Small Beginnings

Victorious Life Christian Church began as a small house church of about a dozen people in 1981. The group was a Troy offshoot of what was then known as Albany Christian Community located in Glenmont, New York. Sensing God's call to a greater commitment to His purposes and to one another, we incorporated as a local church in 1983 with the name, Troy Christian Community. William Carmichael and Anthony Germano were the first elders ordained in the church. Meeting in homes and various places, we continued to grow as we worshiped the Lord and sought His will for our lives together. Many local college students and Capital Region families joined our congregation during this early season of growth. In 1986, Pastor Anthony Germano was ordained as senior pastor of the church.

A Home Grown Church

In 1987 we leased our first public place of worship in a downtown Troy storefront on River Street. During this time we developed outreaches to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Sage College as well a heart for urban evangelism and ministry. Believing in house church ministry as a scriptural model for discipleship and growth, we continued to establish our community groups to accommodate our growing congregation. Our young families also grew with many children causing us to establish a children's ministry to accommodate our children during our Sunday service.

A New Home and a New Name

In 1988 we affiliated with a network of like-minded local churches which helped establish our youthful, home grown congregation. With a firm commitment to team ministry, we ordained Dominick Brignola and Brian Barker as elders during this time. Without space to grow in our storefront, we sought a larger place to meet. In 1991 we purchased the former St. John's Lutheran Church in downtown Troy, an 11,000 square foot facility with a seating capacity of 300 for the bargain price of $90,000. That same year, we changed our name from Troy Christian Community to Victorious Life Christian Church, and answered the call to be an urban congregation with a viable mission to our city.

An Established Vision

With this next season came building renovations, training our deaconate, and seeking to clarify our urban vision in a time when many churches were forsaking the cities and the poor. Believing that the gospel of Jesus Christ is truly the hope of every community we decided to remain based in the city, making Troy our congregation's home. This decision came in 1996, when Troy was on the brink of bankruptcy and was required to be financially regulated by the State. Troy City Hall was put up for sale and Troy was listed among the most distressed cities in New York State.

In 1998, Pastor Tony answered the call to trans-local ministry, at which time Pastor Dominick Brignola was ordained as senior pastor. Pastor Dominick brought conviction to our urban vision and established Arise and Build Community Ministries, a not-for-profit Christian ministry dedicated to serving the needs of the inner-city. Also in 1998, the Alight Care Center was established to meet the needs of urban families in need, as well as Provisions Community Food and Storehouse. Today, Arise and Build is the covering ministry to Alight, Provisions, His Table, Edify, Celebrate Recovery, Women of Valor, Young Women of Valor and Troy Unplugged.

Commitment to Team Ministry

Victorious Life is currently lead by a bi-vocational eldership team and continues to grow in this vision. Philip Smith was ordained and joined the eldership team in 2002. Lindsay Todd was ordained and joined the eldership team in 2010, and William Gilday was ordained and joined the eldership team in 2014. In 2019 we ordained Tim Stockwell , the grandson of William Carmichael (one of the founding elders of our church) to be a full-time associate pastor and minister of the gospel. Along with our pastors, our deacons and ministry leaders serve in vital ways to ppromote and protect the life and gospel mission of the church.  We are currently seeking to expand our leadership team for the next generation of growth and find more creative and impactful ways to serve our community with the gospel of Jesus.

We Have a Future and a Hope

We have had much joy seeing Victorious Life become an established church since our founding. We have impacted the lives of thousands of households through our many community outreaches and have genuinely experienced God's grace upon us as we have grown. However, for Victorious Life, we believe the best years are yet to come. Troy's economy and outlook has improved greatly since 1996 and the Capital Region is preparing for considerable economic growth. 

Through every season of our journey, Victorious Life has remained a strong, vital local church with an exceptional vision and a deep devotion to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Together with Him, we are becoming a prevailing, multi-generational church with growing influence in the city of Troy, the Capital Region and beyond. We invite you to partner with us in this unfolding story of God's love, grace and redemption.