The Beginning 

In 2014 Pastor William gathered a small handful of friends in Orange County, CA to simply worship and pursue the Presence of Jesus. During the first meeting a young woman by the name of Emily walked through the doors that caught Williams attention and he heard the Lord say, “That’s your wife.” Five months after that night, they were engaged. Over the course of a year they would get married and a community would began to form in an upper youth room of a church as God began to form this vision in their hearts. 

By 2017 William and Emily had moved Risen Nation to Dallas, Texas and continued to gather in homes, coffee shops, and churches. Although still unclear of what Risen Nation would one day be, the desire never changed; gather people to simply pursue the Presence of Jesus. In December of 2017 William had an encounter with the Lord, one that would change the course of his life and ultimately become the foundation that Risen Nation Church would be built on. After growing up in ministry, his parents being pastors, and years of working in full time ministry - the Lord spoke to him through this encounter saying “you’ve never built a home with me.” In William’s words, “I was an employee of the Lord stuck in religious duty but God wanted to introduce me to a bridal revelation and show me what it means to build a home with Him individually and corporately as a community.” Risen Nation would began to discover in the Scriptures that this was the vow David gave the Lord in Psalms 132 and the ultimate desire and plan of God in Revelation 21 that God & man would tabernacle together on the earth.

 “Lord, remember David And all his afflictions; How he swore to the Lord, And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, Or go up to the comfort of my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, Until I find a place for the Lord, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Psalms 132:1-5 NKJV

As a community that would gather on Tuesday nights in a coffee shop, they became obsessed with this idea of seeing a family of people become a home for the Presence of the Lord. The longing of that first-fruits group was to build something that was first attractive to God and not just people. After Pastor William’s encounter in December 2017, healings and miracles began to break out in the coffee shop and would lead to unexpected growth. 

The Transition 

Since the inception of Risen Nation it has been covered by William’s father & mothers church Resurrection Life Center which began in 1988. Resurrection Life Center functions in three locations; Orlando FL, Orange County CA, and Dallas, TX. During the early years of Risen Nation gatherings, William continued to serve in his fathers church on the worship team and RN was seen as the young adults group more or less of the church.

In 2019 Dr. William Sr. felt it was time to make a change at Resurrection Life Center. His oldest son Costi was established as the Senior Pastor of Resurrection Life. Pastor Costi had been the right hand to Pastor William Sr. for many years, working at the church since he was a teenager and was ready to step into this new role. After only a month in this new position his father had a dream, one that would bring an unexpected turn. In the dream the Lord spoke to WIlliam Sr. that Risen Nation was supposed to be a church and that himself and Costi were to make room for Risen Nation.

Pastor Costi would leave a full-time Senior Pastor role to volunteer for his younger brother as an associate pastor for Risen Nation. 

August 25, 2019 Risen Nation became a church. Since that day the Lord has done an unprecedented work that none of the family expected and now stretches across three states; Dallas, Nashville, and Chicago. 

In January 2021, Risen Nation held its first conference in Dallas Texas called Habitation. People came from all over the world to gather around the Presence of God. During that event, the Lord would began to birth new vision yet again in Pastor Williams heart. One year later School of Habitation was launched and Habitation went from being a conference to its own 501c3 ministry. 

As of January 2023, the Lord made it clear that William & Emily were to move to Nashville, TN and officially hand Risen Nation Church over to his brother Pastor Costi who now oversees all the church locations with Pastors established in each house. Four years after Pastor Costi made room for his younger brother in humility the Lord honored that by officially establishing him over Risen Nation Church.

Present Day 

In this new season, William & Emily are setting their focus on the assignment for Habitation Ministries, School of Habitation, and the Habitation events. The pursuit of the ministry is to see revival and reformation in our day & entire nations coming around the Presence of Jesus until the whole earth becomes His Habitation. 

More info about the ministry, visit Habitation Ministries