Tyler and Lindale, One Church with Two Front Doors
Rose Heights Church anchors two campuses in East Texas. The main campus sits at 2120 Old Omen Road in Tyler, and a second campus meets at 12465 FM 16 in Lindale, about fifteen minutes north. The phrase printed across the top of every page is "Love God, Love One Another," drawn from John 13:34-35. It is more than a slogan. The staff recites it together at the close of every Sunday service.
Rose Heights is a member of the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), a Trinitarian Pentecostal body, and is led by Lead Pastor Allen Townsend. Around him sits a staff of pastors, ministry leaders, and coordinators who oversee the Tyler campus, the Lindale campus, a children's ministry called Kids First, a flagship Finding Freedom healing course, an annual summer conference for students, and a community-facing fitness center that draws hundreds of non-churchgoers each week.
Sunday Mornings at 9 and 11
Sunday services are held at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM (Central Time) at both campuses. There is no dress code. Visitors arrive in everything from suits to t-shirts and jeans; the church's own language is "come as you are." A team of greeters and hosts walks first-time visitors through the building, with one of the first stops being the Kids First check-in stations for families.
The services are described as energetic, engaging, and encouraging. Worship blends the latest contemporary Christian songs with the occasional traditional hymn. Messages are centered in Scripture and apply biblical truth to daily life. For those who cannot attend in person, Rose Heights streams both services on its online platform, on Facebook Live, and on YouTube. Past services are also available on demand through Apple TV, Roku, and the church's app.
Wednesday Nights for LifeGroups and Students
Wednesdays at 6:30 PM are the church's second weekly gathering. At both campuses, adults meet in LifeGroups, the small-group ministry that the church considers the engine of discipleship. Groups meet in homes, at coffee shops, at restaurants, and on campus, organized by semester (fall, winter, spring) and typically running about ten weeks. Each LifeGroup follows a discussion-based curriculum, often centered on a book of the Bible or a book study, and is led by a leader, co-leader, and prayer warrior.
LifeGroups are where newcomers are invited to find their people. The church believes "life is better together" and frames small groups as the place where Sunday teaching becomes lived-out faith. A current semester runs August through October, with a flagship Freedom LifeGroup that pairs study with one-on-one prayer ministry.
Kids First: From Nursery Through Fifth Grade
Children are a top priority at Rose Heights. Kids First is the name of the children's ministry, and it serves children from birth through fifth grade at both campuses. Its stated mission is "to raise a generation that will not depart from God."
The program is divided into three age-graded environments. The Nursery provides a safe, loving room for babies and toddlers, with a comfortable viewing area for nursing mothers who want to watch the main service on live TV. Preschoolers meet in colorful Clubhouse rooms for interactive Bible stories, lively songs, and prayer. Worship World, for first through fifth graders, is a high-energy worship time designed to help kids "connect with God, His Church, and His purposes for their life."
First-time visitors check in at the Nursery or Worship World entrances, where volunteers register the child, note any allergies, and give parents a matching pick-up tag. If the church needs to reach a parent during the service, it texts the phone number on file. The children's ministry is led by Pastor Kevin McHann at the Tyler campus and Pastor Thomas Thornton at the Lindale campus.
Connect YTH for Students
Middle and high school students gather under the banner of Connect YTH on Wednesday nights at 6:30 PM at both campuses. The Tyler YTH is led by Student Ministries and Next Gen Pastor Caleb Flowers, and the Lindale YTH is led by Student Ministries Coordinator Tobias Burks.
The student ministry also runs an annual summer conference at the Tyler campus. SC '26 is a three-night, one-morning gathering featuring guest speaker Noah Herrin, lead pastor of Way Church in Nashville, and worship from SEU Worship of Southeastern University. The conference is open to students from outside the church as well, with a separate registration track for visiting youth groups.
Unite: A Young Adult Community on Thursdays
Young adults between 18 and 30 have their own ministry called Unite. The group meets every Thursday at 7:00 PM at the Tyler campus for worship, teaching, and community. The tagline is simple: "the best way to get connected is by showing up."
Beyond the Thursday gathering, Unite organizes weekly LifeGroups for young adult men and women, plus occasional hangouts: volleyball at UT Tyler, dinners at local restaurants, on-campus Sunday evenings at 7:00 PM. Updates are sent through a text thread, and the ministry maintains an active Instagram presence. Unite is coordinated by Josiah Taylor.
Senior Adults and the Fellowship Hall
The Senior Adult ministry focuses on "connecting you with Christ in the community of faith." Every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM, senior adults gather in the Fellowship Hall for Bible study, preceded by a Breakfast Fellowship of homemade pastries and coffee. Monthly fellowship dinners, game nights, day trips, seminars, and outreach projects round out the calendar. The ministry is led by Senior Adult and Pastoral Care Pastor Darryl Crawford.
Mighty Men: Service, Retreats, and Brotherhood
Men's ministry at Rose Heights runs on three rhythms: weekly men's LifeGroups, monthly fun events, and monthly service projects. The service arm is called Mighty Men. On the third Saturday of each month, men from both campuses meet at 7:30 AM and head out to do handyman work for widows, single moms, and elderly church members, including yard maintenance, painting, and building handicap ramps.
Each fall the men travel together to Beavers Bend, Oklahoma, for the Rose Heights Men's Retreat. The retreat fills large cabins with hotel-style amenities, pool tables, and hot tubs, and includes a four-mile kayaking trip, daily devotionals, and evening worship. Other gatherings have included skeet shooting, pickleball, golf, fishing, and dinners. The men's ministry is led by Discipleship Pastor Jerrod Fishback.
Women's Ministry and the Refresh Conference
The Women's Ministry is led by Julie Townsend and gathers women for Bible studies, fellowship events, and the annual Refresh Women's Conference. Refresh is a dedicated women's gathering that draws attendees from across the region for teaching, worship, and connection.
Finding Freedom: A Healing Course
One of the most distinctive ministries at Rose Heights is Finding Freedom, an eight-to-ten-week small-group course designed to help people release past wounds and walk in spiritual freedom. Each session is structured around three movements: relationship-building with food and refreshments, facilitated discussion of the week's lesson, and individual prayer ministry. A trained prayer partner prays over each member during the group time.
The course is paired with a one-day Freedom Encounter event that brings participants together for extended prayer and ministry. Topics range from "The Tree of Life" and forgiveness to "The Power of Words" and worship. The Foundations of Freedom series introduces new people to the material in four classes: Freedom to Hear God, Freedom to Change, Freedom to Live in Your Identity, and Freedom to Live a Kingdom Life. Finding Freedom is led by Pastor Jerrod Fishback.
Growth Track, Baptism, and the Next-Steps Path
Rose Heights organizes its discipleship pathway into clear steps. Growth Track is a three-evening introduction to the church, the essentials of Christian belief, personal discovery of spiritual gifts, and a tour of the facilities. The class is a prerequisite for church membership and for serving on the Dream Team.
Water Baptism by immersion is offered as a public declaration of a personal decision to follow Jesus. Baby Dedication is a separate ceremony in which parents commit to raising their child according to God's Word. The church also provides a clear gospel presentation on its Choose Christ page, walking through admit, believe, and confess.
RH Worship: Music That Leads
The worship ministry, RH Worship, is led by Worship and Creative Arts Pastor Brandon Kizer at the Tyler campus and Worship Pastor Daniel Gore at the Lindale campus. The team describes itself as "passionate, Spirit-led" and committed to "creating an atmosphere where people can encounter God through music." It blends contemporary and timeless worship and has released two full-length projects, "RHC Worship Live" and "All of You," available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube.
Worship team applications are accepted online, and interested singers and instrumentalists can audition after prayerful consideration.
Local Outreach and Global Mission Trips
Missions and Outreach at Rose Heights is led by Outreach Coordinator Amanda Fishback. The church supports thirty local and global partners, with a significant portion of tithes and offerings directed toward them. Locally in East Texas, partners include the New Creation Foundation (addiction recovery), Meals on Wheels (serving about 3,000 daily clients across six counties), the Gideons International, the East Texas Crisis Center, the Salvation Army, the East Texas Food Bank, Bethesda Health Clinic, PATH, the David Powell Community Food Pantry, Heart Gallery East Texas, Trotter House Lindale, CASA for Kids of East Texas, and the Children's Advocacy Center of Smith County. Every month, Rose Heights runs a planned outreach with one of these organizations; volunteers serve at the food bank, work with the homeless community, or collect requested items.
Globally, the church partners with ministries on six inhabited continents. International partners include Serving Orphans Worldwide (which provides food, shelter, education, healthcare, and mentorship to over 7,000 children), a children's home and house church network in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, World Embrace's Champion's Centre in Gulu, Uganda (the first community centre in Northern Uganda), the Chiang Rai Children's Home in Thailand, Voice of Hope in Israel (radio broadcasting across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Cyprus, and Israel), Compassion Ministries in DR Congo (church planting and children's homes in Goma), MedSend, Ishmaels Blessing, Freedom Seekers International, and Mike Black Ministries in Guatemala (the El Rejón Feeding Project provides weekly meals to 300 Indigenous Mayan children).
Short-term mission trips are sent out each year. Recent and upcoming trips include Recife, Brazil, with Shores of Grace Ministries (anti-trafficking and restoration work), a children's camp on O'ahu, Hawaii, with the Hawaii Church of God, and a church-planting trip to Swords, Ireland, during spring break. Trips are open to adults and youth, depending on the destination.
The Community Life Center, Banquet Hall, and RH Cafe
On the Tyler campus sits the Community Life Center (CLC), a faith-based fitness, sports, and recreation facility that is open to the public. First three visits are free. Amenities include an exercise and fitness center, basketball and volleyball gym, indoor walking track, aerobic studio, locker rooms, a game room with pool, air hockey, and video games, a preschool indoor and outdoor party and play facility, group lounges, high-speed wireless internet, and the RH Café.
Memberships are intentionally modest: $10 a month, $25 for three months, $40 for six, or $60 a year. Senior adults pay half price. A monthly family membership costs $20, with children in the household free. Military, first responders, and foster families receive free membership, and children twelve and under are free.
The CLC is also the church's event venue. The Banquet Hall accommodates 300 guests with wood floors, custom molding, dimmable chandeliers, a recessed stage, a full audio-visual booth, and a commercial kitchen. Flat-rate packages cover setup, an AV technician, an event coordinator, cleanup, and use of the kitchen; weekday and evening rates differ for personal, non-profit, and business events. A smaller Room 131 seats 60 to 75 for meetings. Snack-N-Play parties run Saturday mornings and afternoons for preschoolers, and Gym and Game Room Parties offer basketball, volleyball, and game-room fun for older children.
The RH Café is a coffee shop inside the CLC serving specialty drinks, pastries, breakfast burritos, blended fruit smoothies, and daily homemade lunch specials. The café is open Sunday mornings, Monday through Thursday mornings, and Wednesday evenings from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, when it serves dinner before LifeGroups and Connect YTH.
Media Ministry: Reaching East Texas Through Broadcast
The Rose Heights Media Ministry works behind the scenes to share the church's services through broadcast and digital platforms. Locally, services air on KETK on Sunday at 10 AM and Monday through Friday from 1:00 to 2:00 AM, and on KTPN on Sunday at 10 AM. The ministry is directed by Ben Watson and welcomes volunteers with experience in lighting, video production, photography, or other media.
What Rose Heights Believes
Rose Heights holds to historic Christian orthodoxy within the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) tradition. The church teaches that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God, that there is one God eternally revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, was crucified for the sins of mankind, buried, and raised from the dead. Salvation is found in the name of Jesus alone. The church also believes in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, and looks for the personal return of Jesus Christ.
The vision of Rose Heights is "leading people to experience the love of God and live in His freedom." Its mission is summed up in three verbs: Love (God and people), Live (godly and abundantly), and Lead (missionally and generously). Its worship style is both contemporary and charismatic.
From a Wednesday night LifeGroup to a Mighty Men service project to a Snack-N-Play birthday in the Community Life Center, Rose Heights has built a network of ministries that reaches well beyond its own walls. At both the Tyler and Lindale campuses, the heartbeat of the church remains the verse that closes every Sunday service: love one another, as Christ has loved us.