“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
This verse from Proverbs seems most appropriate as we, Spokane First Church of the Nazarene, enter into the search process for our next Senior Pastor. I am confident that the Lord has identified already our next spiritual leader. And now in the coming months, He will lead us to whom that pastor will be.
David Mowry, our Northwest District Superintendent, will lead the Church Board through the search process. According to the denominational guidelines, the Church Board is assigned the responsibility for completing the pastoral search. The Board has approved the engagement of an interim who will serve until a permanent pastor has been chosen. The interim will function as the Senior Pastor, will work with the staff and will be available to the congregation.
Associate Pastors Shawn Stevenson, Hope Terhaar, and Gary Woodroof will continue serving in their ministerial roles. Their dedication to SFNAZ and support during the COVID experience and Pastor Bill’s illness have been greatly appreciated, and we look forward to their ministering during the search process. Watch the newsletter for their activities planned for the children, youth, and adults.
Until the interim pastor arrives, our pulpit guests will be our associate pastors and ordained members from within our congregation. They include: Wanda Aller, Doug Jones, Charlie Scott, Shawn Stevenson, Hope Terhaar, and Gary Woodroof. We look forward to hearing from each one.
It is our responsibility to keep you informed. This will be done through the newsletter, emails, letters, and announcements from the pulpit on Sunday mornings. Should you ever have a question, contact any board member or me at 509.464.1928 or email longfam@my.whitworth.edu.
You can support SFNAZ during this transition by praying intentionally for the future pastor, the church, board members, and staff. Your faithful attendance and the giving of your tithes are a very visible show of support.
I love the verse: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Each day is a new day for Spokane First’s walk with the Lord; let us rejoice and be glad daily as we venture into coming months and years!
May God continue to bless First Church.
Roger Long, Church Board Secretary
Church Board Members: Jeanette Aronson, Randy Coffey, Dwight Hille, Dan Gunther, Roger Long, Lance Marquardt, Ryan Pooler, Scott Robinson, Rusty Roth, Jana Shea, Kipp Silver, Vicki Wintersteen, Jeff Shea
We are kicking off a new ministry for our church this Summer! Since we were so disconnected last summer due to COVID, this year, we want to be intentional about reconnecting the body of the church during the summer months. Each Sunday this summer from July 11th – August 29th we will have our 9:30am Morning Worship Service, followed by a Sunday Summer Social event at various locations around Spokane. Over the next few weeks, we will be announcing more details and information on inviting your friends and neighbors.
Save the dates below!
July 11, 2021
- SFNAZ Contact: Snyder Family
- Location: Spokane First Church
- Church Lawn – Bring your picnic lunch. The Snyder family will help set up pickle ball, volleyball, and other yard games. You are welcome to bring your favorite yard game. For more information contact Mark & Karen Snyder.
July 18, 2021
- SFNAZ Contact: Terhaar Family
- Location: The Islands Trail Head & Donkey Island Swimming Hole, Centennial Trail
- Bring your bike to ride on the trail, hang out at the swimming hole and swim or enjoy a picnic! Meet us at the parking lot trailhead.
July 25, 2021
- SFNAZ Contact: Stevenson Family
- Location: Bowl and Pitcher
- Come hang out with everyone, bring a picnic lunch, and enjoy a hike.
August 1, 2021
- SFNAZ Contact: Marquardt Family
- Location: Bear Lake
- Bring your own picnic, play yard games, and enjoy fishing.
August 8, 2021
- SFNAZ Contact: Aronson Family
- Location: Bear Lake
- Bring your own picnic, play yard games, and enjoy fishing.
August 15, 2021
- SFNAZ Contact: Aller Family
- Location: Riverfront Park
- Bring your own picnic, enjoy the new Ice Age playground or all the other fun at the park.
August 22, 2021
- SFNAZ Contact: Wintersteen Family
- Location: Spokane First Church
- Church Lawn – Come enjoy a hot dog roast with an inflatable waterslide, slip n’ slide, and sand volleyball. Come enjoy fellowship in the sun.
August 29th:
- SFNAZ Contact: Pooler Family
- Location: Various Locations
- Serve Day with opportunities to serve on the church grounds and off the grounds. Sign-ups will begin for serve day on August 1, 2021.
*(There will be one Adult Discipleship Class at 11am for those interested.)
Upcoming EVents
ALL CHURCH VIRTUAL SCAVENGER HUNT – July 3rd – July 4th
- This is a virtual scavenger hunt for all ages! It will run from July 3rd – 10am to July 4th – 10:30pm! The winning family will get a MOD pizza gift card and a Summer fun pack!
- Watch for your email for the items we will be hunting or check back to this page at 10:30am on 7/3 for the list of items!
- Post your pictures with #SFNAZFAMILYSCAVENGERHUNT2021 in order to be counted for points.
INDEPENDENCE DAY – Sunday, July 4th
- One service at 9:30am. No discipleship classes.
- The office will be closed on Monday, July 5th in observance of Independence Day.
SENIOR LUNCHEON – Wednesday, July 14th – 12pm
- Join us at Old European. Call Roberta to RSVP 509-325-0711.
SFNAZ FAMILY CAMPOUT – September 3rd – 6th
- Join us at Camp Lutherhaven on CDA lake this year. We will have tent sites, RV sites, and cabins available to reserve. A large outdoor chapel area for Sunday service will be available as well. Enjoy group activities such as archery, rock climbing wall, ropes course, kayaks, paddleboards, and canoeing. Registration is open so reserve your spot today! For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE!
SFNAZ ANNOUNCEMENTS
SMALL GROUP – Saturdays – 7pm
- The Pooler Small Group would like to invite you to join them. Ryan and Jocelyn Pooler is facilitating the small group video series “Psalm 23” by Matt Chandler. Meetings will be twice a month (during the summer months) at 7pm in the Remedy Room. The summer schedule is as follows:
- July 10th
- July 24th
- August 7th
- August 21st
- Families with children are welcome to join as well.
SUNDAY WORSHIP SCHEDULE
- Morning Worship Service 9:30am followed by Sunday Summer Socials
- Adult Discipleship Class 11:00am
PORCH PRAYERS W/PASTORS
- Are you missing the connection with your pastors? We would love to come by your porch for a brief, socially-distanced prayer time with you and provide you with encouragement during this year! There are 3 ways to request a pastoral visit:
- Contact the church office (509-467-8986 or office@sfnaz.org).
- Sign up online at sfnaz.org/porchprayer.
- Fill out a Porch Prayer w/Pastor card on Sunday morning and place in the offering basket.
You will then be contacted by a staff member to schedule an appointment to meet with one of our pastors. We look forward to seeing you again in this new way of connecting through prayer together.
Sunday, JuLY 4, 2021
Independence Day
This week Pastor Shawn will be preaching. Join us for either online worship or for in-person worship in the sanctuary at 9:30am. For online worship, you’ll connect the same way you have in the past via both Facebook and YouTube (Be sure to follow us on Facebook or subscribe to our YouTube Channel – SFNAZ Media to know when we are live). Log on a few minutes before 9:30am and look for the LIVE notification.
Tithes & Offering
Thank you so much for your faithful support of our church! Here are a few options available to continue with giving tithes & offering.
1. Online giving is available here.
2. You may mail your check directly to the church
Spokane First Church of the Nazarene
9004 N Country Homes Blvd.
Spokane, WA 99218
3. Give By Text – Text the dollar amount to (833) 948-2179 and follow the prompts.
Faithfulness in giving
Raised Expenses +/-
General $ 172,600 $ 160,200 +12,400
Missions $22,600 $ 21,500 +1,100
(As of May 31, 2021)
Thank you for your faithful giving.
Pastoral connection phone line
By calling (509) 239-7849 you can reach a 24-hour voice message service which will allow you to reach the pastoral team directly. You are encouraged to call with:
- Prayer requests & praises
- Grocery needs
- Medication pick up requests
We will do our best to return your calls in a timely manner.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRAYER
Prayer Chain by Email – Contact the church office to receive prayer requests by email (office@sfnaz.org).
Prayer for District Churches – Grandview First & Grangeville
Missions Prayer Requests – Ireland & Israel
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Pastor Bill Vaughn & family
- Pastor Gary Woodroof
- Guy Williams
- Helen Harlander
- The Hancock Family
- Ardis Yake
BEREAVEMENT
- Mary Lou Mahoney passed away last week. Please pray for her family. Services for both Wallace & Mary Lou Maloney will be held on July 13th at 11am in the Fireside Room.
Adult ministries
Sunday Adult Discipleship Class – 11am
- Pastor Gary will be teaching from the Book of Philippians in the Fireside Room. (*Please note – there will not be childcare after Morning Worship.)
Men’s Group – Tuesdays – 6pm
- The Tuesday night men’s group would like to again extend an invitation to join them on Tuesday nights at 6pm IN PERSON in the Conference Room or, weather permitting, outside. The group rotates weekly between topical discussion, marriage, church history/apologetics, and scriptural study.
- For further information or questions, please contact Randy Coffey at (509) 570-4026.
Midweek Adult Bible Studies
- 6pm – 7pm in the Remedy Room – Life Lessons from 1 & 2 Thessalonians by Max Lucado
- 7pm – 8pm in the Fireside Room (this class is also available via zoom – 8713955701) – Gospel of Mark led by Charlie Scott (*Childcare not available during this class)
children’s ministries
Sunday Schedule
Sunday, July 4th – Family Worship
- Come celebrate Fourth of July Sunday as a family at our 9:30am service. We will worship together for our regular service. We will not be having discipleship at 11am due to the holiday.
- Nursery-Kindergarten classes still provided at 9:30am.
9:30am
- Discipleship Classes:
- 1st/2ndGrade, 3rd/4thGrade and Pre-Teens (5th/6thgrade)
- Nursery-Toddlers
- Infant through 3 non-potty trained years old
- Prek-Kindergarten Class
- 3 year old potty trained through Kindergarten
Wednesday Nights: 6pm – 7:15pm
- Nursery: Infant through 3 years non-potty trained
- Preschool Summer Fun Nights: Children ages 3 – 5! All Summer we will have fun age specific themed nights.
- Summer Fun Nights:
- July 7 – Messy Games Night (1st – 6th Grade) – This is our 5th Annual Messy games night. Come in clothes you don’t mind getting all messed up and bring a towel. We will talk about how life can be messy, but if we depend on God during those times we can always find the blessings in the middle of our mess! We will meet at the playground and grassy area behind the Ed wing.
- July 14 – Wheels Night – Bring any of your wheels and ride through our wacky and wild track in our church parking lot! There will be a separate area for Pre-K kids as well! You can ride your skateboard, bicycle, tricycle, skates, etc. Just don’t forget your helmet because you will be required to have a helmet on for the track.
Upcoming Events:
Summer Craft Club
- July 6th: Tie-Dye Extravaganza! – We will be tie-dying t-shirts, socks, and bandanas. If you have something else you would like to tie-dye bring it with you!
- July 13th: Mini Fairy Gardens – Get your own flower pot with your choice small fairy garden figurines to create the start of your very own fairy garden.
- August 3rd: Bird House Creations – We will all start with similar bird house kits but you will get to make it your own through paint and accessories.
- August 10th: Create your own wind chime – You will be given the basic supplies to make your own wind chime to customize with all your favorite colors.
To register visit: sfnaz.org/events/summer-craft-club/
SFNAZ Kids Camp
Come for an adventure in the woods with God! We learn how to grow closer to God out on 100 acres of woods! Outdoor hikes, games, fishing, and much more!
- Dates: July 26-29, 2021
- Grades: 3rd-6th grade
- Cost: $100 per child
- Depart at 11am on July 26th
- Return around 3pm pm on the 29th
Check your email for registration information and come by the kid’s check-in counter.
STUDENT MINISTRIES
- Roth’s are taking a group to Silverwood Tuesday July 6th. Students should already have signed up. They will leave that morning at 9am and return by 10:30pm. If you have any questions, contact Rusty Roth. There will be no disc golf this day as was originally planned.
- There won’t be any 11am discipleship July 4th due to the holiday. Then on July 11th we will start our Sunday Summer Socials, see the details of this fellowship opportunity elsewhere in this newsletter.
- Teen Northwest District Summer Camp Registration is still open (dates are July 19-23). Visit nwnyi.com for more information.
- Through the summer Wednesday night Youth Group will meet a little later and longer. We will start at 7pm and finish promptly at 9pm. This will be our summer schedule through all of July and August.
- Wednesday July 7 is Messy Games Night. Please dress ready to get messy!
Missions emphasis for July – International Ministry, Bible Schools and Seminaries
Nazarene educational institutions around the world are training preachers, teachers, evangelists, nurses, and vocational and lay leaders. This education is essential to the success of evangelistic efforts. Please remember the students, faculty, and their staff in your prayers.