Meet the Pastors
Christian & Alex Aranza
Lead Pastors
Pastor Christian Aranza and his wife Alex have a passion for relationships. They are passionate about their relationship with Jesus, passionate about their marriage, and passionate about their relationship with their three beautiful children, Eli, Finley Kate, and Shiloh Addy. They are also passionate about their relationships with the people in their community
Christian was born in Texas and raised in South Louisiana. In 2010, he married Alex, a lifetime cajun. After serving as a medic in the U.S. Air Force and then attending Oral Roberts University, Christian and Alex began their ministry careers as college and youth pastors in their hometown of Lafayette, LA at their home church, Our Saviors Church. God then opened a door for Christian and Alex to serve at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, AL. After three years of being on staff at Church of the Highlands, Christian and Alex moved to Tomball, TX to start Valley Rise Church!
They come from a rich tradition of turning strangers into friends, and friends into family. Regardless of race, status, religion, or location, Christian and Alex have always been about loving and connecting with people and building relationships. They founded Valley Rise Church in January of 2018, knowing this is exactly where God wanted them to be. From the time the church began, Christian and Alex have made sure that Valley Rise is a place that looks like their hearts: open, accepting, inviting, joyful, optimistic, and relational. Valley Rise Church is a place that makes the complicated things simple, with the primary focus on loving God and loving people. A place that changes your perspective on life. A place that does what they’ve been doing their whole life, turning strangers to friends, and friends to family.
Casey & Nancy Harmeier
Youth Pastors
Casey and Nancy have a passion for the Word of God and the youth.
Their goal is raising up strong men and women that know their identity and purpose in Christ. Casey was born and raised in Tomball. Nancy was born and raised in Houston. By God’s grace and with an invitation of an old friend, the Harmeiers found their way to Valley Rise in 2018 without ever looking back. In 2022, they stepped away from their careers in obedience to serve the Lord full time.
Malcolm Bryant
Worship Pastor
Malcolm started serving The Lord at an early age, singing and writing songs of praise unto God.
He was raised in Detroit, MI and would often use his gifts of performing and musicianship to reach the youth. Malcolm has a passion for people, and a desire to lead others to experience the presence of God through worship. Malcolm resides in Cypress, TX with his wife (Passion) and daughter (Paige).
Orion Vilchis
Prayer & Care Pastor
Orion has a strong love for people.
Caring for them and helping them grow in their spiritual life is his passion. While living in New Jersey him and his wife, Natalia, heard God calling them to Tomball, Texas. Out of obedience they sold their house and made the trip down. A month later, God brought them to Valley Rise where they were able to get plugged into our Dream Team right away. Orion serves as our Prayer Pastor leading both our Prayer and Care teams.
Our Team
Cristina Pleitez
Executive director
Zada Jones
Assistant to executive director
Amy Alvarez
Executive assistant to pastor christian
Niki Acosta
Executive admin
Gabriella Konechne
DReam team coordinator
Maleny Rodriguez
dream team admin
Our Beliefs
The Holy Bible, and only the Bible, is the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. In its original writing, it is inspired, infallible and inerrant (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; Proverbs 30:5; Romans 16:25-26).
There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three are coequal and co-eternal (I John 5:7; Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews 3:7-11).
Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. On earth, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. He is the only man ever to have lived a sinless life. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died on the cross for mankind and thus, atoned for our sins through the shedding of His blood. He rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return again in power and glory. (John 1:1, 14, 20:28; I Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 2:5-6; I Timothy 2:5).
We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ: His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works or of any human efforts (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16, 3:8; Titus 3:5; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 16:31; Hebrews 9:22).
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is God, the Lord and giver of life, who was active in the Old Testament and is present in the world to make people aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He empowers the saints for service and witness, cleanses man from the old nature, and conforms us to the image of Christ.
Given at Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father, sent by Jesus after His Ascension, to empower the Church to preach the Gospel throughout the whole earth.
The Holy Spirit is manifested through a variety of spiritual gifts to build and sanctify the church, demonstrate the validity of the resurrection, and confirm the power of the Gospel. All believers are biblically encouraged to earnestly desire the manifestation of the gifts in their lives. These gifts always operate in harmony with the Scriptures and should never be used in violation of biblical parameters.
Joel 2:28-29, Matthew 3:11, Mark 16:17, Acts 1:5, 2:1-4, 17, 38-39, 8:14-17, 10:38, 44-47, 11:15-17, 19:1-6, Hebrews 2:4, Romans 1:11, 12:4-8, Ephesians 4:16, II Timothy 1:5-16, 4:14, I Corinthians 12:1-31; 14:1-40, I Peter 4:10
The church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of Jesus’ Great Commission. Every person who is born of the Spirit is an integral part of the church as a member of the body of believers. There is a spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:22, 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23; John 17:11, 20-23).
Jesus Christ was physically resurrected from the dead in a glorified body three days after His death on the cross. In addition, both the saved and the lost will be resurrected; they that are saved to the resurrection of life and they that are lost to the resurrection of eternal damnation (Luke 24:16, 36, 39; John 2:19-21, 20:26-28, 21:4; Acts 24:15; I Corinthians 15:42, 44; Philippians 1:21-23, 3:21).
Following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the new convert is commanded by the Word of God to be baptized in water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12, 36-38; 10:47-48).
Jesus Christ will physically and visibly return to earth for the second time to establish His Kingdom. This will occur at a date undisclosed by the Scriptures (Matthew 24:30, 26:63-64; Acts 1:9-11; I Thessalonians 4:15-17; II Thessalonians 1:7-8; Revelation 1:7)