Helping People Become Followers Of Jesus!
Come join as we learn to be followers of Jesus. We're loving harder, digging deeper, and encouraging more here at TNC. We hope this site helps you understand more of who we were, have become, and will become as we journey together.
Our vision is to teach and encourage people to be all that God has created them to be in our homes, in our communities, and in our world!
Services
We meet on Sundays at 9:00 am for various classes for all ages. Child care is available at this time for newborns through one-year-olds, Sunday school classes are also available for all ages, we offer multiple adult classes for varied interests. On Sunday, see a Greeter or go to our Welcome Center for more information on available classes and their locations.
When joining us for the 10:15 am service, speak with a Greeter or go to the Welcome Center in the south lobby for more information. Child care is available for newborns through two-year-olds. Three to five-year-olds have their own class. Our children, First-graders and older meet with adults for Praise & Worship in the Sanctuary. Just before the message, our 1st through 5th grades will go to Kid's Church in Room 101 with Pastor Debbie for an inspirational message.
Tabernacle of Grace Church (a Haitian congregation, and ministry of TNC) has Sunday classes at 9:00 am and a Service at 10:30 am in the Student Worship Center (Room 200, second floor).
Please connect with us if you want more information on our services or the church in general.
Please connect with us with further questions about the Church of the Nazarene denomination.
Values
GOD
God not only created us but he loves us. In fact, He loves us so much that He sent his Son Jesus to die for our sins. God the creator of the universe, wants to have a relationship with us! So all we do, all we say as a church is to bring honor to God!
THE BIBLE
The Bible is the ultimate authority of our lives. It is the supreme source of truth and it equips us to live in a way that glorifies God. The Bible reveals who God is and helps us understand the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.
PEOPLE
God created people and He loves people. We want to love people the way that Jesus loves us. This love motivates us to give generously, serve sacrificially, share the truth and grace of Jesus, and invest all we are and have to further God's purpose in the lives of people.
Staff
Please connect with our church staff with any questions you may have about God or participation in a ministry.
Jon Privett - Senior Pastor
PastorJon@tempenazarene.org
Pastor Jon joined us on September 17, 2017 as our Senior Pastor.
Jon is a graduate of Northwest Nazarene College (1982) and Nazarene Theological Seminary (1986). Jon has pastored in Pierce, Idaho (1986-1989), Boise Five Mile Nazarene in Boise, Idaho (1989-2003), an Baker City, Oregon since April 2003.
He loves coffee and conversation about Jesus! In his free time, Jon will most likely be fly-fishing, watching the Denver Broncos, or detailing his 1970 Chevrolet truck. Jon is happily married to Cathleen since 1986. Jon and Cathleen have two daughters, Sarah and Emilie.
Trevor Cherryholmes - Youth Ministries Pastor
Pastor Trevor has a passion for young people and their families—he loves guiding them into a relationship with Jesus. He's been involved in youth and children's ministry since he was 15.
He joined the TNC staff from Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene. He currently attends Northwest Nazarene University where he will be receiving a degree in Christian Ministry. Trevor enjoys all sports, especially playing hockey, and is a big Denver sports fan!
Will Hathaway - Men's Ministries Pastor
Pastor Will graduated with a B.S. in Marketing from Grand Canyon University. He was originally brought to TNC as our Pastor to Students and Young Adult Ministries. He is ordained as an Elder in the Church of the Nazarene. Pastor Will also served as Youth Pastor at Monte Vista Church of the Nazarene, Family Life Director at First Baptist Church of Blytheville, and Youth Pastor at New Hope Church of the Nazarene.
Will and Karra married in 1998 and have three children.
Debbie Hallman - Children's Ministries Pastor and TCPS Director
Pastor Debbie is a fixture in our young children's lives. They know her office door is always open so they can get a hug or share their victories and challenges. She teaches kids that God knows and loves every single one of them. They see that love in action because Debbie knows the name and circumstances of every child. She directs all children's activities from birth to sixth grade and she's the Director of Tempe Christian PreSchool.
Debbie exudes incredible energy and a positive attitude, which have helped her while teaching VBS, Sunday School, summer camps, and Camp Meeting. She has completed her Associate of Science degree in Early Education. She's s been a part of our TNC family since 1983 and the Children's Pastor for over two decades.
Debbie and her husband Van were married in 1977. They have five children and eight grandchildren, all of whom are well loved.
Alan Owens - Worship Ministries Pastor
Pastor Alan has a passion for leading others into the presence of God through corporate worship. He is an ordained minister with a degree in Church Music, Bible, and Christian Education and is knowledgeable in ancillary worship areas such as technology, sound, lighting, and webcasting.
Alan is married to Cheryl and they have two children.
Lois Hancock - Secretary
Lois became the pastor's secretary in December of 1972. She has always felt that her ministry was to assist the staff and care for those that come into the office.
A native of Southern California who now loves Arizona, she and Chuck were married in 1959, have raised two boys, and are proud grandparents AND great-grandparents.
Lester Eaton - Facilities
Lester was hired in the summer of 2014 to work on facility maintenance. He was asked in December 2008 to assist with the choir Christmas program and began his ministry at TNC with the Worship Arts technical team.
Lester and his wife Judi were married in 1980 and have two daughters, one grandson, and one granddaughter.
History
Tempe Nazarene Church was organized October 25, 1953 by Rev. Wilbur L. Heizer. The “people” part of the church grew out of a children’s ministry led by Mrs. Hiebert and assisted by Ruth Brickley. It was housed in an old abandoned school building for some time.
Church property at 107 East Broadway Road was purchased in November, 1952 by the District Advisory Board and monies to purchase were given to the church by the Phoenix Eastside Church (Biltmore). The lot was one commercial acre on the sparsely settled and graveled Broadway Road and cost $2,500.00.
The first building was a junior annex which would seat approximately sixty people comfortably and was built in November 1953 at a cost of $10,427.68 by Shelley Construction Company with Glen McCollum as architect. The building was soon filled. Pastor and Mrs. David Owen came in May, 1954. God blessed their leadership and the church was strengthened under their ministry.
Following the Owens, Rev. and Mrs. L. W. Dodson came as pastors in 1955 and served for about one year. Rev. and Mrs. Leo Kirley were then called to pastor Tempe Nazarene Church. They arrived in 1956 and served the church faithfully for ten years. During their ministry a three bedroom masonry construction parsonage was built on the back of the property. Continued growth made the construction of a larger sanctuary an absolute necessity. Faith became reality when the sanctuary was built in 1959. It had seating for 112 people plus the choir. It was constructed largely with donated labor. Many wonderful times of spiritual blessing were enjoyed as God came time after time.
Rev. Kirley reached the age of retirement and the church called Pastor Stan and Patty McElrath as pastors in June, 1966.
As the church began to outgrow its facility, it was decided after much prayer and deliberation, to relocate the church. The property at 3929 South Rural Road was purchased in April 1967 for $40,000.00. The property on Broadway was sold through Siesta Realty (Lyle Carnal, broker) to Mr. Allen Dong for $112,000.00. Construction began in late summer of 1969 with Paul Madden as supervisor and Glen McCollum as architect. The first service was held at the Rural Road location on Easter Sunday, 1970 with 403 in attendance. Dr. V. H. Lewis, General Superintendent and Dr. M. L. Mann, district Superintendent officiated.
We built classrooms, a library, and a gymnasium. We also began Tempe Christian School in 1971. It was known then as University Heights Christian School and is now Tempe Christian PreSchool. The gymnasium began life as our sanctuary and remained so until the mid 80s. We continued to add to our numbers.
A new $650,000.00 450-seat worship center built by the R. K. Yoder Company of Ft. Collins, Colorado, was completed in 1986 and dedicated in October of that year. It contained state-of-the-art sound and lighting equipment as well as a choir/music room used by both the church and Tempe Christian PreSchool. The area previously used as the sanctuary was converted to its original design as a multipurpose gymnasium.
In 1996, we remodeled our classrooms to make better use of the space. Each room has abundant storage cabinets, telephone and computer network jacks, cleanup sinks, drinking fountains and individual air-conditioning/heating units. The color schemes used provide an enhancement to the learning environment.
In 2000–2001, we added a second story over the classroom area remodeled in 1996 to create more classrooms for both the school and the church. The $1.2 million project added over 6,000 square feet of educational space.
There’s a worship center for our Student Ministries Department, six new classrooms, new sidewalks, drainage systems, taller, safer playground fences, and new fascia around the roof-line of the entire project. This provides much needed adult Sunday School and youth facilities and enables us to utilize first-floor rooms for ill- and well-child nursery. It also allowed us to update our patio with new landscaping, including a fountain.
Pastor Stan and Patty announced their retirement in April of 2001. They retired in April of 2002 and were succeeded by Pastor Doug and Becky Pierce. We began reconstruction of the offices, removing the old library, providing space for a new conference room and copy/break room.
Dr. Brian Delbridge accepted our call and began pastoring us September 2006, after Pastor Doug and Becky accepted the call to be Assistant District Superintendent. The office entrance was reconstructed in 2007.
On April 15, 2015, Pastor Chris Walton was officially installed by District Superintendent Doug Pierce in the Sunday morning service as TNC's new senior pastor. His wife Lisa and four of there children were there. We had a great message entitled "Different" that encouraged us to believe, pray, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to change our culture. We met for food afteward in the gym and were able to meet with the family.
Pastor Jon and Cathleen Privett began their ministry at TNC on September 17, 2017. District Superintendent Doug Pierce officially installed them in the service as TNC's new senior pastor. His wife Cathleen and two daughters were there as he brought the message, "A Servant Like Jesus".
