the ce interview
Don Wilson Senior Pastor | Christ’s Church of the Valley | Peoria, AZ
Thirty years ago this April, a number of families joined together to form Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria, AZ, which now has grown to 17,000 weekly attenders. Their purpose was to impact the north Phoenix valley for Jesus Christ – “acting like a missionary,” says senior pastor Don Wilson.
By Ronald E. Keener
10 | Church executive | 07/2012
“To act like a missionary means we have to think strategically about how to reach an unchurched culture, instead of thinking like a pastor where our primary concern is how to keep the church members happy,” Wilson says. What did the church do to observe the anniversary? We decided to celebrate by giving to the community instead of doing something for ourselves. We adopted 300 elementary schools and honored the teachers and provided paper supplies to the schools. We served 300,000 students, 11,000 teachers and 300 schools. Was there a “train wreck” or two during those growing years that you had to get past? I had four staff turn on me and make false accusations regarding my integrity. I went through a three-hour congregational meeting and lost my energy for ministry for about six months. They resigned and left the staff, but the hurt remained for a long time. The congregation has a somewhat distinct marketing or growth strategy. How do you define it? Our major growth strategy is three-fold: We want to reach the man so we can reach the whole family. Statistics overwhelmingly say that if you reach the man you will have a much greater chance of reaching the whole family. We want to reach the younger generation so we have a future. We want to reach our neighbors so we can change the culture. Can you expound on the challenges to the congregation you spelled out in your State of the Church message? One of the biggest challenges for our church as we move ahead is being the church instead of just coming to church. We have to continually develop a ministry philosophy and strategy that pushes our people off of the campus and into the community and the marketplace. What did you mean when speaking of what Jesus loves vs. what people love? Something along the lines that Jesus loves lost people, but is the church concerned? I believe the longer the local church is in existence, it naturally wants to turn inward. We have to continually fight the consumer mentality in the church where people think it is all about meeting their needs. One way we do that is by constantly focusing on reaching people who are far from God. How would you describe Arizona in terms of the Christian church losing its influence? I don’t know the exact statistics in Arizona, but I have heard that between 80 to 90 percent of people in our state don’t go to church. If that is true then we have lost most of our influence and found ourselves on the defensive. You have a story of your family moving to a new home and