In 1989, a church planter named Timothy Keller moved to New York City with his wife and three young sons to begin Redeemer Presbyterian Church. At the time, evangelical Christians made up only .5% of the population of Manhattan; however, the Kellers found an unexpected spiritual hunger among New Yorkers, and contrary to all expectations, the church grew explosively from its very first weeks.

From Fall 1989 to Fall 1992, it approximately doubled in size each year. Today, five Sunday services are held in three different locations in central Manhattan, with over 5,000 attendees.

Redeemer began to plant churches in and around the New York City metropolitan area in the late 1990's, as several assistant pastors moved on to start new congregations in Greenwich Village, Westchester, Harlem and Morningside Heights.

In the spring of 1998, Redeemer concluded its first Capital Campaign to move towards a multi-site model and to found the Redeemer Church Planting Center. The multi-site model is formed around the idea of setting up worship services in different locations for what will eventually become separate church congregations. You can read more about this vision at the Renew Campaign website.

Since its founding, the church planting center has helped to plant over 170 churches in 35 global cities. Our ministry model draws from Redeemer's experience as a church in a secular, multicultural global city. The center provides resources, including funding, leadership training, and coaching, for churches in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia.

In 2009, the church planting center and a new ministry called Redeemer Labs united to become Redeemer City to City - a new 501(c)3 organization for creating gospel movements in cities around the world by focusing on planting new churches and publishing resources to equip leaders.