A Place on Highline Road in Tehachapi
Tehachapi Church of the Nazarene sits along Highline Road in the mountain community of Tehachapi, California. The congregation has built its identity around a single phrase - "Transformed Lives" - and a three-word framework that runs through every program and ministry on the campus: Word, Walk, World. The church's tagline puts it plainly: "In The Word, Challenging Our Walk, Ministering To Our World." Visitors who pull into the parking lot on a Sunday morning will find a church that wants them to belong; the staff writes it into nearly every welcome: "You BELONG at TNAZ."
Word, Walk, World
The Word, Walk, World idea shapes the entire ministry map. The "Word" side of the church is belonging through worship and Bible study: the Sunday services, the Sunday Bible Hour, mid-week study groups and Life Groups. The "Walk" side is discipleship and spiritual formation, where members grow by studying Scripture together in classes that change with the season. The "World" side is where the congregation turns outward - serving the local body of Christ, joining local and regional mission projects and traveling overseas on Work and Witness trips. The pastoral team frames worship, spiritual formation and missional ministry as a single, integrated call to go and make disciples.
Sunday Mornings: Three Hours, Two Styles
Sunday is the heart of the week at TNAZ. Three distinct gatherings fill the morning. At 8:30 AM a Traditional Hymn Service opens the day with classic hymns, choruses, prayer and preaching. After that, at 9:45 AM, the Life Focus Groups meet - the church's name for its Sunday Bible Hour - where adults of every age dig into Scripture in classes together. The morning closes at 11:00 AM with a Contemporary Worship Service featuring a full band. Members who cannot be present can watch each service live on Facebook or on the church's YouTube channel.
Wednesday Nights Around the Table
A Wednesday evening schedule runs alongside Sunday. Dinner is served at 5:30 PM in the fellowship hall; the suggested donation is $3 for adults and $2 for children, but anyone who needs a meal is welcome to come anyway. After dinner, mid-week study groups gather for topical, down-to-earth Bible teaching. Wednesday night is the church's simplest invitation into its smaller communities.
TNAZ Kids and Four:12 Students
Children have their own dedicated wing. TNAZ Kids Children's Ministries meets every Sunday with a nursery for birth through age three in Room 1 and a separate program for children ages four through fifth grade in Room 13. The children's ministry team works from Matthew 22:37-39 - loving God and loving neighbors - and aims to equip kids to know God, follow Jesus and serve others. Julie Keith, Associate Pastor of Children's Ministries, oversees the program and keeps parents in the loop through email updates and a yearly family release form.
For students in middle and high school, Four:12 Student Ministries centers on three words: Grow, Love, Serve. The group grows a loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ by getting to know Him and one another in small settings, doing life together and serving others. Students and their parents can connect by email and follow Four:12 on Facebook and Instagram.
Prime Time, Women's Ministries, and Men
Adults at every stage of life find a place at TNAZ. The Prime Time Ministry is the church's home for older adults - a group of Christ-followers who love God, love each other and want continued growth in grace. Activities, fellowship and Bible study fill the calendar. The Women's Ministry runs alongside it through what the church calls MomCo, a community for mothers at every stage - toddlers, school-age kids, teens or empty nesters - who want connection and encouragement. MomCo meetups happen the first and third Thursday of each month from 9:30 to 11:30 AM, September through May, with online registration each season. Men's ministries round out the adult map with their own Bible study and fellowship gatherings.
Celebrate Recovery and Sonshine Place Preschool
Two ministries meet needs that the Sunday services do not address. Celebrate Recovery is the church's Christ-centered, twelve-step program for anyone struggling with hurt, pain or addiction of any kind. Rob Brooks oversees the ministry on an interim basis, and contact with the program is treated as confidential.
Sonshine Place Preschool operates as a weekday program on the TNAZ campus, with Melanie Sillifant as director. Parents can request class availability information through the preschool's own contact email.
Reaching Out from Tehachapi to the World
The same Word, Walk, World framework carries the church beyond its walls. Locally, members volunteer through Serve Saturday projects and other outreach days, and Pastor Chris Sparling coordinates the church's local ministry efforts. International ministry is organized as well - trips that have taken TNAZ teams abroad to serve alongside other Nazarene churches. Giving is handled online through a Vanco giving page, with a giving app available for mobile donations.
A Team Led by Pastor Rob Brooks
Pastor Rob Brooks has led TNAZ as Lead Pastor since August 2016, after twenty years in Topeka, Kansas, where he served in music and executive pastor roles. He believes strongly in the church's vision, pointing to its youth and children's ministries, Prime Timers and men's and women's fellowships as reasons Tehachapi Nazarene is a great place to raise a family in the Lord. Pastor Dan Hauck serves as Associate Pastor and Worship Pastor on an interim basis. Pastor Julie Keith directs TNAZ Kids Children's Ministries. Pastor Chris Sparling coordinates local outreach. Carolyn Reaves keeps the office running as administrative assistant, and Melanie Sillifant directs Sonshine Place Preschool.
The church office, at 19016 Highline Road, is open Monday through Thursday from 9 AM to 2 PM, with extended hours on Wednesday until 8:30 PM; Saturday from 9 AM to noon; and Sunday from 7 AM to 12:30 PM. The phone number is (661) 822-4426 and the office email is tnazoffice@gmail.com. Services are livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube.