MEET our Senior & Lead PASTORS & Hear the mission
SHAWN AND SONNY HENNESSY
“WE’RE NOT HERE TO BUILD A CHURCH, WE’RE HERE TO BUILD THE KINGDOM”
Shawn and Sonny Hennessy began their ministry at Life Center in Tacoma, WA under Pastor Fulton Buntain as summer youth interns while still students at Trinity Bible College, where they met and got married in 1996. They returned to Tacoma as Youth Pastors until 2003 and then pastored in cities including Memphis, TN; Houston, TX; Tampa, FL; Detroit, MI; and San Diego, CA.
In 2013, the Hennessy family of four relocated to Green Bay, WI to relaunch a church established a few years earlier. Within the first seven years, Life Church grew from 145 people to 4,000 in physical weekly attendance. They grew so quickly that they had to renovate and relocate into three different buildings within a four-year period. Life Church was named the 2nd-fastest-growing church in America in 2017 and made the list two more years.
Shawn has served as the Packers' chaplain since 2018 while Sonny opened multiple businesses under her Exchange Brand in 2018 including the award-winning Exchange Coffee, Mercantile, & Eatery.
When the pandemic hit, Life Church’s online presence was already established, allowing them to carry out their mission of reaching thousands with the Life-Giving message of Jesus beyond Green Bay. The Hennessys moved to Bellevue for their kids to finish High School because Wisconsin schools remained closed. At that time, Shawn felt God tell him to run into cities that others were running out of; Seattle, Portland, Detroit, Los Angelos, and Vancouver, BC and all within the next 10 years.
It’s never been about building a church — it’s all about building the Kingdom of Heaven. The mission is currently expanding as Life Church launched a brand-new church in the Seattle area on October 5, 2025.
The Hennessys tend to attract and lead leaders and influencers. The teams of Pastors that have followed them and moved across the country to help lead and direct the various locations and ministry sites are nothing short of God-inspired.
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It is a pioneering, Jesus-centered, and Holy Spirit-led mission aimed at establishing churches in new territories and strengthening believers. It is characterized by sacrifice, suffering for the gospel, and working as a "master builder" who lays foundational doctrines to build up the church.
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Pioneer: Paul focused on planting churches in unreached areas rather than staying in one place, constantly moving to establish new communities.
"Master Builder": He established churches, ordained local leadership, and provided structural, doctrinal, relational, and foundational order.
Spirit-Guided & Empowered: He was led directly by the Holy Spirit regarding where to travel and preach, and his ministry was marked by signs, wonders, and mighty deeds.
Sacrificial and Gospel-Centered: Paul’s ministry was characterized by immense suffering, opposition, and a single-minded devotion to preaching the gospel of grace.
Relationship-Oriented: He focused on nurturing and equipping the churches he established, often returning to strengthen them and ensuring they were not led astray.
Journey to Wholeness, started by Life Church in 2014, has been helping people in the U.S., Canada, and Ireland since 2014. To date, we have seen over 2,500 people graduate the 12 week course or 2 day intensive.
We need to learn how our brains work and how ignored trauma affects our thoughts and actions to understand what impacts us today. This understanding helps us move towards what we really want; without it, we may struggle to make progress.
we are a
JOURNEY TO WHOLENEsS CHURCH
A culture of expansion
Our culture is rooted in the character of Jesus and his mission to connect with those outside the church. We entered the marketplace with The Exchange brand, which includes a coffee house and eatery, a trendy salon, and the renovations of a large 20-acre retreat property. The Exchange Collaborative is a not-for-profit organization, coupled with Journey to Wholeness, offering spiritual and mental health services.
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Retreat center
The Exchange Collaborative provides a personalized Intensive Program called Journey to Wholeness. We host this at our peaceful Retreat Center, located on 20 acres in North Carolina. It is also featured on PastorStays and has been utilized by pastors and leaders from all over the nation and other countries since 2022.
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podcasts
We offer fresh, high-quality podcasts on a wide range of topics. The Brain and Balance for emotional and spiritual guidance, A Sonny Look at the Bible, each Sunday Message from Life Church for Theology and leadership development and The Rise after the Fall with Shawn and Sonny for pastors, leaders and church nerds.
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The Exchange Brand
The Exchange Coffee, Mercantile & Eatery, the Salon and Parlor, and The Reserve Retreat Center — all part of the Exchange Brand — are a gift to the people they serve. Woven into the very fabric of our community, we reflect a life-giving culture as we wholeheartedly serve the public.