North, South churches merge into Valley

One congregation from the North Side and another from the South Hill have merged as a single church, now located in Spokane Valley.

The Spokane South Hill Community of Christ and the Spokane North Community of Christ began sharing the same church building in 2005, shortly after the North Side church was sold to find a place that had better accessibility for its older congregants and one that better filled their needs.

The two congregations, part of the same Community of Christ denomination, maintained their individual identities, but worshipped together. About a year ago, they decided to merge into Spokane Valley Community of Christ.

Like many newly married couples, the newly formed, larger congregation had to find a new home to make room for everyone.

The new location, at 11515 E. Broadway Ave., used to house New Life Assembly of God. That congregation is building a new place to worship, having outgrown the church on Broadway.

“We’ve got room to grow here,” said the Rev. Dennis Amos, who was pastor of the North Side church and now will lead the new congregation. The Rev. Claude Duty, who had led the South Hill church, now is mission coordinator for the Valley church.

The building has a large hallway with room for tables and chairs for church members to meet for coffee and visiting. There also are several classrooms downstairs, two nurseries to provide child care during services and a room for nursing mothers that includes a television so the mothers won’t miss any of the service.

With a new neighborhood comes new ministries, and Amos said that the church has already made contact with the Spokane Valley Ministerial Association.

The church also hopes to start a partnership with Broadway Elementary School. Amos said that they want to start offering after-school tutoring and child care.

He said they don’t want to take on too many projects right away, but want to ease into the neighborhood and take on new projects over time.

Amos said they feel blessed to have a church with so many resources and are eager to share it with neighbors.

Amos said that the location of the new church in Spokane Valley is not really an odd choice, even though the two churches were on the north and south sides of Spokane.

“Our folks come from far and wide,” he said. He knows of church members that come from Cheney, Coeur d’Alene, Spokane Valley and more.

“In some ways, this is kind of central,” he said.

Amos said they looked for a place in the city of Spokane but there weren’t any locations large enough for the right price.

There are now around 300 members in the congregation and the church’s financial officer, Keith Townsend, said members were willing to make the drive to the new church.

“They like what we have,” said Townsend, who has been a North Side church member for more than 30 years.

Like a new homeowner, Amos said that congregants have a long list of items they want to buy for the new church, which was remodeled by New Life around 10 years ago.

They want to put a fence around the grassy area behind the church’s parsonage and update the children’s play set that is there now.

They also want to get some tables and chairs for the church hallway outside the sanctuary to give the members a place to sit, drink coffee and enjoy the fellowship of other members.

“Folks just love the fellowship,” Amos said.

The church plans an open house, and possibly a barbecue, on Sept. 15.

“It’s just all good news,” Amos said.