New pastor comes to Nazarene church

Pastor Levi Johnson plans to reach out to the Sisters community through his new ministry at Sisters Church of the Nazarene.

"I believe an ecumenical spirit is important in these critical times," Pastor Johnson said. "We have people looking for answers that churches can provide."

The new pastor has three primary goals for his new ministry: "To get to know people in the church; to know people in the community; and to be available for people," he said.

Johnson and his wife live in Tollgate.

"My wife Bonnie and I have been here for about three weeks," the pastor noted. "We're getting acquainted with Sisters and liking what we see. I went fishing the other day and actually caught some fish."

Bonnie works at Multnomah Publishers. Their youngest daughter is finishing high school in Redmond, Washington.

"We're experiencing the empty-nest syndrome for the first time, as two older children have previously left," said the minister.

Johnson was born in Sterling, Colorado, 47 years ago. He graduated from Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho and received his Master of Divinity degree from the Nazarene Theological Seminary. He has pastored in Oregon and Washington as well as spending four years in Japan at Keystone Church of the Nazarene.

Johnson isn't experiencing any difficulty with the transition to life in a small town after living in Redmond and Seattle.

"Traffic is pretty heavy in Seattle and it's really nice living in a smaller community. There were deer in our garden the other day and stars to be seen in the darkened sky," he said. "Warm October weather and a full moon last week allowed me to see shadows of trees near our home early one morning. That's different than the big city."

The church presently meets at Sisters elementary school on Sunday morning for service at 10:40 a.m. Sunday school starts at 9:30 a.m.

A new church is being constructed off Highway 20 between Sisters and Bend.

"It will probably be a year or two before work is finished on the new church. We still have about $120,000 to raise for completing the job," said Johnson.