Legacy Church | Pastor Brianna & Brett Holland | By Jessica Beamond | Director, MDC Communications
“Don’t call me to pastor.”
Pastor Brianna Holland remembers praying those words as she tried to understand what God was asking of her. She was willing to preach and serve. But pastoring? That was not part of the plan.
Brianna grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota. She pursued nursing at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where she became involved with Chi Alpha and married her high school sweetheart, Brett. Eventually, they returned to the Iron Range.
After their first child was born, Brianna stepped away from nursing. One day, while studying Scripture and praying, she sensed God telling her this was a “preparation time.”
Her pastor, Dave Oler, encouraged her to take the next step. Brianna began ministry classes and eventually preached to the congregation where she had grown up.
God began to burden her heart for the Quad Cities area of Mountain Iron, Virginia, Eveleth, and Gilbert, and church planting kept entering the conversation.
While traveling to Family Camp, Brianna told Brett that if God would confirm the level of leadership to which He was calling her, she would stop questioning and run after it.
Later that week, during an altar call, Roger Stacy shared words that confirmed a pastoral level of leadership to the couple.
“We just looked at each other, and agreed, ‘All right, I guess this is it.’”
Legacy Church started as a Bible study in their living room before publicly launching on January 12, 2020. Just 10 weeks later, COVID forced the new congregation online. Still, Brianna remained confident.
“I didn’t manufacture that timeline,” she said. “That was God’s timeline.”
Legacy continued growing with a vision to help people establish “a legacy of Jesus’ love in their family, community, and world.” In a region where Brianna often hears that the best days are behind them, Legacy speaks a different message: the best is yet to come.
Planting Legacy was not the last unexpected assignment. Later, Legacy was asked to help an Assemblies of God congregation in Aurora that had gone years without consistent pastoral leadership. Today, that church is Legacy Church East Range, led by Chris and Sarah Mammenga, and has grown from about 10 people to roughly 40 on Sundays.
For Brianna, learning to trust God’s provision has shaped how she leads. She emphasizes that it’s easy to hyper-focus on things that are lacking in front of us. However, God will provide.
Rather than settling into what is comfortable, Brianna encourages pastors to keep pursuing their communities, investing in people, and trusting in God’s provision. Sometimes, it may already be closer than expected.
“The provision is sitting in your pews,” Brianna said. “And it just needs discipleship, guidance, and opportunity.”
