passion for Christ and people have been contagious. They have a strong desire to see Christ Life Church reach the Phoenix Valley with the life changing Gospel of Jesus Christ, so that people are impacted through the power of God in their lives and empowered through the Word of God.
Present Day
In 2007, Christ Life received a state-of-the-art lighting and audio system, which paved the way for our online campus and other satellite campuses.
In October 2008, Christ Life Church opened it’s first satellite campus in Casa Grande in the Harkins Theater
In 2010, Christ Life opened it’s Online Campus, where we broadcast each service live online, as well as any special events. 2011 was a special year for our Casa Grande Campus. In October 2011 Christ Life Church Casa Grande was given a 16 acre campus and 250 seat worship center. Cornerstone Church Casa Grande affirmed and assimilated into Christ Life Church. The Casa Grande Campus is currently completely debt free.
Looking Forward
Currently Christ Life Church Tempe Campus is in the process of building a two-story Jim Roam Family Center that will house an full size youth gym, which has a stage and an additional 800 seat video venue, a state of the art children’s facility with age-appropriate classrooms, a cafe with outdoor seating area and a two story youth facility. The new building will also house our video production rooms and all our offices. Once built the current portable buildings at the Tempe campus, that house our children’s facility and current offices, will go to Casa Grande to expand the capabilities of that campus.
From April 2006 to the present, Christ Life Church has experienced phenomenal growth. Pastor Phil and the wonderful staff have seen countless lives changed here in the Phoenix Valley and around the world. An “army” of volunteers has stepped up to take serious the message of being “salt and light” in the world where we live.
