Our Story
Where We've Been-Where We Are-Where We're Going
BNC Over the Years...
Beaverton Church of the Nazarene was organized in 1926 with 17 charter members. This small group was convinced that God had something in store for their future ministry. They bought their first building for the sum of $750 on the corner First and Stott Street and began running forward.
In June of 1954 Rev. Harold Little was called to pastor the church. This began an era of growth and expansion. With 94 members they purchased the property on Hall Blvd. (to the north of the present location) and in 1958 built the first phase (the Fellowship Hall). With membership at 116, in 1960, they added the Sanctuary and followed that with basement classrooms in 1963 to continue making Christ-disciples. The BNC community was coming into its own as a vital part of the neighborhood.
In 1966, the growing congregation broke ground again for construction of the Activity building...a place of enjoyment and blessings for many years. The church had developed a reputation in this growing area as a "family church". Rev. Little and Merry followed Jesus among this congregation with great expectation, serving for 16 years.
The Spirit was still moving, however; and in 1970, this group of enthusiastic worshipers welcomed Rev. Marlyn and Mary Anderson to be their pastor. This launched another remarkable period of growth to a record high of 625. Additional staff was called to serve this expanding ministry and her people were enjoying yet another wave of God's blessing, trusting that God's vision would become their own as they leaned into the future.
The church purchased the surrounding land in anticipation of eventually building a new worship center. Thanks to divine intervention, long hours of volunteer labor and thousands of dollars, the project of a $1.6 million dream became a reality. The long-awaited day arrived in 1984. The first Sunday in the new sanctuary began with the BNC community gratefully marching just little further down Hall Blvd. for the ribbon-cutting ceremony in their new domed Sanctuary--a beacon of hope to the surrounding community in which God had planted them so long ago. The BNC family lives on today in the same neighborhood, still in the round building and still wanting God's vision to transform their vision for the future.
Our Story Continues...
You could call BNC a big family. In fact, some individual families have had the blessing of seeing multiple generations grow up within this church family. Over the past couple years, however, we've seen how our expectations for how God intends for us to grow be stretched! We are currently enjoying a thriving latino ministry with almost a hundred in attendance on Sunday mornings. We've found a way to bring on another children's director onto the pastoral ministry team. And the discovery process where God reveals what's in store for the family continues: Times are tough for everyone; financially especially. We are no exception here. It saddens us to not be able to offer as much help as we'd like. But like she always has been, BNC continues to find a way forward, hoping God's dream for our future overcomes our current struggles. All this said, our ministries continue to thrive. Cornerstone Childcare is a new state licensed day care associated with BNC and is growing each month by leaps! The youth and children's age levels continue to bring kids closer to God and ready to step into their future place in at BNC and the world at large.