Today we’d like to introduce you to Trevor Atchley.
Hi Trevor, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
In 2007, my family moved from Round Rock to Kyle. I was only a sophomore in high school, and at the time, Kyle was still a town people mainly drove through on their way to San Antonio. After graduating, I left Kyle and attended bible college at Southwestern Assemblies of God University, and worked at a few churches in San Antonio and OKC doing worship and youth ministry. In 2016, I married my lovely wife Lyndsey, and just one year later, we got a call from God that changed everything.
In January 2017 I had about 5-6 people tell me I should think about starting my own church. I said “Me? No, you guys are crazy. I’m the youth guy, the music guy, not the head guy!” A few months later my pastor brought me in his office and said “You know what Trevor, I see how much you love people, and because of that, I really think you’re going to start your own church one day” – After hearing this from my own pastor, I decided it was time to pray.
I asked God to give me a name for the church. I was spitballing with God: “Come on you’ve got to give me something here!” I started praying, God give me a radical boldness to bring hope to dark places, make me a radical believer that loves people through the worst of situations, give me a radical faith. The name “Radical Church” popped in my mind. Two days later at church, a lady started praying for me “Give this young man a Radical Faith, a Radical Boldness, Radical Preaching! I’ve never said this word in my life, but your word is Radical!” It confirmed everything God had spoken to me over the last few months.
We were going to start a church back in Kyle, and it was going to be called Radical Church.
Two years later, in October 2019 we moved into my parents’ home in Plum Creek with our 1 year old son, Oaklen. We had no money, no people, no church building, just a dream and a vision to see the City of Kyle transformed by the Radical Love of Jesus.
After two successful Interest Parties in early 2020, the unexpected happened: COVID. What are we supposed to do now? We can’t meet with people to build our Launch Team, how are we supposed to start a church in September when everything is shut down?
The answer? We got scrappy. In my time as a Creative Pastor in OKC, I learned the power of Facebook and Google Ads. We started running facebook ads and would schedule zoom calls to meet with people in our community. Our team began to grow through online Zoom parties and Facebook Live, and since no churches were meeting in person, we started hosting online services to encourage families during such a tough season.
Why wait until launch day? People are suffering NOW, they need help NOW. We had an idea: Local restaurants are hurting due to a lack of business, and people are struggling financially, so let’s meet the need! In May 2020, we brought Ilarios Italian Cuisine to the Kyle Fire Department, Summermoon Coffee to the Seton Hays nurses and doctors, and 250 meals from the Texas Pie Company to food insecure families through Hays Hope2Go. In total, $3000 was purchased and given away. This was the start of our church reaching out to our community.
Five months later, we launched Radical Church at Negley Elementary, and our church’s passion for the community only grew. We started an initiative called “Love Kyle” aimed at beautifying city parks and schools, we were able to give away a car to two high school sisters in need of a ride to our youth group, and at our Christmas services last year, we did not take up an offering, but instead did a “Reverse Offering”. $10,000 was given away during our services for Christmas gifts, or to bless another family with a Christmas gift. This is Radical Generosity, this is what church community is about, not just meeting spiritual needs, but practical needs as well.
As our church grew, we moved to Wallace Middle School in 2022, and finally to a leased warehouse in 2023 that we opened on Easter Sunday of 2023. In the last two years, our church has grown from 150 people to over 750, and we are seeing lives changed every day. It is incredible to hear the stories of marriages restored, addictions broken, and whole families finding hope in Jesus.
This past Christmas, we did something that has never been done before. 1500 people gathered at the beautiful La Verde Park in Kyle for “Christmas at the Park” – A family event for the community to celebrate Christmas, and of course, the birth of Jesus. In true Radical Church fashion, at the end of the event, all of the Christmas trees we used for decor were given away to families who didn’t have one.
Today, we are hosting four services every Sunday and trying to find land to call our own, but I’m ok with where we are at. I think the best churches are the ones who aren’t so concerned with themselves, but more about how they can bless and serve the community. Jesus said “It is better to give than to receive” and “I came to serve…not to be served” – That is the heart of Radical Church, and that’s my heart for this city.
My grandparents were here in 2000 when all we had was a Dairy Queen and a downtown. I loved Kyle then. I’ve seen all the growth, all the changes, and all the new people: I still love Kyle now.
My hope is that Radical Church will provide hope, love, community, and life for decades to come.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not always been easy! COVID made it difficult to build a launch team, but luckily with my marketing experience we were able to make it happen through online platforms.
Setting up and tearing down an entire mobile church is no joke either! Every Sunday at 6am I would get the trailer, and our amazing volunteer team would load/unload multiple times, set up a full AVL system, chairs, kids areas, and hospitality.
Building out this leased warehouse was certainly a challenge as well. We had volunteers and contractors at the building daily, and I GC’d the project myself. We put in the insulation, grinded the concrete floors, installed the carpet, built the sound panels, installed the lights, and much more. When people say they put blood, sweat, and tears into something, I fully understand what that means now!
This may come across as an annoying problem, but growing as fast as we did had it’s own challenges. In 18 months our church went from 150-650: That’s 4x growth! I’ve always heard it said “What got you here won’t get you there” – And boy did that statement ring true. Every system we had for 150 people and 1 service broke when we got to 300 people and 2 services. Now at 750 and 4 services, we are doing things completely different again. You have to stay nimble, “stay scrappy” is what I tell our team, and learn to fail forward. We hired on 4 full time employees in that time frame, not staffing for growth, but just trying to take care of the people we had in the room!
My prayer has always been, “don’t let our church grow bigger than our ability to care for people” – We are truly in the business of people, and I want to keep that focus even as we scale.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My primary responsibility at Radical Church is to be the Chief Visionary & Communicator. Like most creatives, I am a dreamer, and while that can certainly have it’s downsides, it’s what also makes us special. Dreamers are visionaries, we see things before they happen, but it’s not enough to just have vision, you must be able to communicate that vision. My goal as a communicator then is to cast a big and clear vision for our people and community to catch.
I love communication. From the guy who was at the club last night, to the old pentecostal church lady, to the 6th grade student whose parents drug him to church, I want to craft a message where all of them can get something out of it. No matter your thoughts on religion: Jesus was a master storyteller, and we can all learn a lot from Him!
Marketing & Design is another passion of mine. You can have the best business, the best product, or the best church, but if no one knows about you, then it doesn’t matter. A good website is important. Six months before Radical Church launched, we ranked #1 on Google for “Church Near Me” – That’s no accident. Your social media presence is more important than ever before. I call it “The front door to our church” – Because no one just walks into a church anymore without first checking the social media and the website! Creativity takes time, intentionality, and thought. Don’t rush it. It will pay off.
What makes you happy?
I love spending time with my wife Lyndsey and our two kids, Oaklen (6) and Teagen (3). They are so fun, and have such big personalities!
I love playing basketball, football, and baseball when I can, and I work out every day at Crunch here in Kyle. It keeps my mind sharp and in a good place.
I think overall my happiness comes from knowing I’m making a difference. When I feel like I’m working toward something special, something big, something eternal, it motivates me to keep going. Hearing stories of people’s lives being changed will never get old.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.radicalchurch.life/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radicalchurch
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radicalchurchtx
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/radicalchurchtx
