Pastor David
Approach: Room at the table.
David preaches the way he hosts: generous portions, honest questions and always an extra chair for whoever walks in.
A neighborhood church in St. Johns, Portland, where everyone is welcome to love God and love people.
St Johns Church has a rich history in the community. St Johns Church as we know it today emerged in November 2020 as the result of a merger between two different congregations.
February 2020 the leadership at St Johns Wesleyan Church and St Johns Christian Church announced to the congregations of a vision to merge these two churches into a new church. The plan that was presented had a timeline of 13 weeks allowing time for the congregations to meet with one another and to ask questions about the impact of a merger. This was going to culminate with a congregational vote in May 2020. Believe it or not, March 15, 2020 was the first scheduled “town hall” meeting bringing both congregations together. That was the first Sunday everyone suspended meeting in person.
The churches ended up doing combined online services for much of 2020 and were able to finally do a congregational vote-by-mail in October 2020. Both churches had overwhelming support for the merge and Sunday, November 29, 2020 the first week of Advent, was the first official service of St Johns Church.
While St Johns Church is a relatively new church, the history of its two parent churches is rich. St Johns Christian Church has its origins in 1909 while the St Johns Wesleyan Church began in 1923.
Today St Johns Church is an independent church, however we acknowledge the benefit of being a part of historic faith traditions. Our two different denominational faith traditions are The Wesleyan Church and The Christian Church/Church of Christ.
St Johns Church continues to be in a collegial relationship with both denominational faith traditions for the purpose of encouraging fellowship and including St Johns Church in various ministries and the historic faith traditions as well as helping to inform our doctrine and practice. St Johns Church is also committed to working together with The Wesleyan Church and The Christian Church/Church of Christ in fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus Christ by helping to establish new disciples and build new churches in our community as well as the broader Pacific Northwest.
David preaches the way he hosts: generous portions, honest questions and always an extra chair for whoever walks in.
Josh leads our care ministries and neighborhood partnerships. Find him at Tuesday supper, at Care Day, or listening over coffee.
Associate Pastor
Derek is an associate pastor who leads our youth. He also oversees our children’s ministry volunteers and guides the young adult group.
Young Adult Leader
Matt is our young adult leader. He has a heart for teaching scripture and readily sets aside his own plans to help group members in need.
Prayer Pastor
Matt is officially our prayer pastor. He also leads a midweek Bible study, preaches, and provides pastoral care to many in our congregation.
Young Adult & Youth Ministry
McKahan works collaboratively with Matt Clark to help lead the young adult group, and serves as an essential youth ministry volunteer.
Emeritus Pastor
Janel served on our staff for many years before retiring in 2024. She brings with her a wealth of experience and cares deeply about people on the margins.
Emeritus Pastor
Pastor Phil led St Johns Wesleyan Church for 35 years before stepping down as lead pastor in 2017.
Our mission is simple: Love God. Love People.
We intentionally leave space for a diverse understanding, practice, and interpretation of God’s word. We believe in unity and that one of God’s greatest desires for us is that we would be able to work out our differences with love.
With that said, we do adhere to a pretty universal Christian orthodox belief. Our foundational beliefs come from some of the early creeds of the church, namely the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed.
We believe…
Connection with God, each other, and our community.
Promote fairness and give voice to the oppressed, marginalized, and vulnerable.
Affirm that all are created equal in Christ; celebrate the diversity of God’s creation.
Live and speak honestly, reflecting the character of Christ.
Grow in faith, discipleship, understanding of Scripture, and love for God and others.
Extend to others the grace we have received from God.
Worship is Sundays at 10am at 8044 N Richmond Ave, Portland, OR 97203.