About RGN
Throughout Regeneration Nashville’s history, God has been faithful and with this we have hope: the best is yet to come.
The Regeneration Nashville Story
Pastor Kent and Candy Christmas have dedicated their lives to ministering to hurting people and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
After being married in August of 1987, they traveled the world evangelizing together while Candy also sang Gospel music. In 2006, with much prayer, Pastor Kent and Candy felt the Lord calling them to begin a new work as pastors and plant a church in Nashville, TN; thus, Resting Place Church was founded.
Two years prior, in 2004, Candy had begun a nonprofit, The Bridge Ministry, feeding Nashville’s homeless population. A corner of The Bridge Ministry warehouse seemed like the perfect place for the Resting Place congregation to meet. They made this small nook their home by hanging sheets of plastic, building a makeshift stage, and running fans and kerosene heaters to stay comfortable. Slowly, precious people who loved Jesus added themselves to the Resting Place church family.
Nearly eight years after their first service in the Bridge Ministry Warehouse, the adjacent warehouse became available for lease and the faithful gathering of about one hundred souls made the move next door. In their newly acquired space, Resting Place continued to grow slowly until the Covid-19 pandemic took its toll in March of 2020. Due to stay-at-home orders, Resting Place closed its doors and moved to an online format.
During the few months without in person services, Pastor Kent and Candy felt a shift and decided to rename the work God was doing. They reopened their doors under their new name, Regeneration Nashville. In September 2020, Pastor Kent was invited to an event in Washington D.C. entitled “The Return”, and his contribution gained him international attention. The estimated viewership of his segment was nearly one billion people in over 100 languages.
In a few short months, Regeneration Nashville saw growth that can only be explained as “miraculous”. On the last Sunday of 2020, Pastor Kent arrived at his warehouse church to unlock the doors for the Sunday meeting and was greeted by 200 additional churchgoers ready to worship with him. For the next five consecutive weeks, the crowds grew by hundreds and soon the small warehouse was no longer able to contain the throng of people.
Generously, a larger church in the vicinity, Cornerstone Nashville, opened their doors to Regeneration Nashville and has allowed them to lease their facility on Sunday afternoons for the last few years.
In 2022, Regeneration began searching for a new location that could be their own.
Destination Miracle
After much prayer and searching, Regeneration Nashville found a building for purchase in early 2023 that will accommodate the growing congregation and allow them to finally have a place to call “home” in 2024. Throughout Regeneration Nashville’s history, God has been faithful and with this we have hope: the best is yet to come.
Meet Pastors Kent and Candy Christmas
Kent & Candy Christmas are the founding pastors of Regeneration Nashville in Nashville, TN, as well as Regeneration Nations; an organization for those in ministry to find fellowship, encouragement, fresh vision, equipping and strength.
Pastor Kent has been in full time ministry for more than 50 years, traveling extensively across the United States and abroad. His rise to national and international prominence came following a prophetic word he released at The Return in the fall of 2020 that went viral.
Kent’s passion is to strengthen the local church body to be effective in spiritual growth, community impact, prayer, and prophetic understanding. He is a man of great faith and carries an anointing to preach the word with the demonstration of apostolic
power.
Kent and his wife Candy have been married for 36 years and are blessed with two sons, a daughter and five beautiful grandchildren.
Pastor Candy is the Founder and CEO of The Bridge, Inc. Candy has spent her life giving to others through music. She began her career as an adolescent as part of the southern gospel family, The Hemphills, and quickly climbed to the top of the Christian charts.
Later, she married and happily settled into family life, but she wanted a way to continue her ministry of giving. Her heart’s desire is to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. That is what prompted her to start The Bridge in 2004.
Candy has appeared on over 60 Gaither Homecoming Videos and spent 6 years on tour with Bill Gaither and The Homecoming Friends. Candy is a prolific teacher and writer, including countless songs, podcasts and books sharing a message of hope through Jesus.