CRISTA (ChRISTianity in Action) is a family of ministries headquartered since 1948 in the Richmond Highlands neighborhood of

Shoreline, Washington Shoreline is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is located between the city limits of Seattle and the Snohomish County border, approximately north of Downtown Seattle. As of the 2020 census, the population of Shoreline was ...

, just north of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. Its campus is the former

Firland Sanatorium The Firland Sanatorium was Seattle's municipal tuberculosis treatment center. It opened on May 2, 1911, and closed on October 30, 1973. Early history Firland was established in what is now the city of Shoreline, Washington under the original nam ...

campus. The company focuses in the areas of education, global relief & development, youth camps, senior care, and media.

History

In 1949, Mike and Vivian Martin leased the abandoned Firland Tuberculosis Sanatorium from

King County King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 12th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle ...

for one dollar per year, and founded a youth home and retirement community of about 80 elderly residents, naming the operation King's Garden. The youth home quickly became a school, graduating its first class in 1951. In the early 1950s, King's Garden expanded both its operations and geography with Miracle Ranch, a summer camp near

Gig Harbor Gig Harbor () is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 census. Gig Harbor bills itself as "the Maritime City" and maintains a strong connection to its ...

, and a radio station,

KGDN KSPO (1050 kHz) is an AM radio station licensed to Dishman, Washington and serves the greater Spokane media market. The station is owned by Thomas R. Read, through licensee Liberty Broadcasting System, LLC, and is the flagship for the American ...

. The organization later added a second summer camp, Island Lake, and expanded to four total radio stations. In 1970, Medicine for Missions, an international relief organization, joined the organization and renamed itself

World Concern World Concern is a Christian global relief and development organization operating in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Haiti, with its headquarters located in Seattle, Washington, United States. World Concern serves approximately 6 million people worldw ...

. Christian Veterinary Mission joined King's Garden in 1978. King's Garden became CRISTA in 1979 (an identity inspired by the concept of putting Christianity in action) and the school became King's Schools. In 1993, Seattle Street School, now Seattle Urban Academy, joined CRISTA Ministries. SUA closed in 2020. In 2019, the new leader of CRISTA, Jacinta Tegman, implemented what was seen as an anti-gay mandate that required employees to disavow same-sex relationships, both at work and in their personal lives; several teachers quit as a result.

Ministries

CRISTA Ministries is a Christian ministry that focuses on evangelism through Christian education, media, senior care, and poverty alleviation. The organization is led by CEO Jacinta Tegman. * CRISTA Senior Living *

King's Schools King's Schools is a private Christian school, serving preschool through 12th grade, located in Shoreline, Washington, United States. It is the largest single-campus Christian school in the state, and is part of the CRISTA family of ministries. ...

** King's Schools has been a part of the CRISTA family since 1949. * CRISTA Media ** CRISTA Media houses three Christian radio stations: *** SPIRIT 105.3 FM KCMS, Seattle, Washington –

Christian Contemporary Music Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith an ...

*** KCIS 630 AM, Seattle, Washington –

Christian Talk Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...

*** PRAISE 106.5 FM KWPZ,

Lynden, Washington Lynden is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. It is located 15 miles (24 km) north of Bellingham, the county seat and principal city of the Bellingham, Washington, Bellingham Metropolitan Area. It is the second largest city ...

– Christian Contemporary Music *

is an international relief organization providing clean water, food, education and disaster assistance. Most of World Concern's staff overseas are natives of the country in which they are working. Most recently, World Concern had a strong presence in

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

following the 2009 earthquake. * CRISTA Camps operates one camp on the west side of

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

. Miracle Ranch, located near

, is a western-themed camp with a horsemanship program.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 47.769402, -122.354041, format=dms, display=title, type:edu Christian organizations based in the United States Organizations based in Seattle Radio broadcasting companies of the United States Shoreline, Washington