About Chad Bruegman
We're excited to announce that our membership has voted for Chad Bruegman to be our next Senior Pastor at River Pointe & West End Church.
We're aiming for an early summer start date. Until then, Chad will continue to preach periodically as he has since August.
We encourage you to pray for this transition for Chad's family.
Get to know Chad
Chad gave his life to Christ when he was 23 years old and has been a pastor for 23 years, 14 of which were spent as the Founding Pastor at Red Rocks Church in Denver, Colorado. During his time at Red Rocks, he and his team witnessed the church grow from humble gatherings of 18 people to over 15,000 people attending each weekend at one of six campuses and three satellite campuses, located in Colorado State Prisons (in partnership with God Behind Bars).
Chad’s a proud husband to Rachel and dad to Jude, Jane, Benjamin and Cruz. He’s obsessed with fantasy football, has eaten more Dairy Queen blizzards than he cares to admit, is most at peace when mowing his yard and could eat Mexican food for every meal. He’s also a die hard San Francisco 49ers fan.
Check out Chad's answers to some frequently asked questions.
Watch one of Chad's messages
Watch one of Chad's recent messages as a Guest Pastor here at River Pointe & West End Church. Click here for more.
Frequently asked questions for Chad
In my short time at River Pointe & West End, I’ve witnessed something really special. I’ve seen so many markers of a healthy church.
That said, I feel a deep sense and conviction that my main role is to be a “waterer” of what has already been planted and established. I want to take all the beautiful things that make RPC|WE what it is and continue to water it – to lead a healthy, passionate, vibrant, honest church as we continue to keep Jesus at the center of it all.
One of my favorite things about RPC|WE (and the greater Houston Metro area) is its diversity. We serve a God who purposefully created a diverse group of people, and I believe with deep conviction that is His heart. Therefore, the church’s goal should be to cultivate and always be working toward a church body that embraces, celebrates and embodies a multicultural environment.
Simply put, “To be a light.”
I believe that the best thing we can and will do for our community is to be passionate followers of Jesus. Of course, I believe in practical, helpful, compassionate initiatives that meet the needs of the community at large. But I believe wholeheartedly that the single best contribution the church makes to any community is to send, healthy, whole, passionate followers of Jesus out into the world. I believe Christ followers should be the best coworkers, friends and neighbors that their community has ever seen.
At the end of the day, I believe a healthy and strong community is created one relationship at a time; one act of service at a time; one neighbor to another at a time.
One of the greatest ways that Christians “grow in the faith” is by being people who have a heart and passion for those who are “far from God.” I think one of the most important challenges that any good leader and pastor undertakes is to create an environment where the person far from God feels welcome, seen, valued and challenged, while at the same time creating a church where the believer of 10, 20, 30+ years is continually being challenged to grow in the faith as well.
I think some of my most important work as a Senior Pastor is to gracefully bridge that gap.
I am, at my core, a people person. The church was designed to serve people. Jesus was the ultimate Servant Leader, and then He invited us to be the same.
My goal as a leader and pastor has always been to give more to my team than I ask of them. As a leader, I deeply care about the health and wholeness of the church staff and the church at large. My role is bigger than just vision and preaching – my role is to equip people for service and to do the best I can to set them up for success, not only in the church, but in their personal lives.
I’ve been so impressed with the RPC|WE team. There’s such a sweet sense of buy-in, passion, commitment and faithfulness I have seen from them.
I’m a firm believer that “as the staff goes, so goes the church.” For a church of this size to be healthy and fruitful, it definitely takes an army of committed people.
One of my biggest roles as Senior Pastor would be the care and cultivation of the staff at large. I’ve found that the best, and really only way to do this, is simply to spend time together – to pray together, have fun together, hold each other accountable and cheer each other on.
I believe that the best and healthiest churches have the whole personhood of God represented in leadership. Some of the most important mentors and influences in my time as a pastor have been women. I believe in empowering women to be everything that God has intended them to be in and for the church.
After almost 14 years of helping lead a church that grew very quickly, I found myself tired, burnt out and having some personal mental health struggles. Pastoral leadership can be tiring and stressful at any time – that is a normal part of the job. However, in this particular season of my life, my wife and I felt that the best thing we could do for not only ourselves, but for the good of Red Rocks Church, was to step away. This was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.
My time and experience at Red Rocks was the best, most fruitful season I’ve ever had. The people of Red Rocks – the leaders, the volunteers and really everyone – treated me and my family with such kindness and grace from day one.
In the almost five years of being away from Red Rocks, I’ve grown and matured in ways I never thought I would. I now see the hand of God and the goodness of God in making such a hard decision to step away for a time.
God has used this unique season as a classroom for us to learn, rest, grow and prepare for what’s next, and I’m grateful to God for challenging and stretching me in this last season.
Our kids have been so gracious to my wife and me through this process, but like most kids, they’re feeling everything you would expect. They’re nervous about having to make new friends and live in a different city. At the same time, they’re excited for us and what this next chapter would mean.
If I were to become the next Senior Pastor of RPC|WE, my biggest request would be that the church prays for my kids to experience so much grace from God – to trust in their hearts that God’s got this, and that not only are they going to be okay; they’re going to thrive.
I studied psychology for several years at Evangel University, a liberal arts Christian university. After giving my life to Christ at 23, I pursued ministry by way of a three-year church internship, where I studied theology, helped lead a youth group of over 1,000 middle & high school kids and served in a variety of areas within the church.
Following the internship, I was brought on staff by the church as one of the Youth pastors. I then moved to Denver, Colorado to start Red Rocks Church, which grew to over 15,000 people in my 14 years on staff.
I’m an avid reader and enjoy learning from others. Some of the most influential authors and pastors for me include Charles Spurgeon, Billy Graham, Chuck Swindol, N. T. Wright, Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio and Thomas Merton. Through my experience as a pastor and a church planter, I’ve applied these personal studies into action in real time.
I think we’re down for one more Chad! Two more Chads, and I think Jesus comes back and wraps this thing up!
About our search
Senior Pastor Search Timeline
OCTOBER 2023 | Search Committee created, Job Posting finalized & Zoom Interviews began
NOVEMBER 2023 | Night of Worship & Prayer
DECEMBER 2023 | Chad Bruegman began interview process
JANUARY 2024 | Chad Bruegman continued interview process & Search Committee unanimously recommended Chad B. as our Senior Pastor candidate
FEBRUARY 2024 | Campus Town Halls
WEEKEND OF MARCH 3, 2024 | Our membership voted for Chad Bruegman to be our next Senior Pastor at River Pointe & West End Church - 97% of our members voted in favor of Chad!
Search Committee
Our Senior Pastor Search Committee consisted of our Advisory Team.
Catherine Frisby, who is on our Advisory Team and attends our West End campus, led this committee. Her professional background is in Human Resources, and she works in Senior Leadership Development.
Click here to learn more about our Advisory Team.