Bigger Town, Smaller Church For Peace Pastor
For the Rev. Dennis Andersen, moving to the Spokane Valley required a bit of a size adjustment.
Andersen is the new pastor at Peace Lutheran Church, N4124 Harvard Road. While serving as an associate pastor in Libby, Mont., Andersen said he often had to trek to Spokane to shop or to catch a plane.
While the town here is bigger, the church isn’t. Peace is a small, 150-person church that’s just a quarter of the size of the church in Libby.
Andersen said that nonetheless, both changes are for the better.
“My family is from Washington, and my wife is a nurse, and Spokane has an extraordinary medical community,” he said.
As for the small church, Andersen thinks it will be perfect for his first assignment as head pastor.
“I’m more of a people-oriented person than a program oriented one,” he said.
Still, one program that has been on hold at Peace is a building addition project. For longer than one year, the church has seen two interim pastors, delaying construction.
The building project, with construction scheduled to begin this spring, will give the congregation some much-needed elbow room.
Currently, one room houses the church’s meeting room, nursery, pastor’s office and kitchen. Sunday school classes are meeting in the church sanctuary.
“There was more growth than they thought there would be,” Andersen said.
If he has his way, Andersen’s new congregation won’t have to worry about putting anything else on hold because they don’t have a permanent pastor.
At least, not for a long while.
“I hope to be here a number of years, and to plant some roots,” Andersen said. “We’ve had to move around a lot.”
Piano recital planned
John Pickett, a music professor at Central Washington University, will perform at Berean Bible Church on Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. The church is located at E10910 Boone.
The recital is sponsored by the piano studios of Mary Simpson and Marlene Haney.
At his upcoming Valley performance, he will play works from Mozart, Brahms, Ravel and Chopin. Admission is free.