Cathedral of the Rockies stands at 717 North 11th Street, on the eastern edge of Boise's historic North End, an entire city block of sanctuary, chapel, classrooms, fellowship hall, and performance spaces owned by a single congregation. Officially the First United Methodist Church of Boise, the congregation adopted the name Cathedral of the Rockies to reflect both the scale of its downtown building and its reach across the Treasure Valley. From the Downtown Campus, the church extends to a second location, the Amity Campus on South Maple Grove Road, which it welcomed in 2012. Together the two campuses form one of the larger United Methodist congregations in the country, ranked among the top one hundred UMC churches in the United States and the second largest in the Western Jurisdiction. The church's identity is summed up in a single phrase, repeated in worship, in its podcasts, and across its campus signage: All Means All.
Two Campuses, One Congregation
The Downtown Campus occupies a full block in the North End, a short walk from downtown Boise and the Capitol. The building includes a large sanctuary, the contemporary Emmaus Center, the smaller Cana Chapel, multiple classrooms, conference spaces, a kitchen, a performance stage, and a fellowship hall. On-site amenities include elevator access, tables, chairs, whiteboards, audio and visual equipment, a Cry Room, and the largest pipe organ in Boise. Ample on-street parking surrounds the building, and the entire facility is ADA accessible, with an assisted hearing system in the Emmaus Center and the Downtown Sanctuary.
The Amity Campus, at 4464 South Maple Grove Road, joined the Cathedral family in 2012 and gives the congregation a presence in the southern part of the valley. The Amity building is a community-style worship space with a sanctuary, a children's ministry area, a fellowship hall, and administrative offices. Both campuses share a single pastoral team, a single budget, and a single mission, and congregants are encouraged to worship, serve, and belong at whichever location fits their week.
Three Sunday Services, Three Worship Styles
On a typical Sunday the Cathedral offers five distinct worship services across its two campuses, each shaped for a different kind of worshipper.
Downtown begins at 9 a.m. with the Classic service in the main sanctuary, a liturgy built around traditional hymns and the long Methodist musical tradition. At 10 a.m. the focus shifts to the Emmaus Center for the Contemporary service, which carries the same Methodist theology but sets it to modern worship music; the team behind this service describes its aim in a single line: melt faces, change lives. Children's Church meets at 10 a.m. as well, so families with elementary-age children can attend the contemporary service while their kids are in a parallel program. The Classic service returns at 11 a.m. for those who prefer a second round of traditional worship.
At the Amity Campus, a Traditional service is held at 9 a.m. and a Contemporary service at 11 a.m., with Children's Church meeting at 11 a.m. for the children of contemporary-worshipping families. The Amity services are described by the church as family-friendly and serve as a more intimate alternative to the downtown building.
All five Sunday services are livestreamed, and each one carries its own online bulletin. A weekly video archive makes it possible to catch up on a missed service at any time of the week.
The Boise Contemplative Center
On top of its Sunday calendar the Cathedral hosts the Boise Contemplative Center, two midweek services held in the Cana Chapel on the Downtown Campus. On Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., Candlelight gathers worshippers for an hour of reflection, meditation, and spiritual rest. The service weaves together five-minute repetitive chants, a reading repeated three times, an open invitation to pray at a lighted cross, five minutes of shared silence, and a short reflection. On Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., Waypoint offers a different rhythm: a service for sojourners that incorporates mystical threads from multiple faith traditions and reads God through a gender-balanced perspective. Both services are designed as a pause from a chaotic week rather than a high-energy gathering, and recordings of past services are available for those who want to experience them at another time.
The Care Collective
One of the most distinctive ministries at Cathedral of the Rockies is the Care Collective, a respite program for adults living with mild to moderate dementia. The program meets on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in dedicated space on the Downtown Campus and is open to anyone in the broader community, regardless of church membership.
Each day includes mental and physical exercises, music, art, service projects, social activities, and a family-style lunch. Dementia-trained volunteers lead the program, and the cost is $55 per day. The Care Collective is grounded in a Participants Bill of Rights that guarantees respect, dignity, useful activity, encouragement of independence, choice about participation, sincere concern, and privacy. For caregivers, the program offers a few hours each week to rest, attend to personal needs, or spend time with other family members, while their loved ones are welcomed into a safe, social, and joy-filled environment. The Care Collective grew out of the church's long-standing commitment to community service and is now one of the largest expressions of that commitment in the Treasure Valley.
Music Across the Cathedral
Music is woven into nearly everything the Cathedral does, and the program reflects both the building's acoustic strengths and the congregation's size. The Downtown sanctuary holds the largest pipe organ in Boise, an Aeolian-Skinner organ originally installed with fifty-seven ranks of pipes and expanded by the Balcolm and Vaughan Organ Company of Seattle in 1983, 1996, and 1999. The instrument is played weekly by Cathedral Organist David Young, who leads tours of the organ and shares its history with visitors.
The Cathedral Choir, a volunteer ensemble, leads musical worship at the 11 a.m. Classic service and sings music from a wide range of eras and traditions. There is no audition and no experience requirement; the choir rehearses on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. from mid-August through May. Smaller ensembles branch off from the Cathedral Choir: Grace Notes for treble singers, Cathedral Men for tenors and basses, and the invitation-only Cathedral Chamber Choir. The handbell choirs, directed by the Director of Music, rehearse every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and ring for worship services, concerts, and handbell festivals in the wider Boise community.
At the 10 a.m. Contemporary service, the Cathedral Collective leads worship from the Emmaus Center stage. The Collective is a rotating group of volunteer musicians and vocalists, directed by Naki Zorn, who serve on a flexible schedule. The Cathedral Orchestra adds another layer, gathering ad hoc before scheduled performances to support soloists, choirs, and worship services throughout the year. Children's choirs round out the program: Cherubs for ages three through first grade rehearse at 10:45 a.m. on Sundays, and Angelus for second through fifth grade rehearses at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays in the Choir Room. Sixth graders can step up to Epworth, the youth choir, which meets at noon on Sundays.
Children, Youth, and Family Life
The Cathedral takes seriously its work with children and youth, and the Family Life ministry is led by a full-time pastor, Rev. Stacie Ballard, with a team of directors and coordinators across both campuses.
Children's ministry at the Downtown Campus welcomes children from infancy through preteen years. Families check children in at kiosks in the kids' ministry area or begin the process on the Church Center app on the way to church. Each child receives a name sticker and a matching security code, and a volunteer at the front desk monitors the doors during every service. Once a month, the Downtown kids join the main services for Family Worship Sunday, an intergenerational morning designed to remind the wider congregation that children are not the future of the church but full participants in it today. A new sensory-friendly room offers a calm, supported space for children who feel overwhelmed, and a Buddy Ministry pairs trained volunteers with kids who need a little extra help participating.
At the Amity Campus, the children's ministry serves children from six months to twelve years in a single shared space, with a curriculum designed for kindergarten through third grade. The Amity kids' building sits just a short walk from the main worship area, and a volunteer at the front desk keeps watch during services.
Older children can take part in a series of programs that grow with them. Sacred Steps is an acolyte class for first through fifth graders who want to learn the role of acolyte and participate more fully in worship. Wonder of Worship, held during Lent, is a worship-readiness class for children during the 11 a.m. service. Confirmation is an eight-week fall course for sixth through eighth graders that explores the United Methodist Church, scripture, and what it means to be a member, ending with an opportunity to be confirmed. The Preteen Ministry invites the in-between age group to step into leadership, serve on a summer mission trip, and help lead worship.
Parent's Night Out meets once a month for children from six weeks to twelve years, giving parents a regular evening off while church staff and volunteers care for their kids.
The Downtown youth ministry, led by Youth Director Chloe Kennedy, gathers on Sunday mornings from 10 to 11 a.m. Youth catch the first part of the contemporary service with the rest of the congregation and then head to the youth room between 10:30 and 11 a.m. for games, snacks, and conversation. Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m., Club 717 opens the youth room for after-school drop-in time with homework help, snacks, and bean-bag conversation. Tuesdays, the Grand Central Pizza program offers free pizza and a few high-fives to Boise High students during the school year. First Thursdays are reserved for Craft Club, a hands-on afternoon that brings a new skill each month. The youth ministry also runs a program in collaboration with North Junior High School counselors, serving refugee and migrant students every Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m.
Missions Close to Home and Around the World
Missions at the Cathedral of the Rockies stretch from the front desk of the Downtown building to a sister church in western Ukraine. The work is led by Missions Director Chloe Kennedy.
On the Downtown Campus, the Lunch Bag Ministry assembles bags stocked with high-protein tuna or chicken pouches, granola bars, fruit pudding cups, and shelf-stable yogurt for anyone who needs a weekday meal. Donations are dropped off at the front desk or in labeled bins by the coffee bar. The Diaper Ministry partners with the Idaho Diaper Bank to supply diapers and wipes to local families, with sizes four through six in greatest need. The Friendship Feast cooks and serves meals for around seventy guests every Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and on the third Thursday of each month at 5 p.m., and is always looking for cooks and helpers. A Downtown Garden, supported by donations, supplements the food ministries with fresh produce.
At the Amity Campus, the Food Pantry partners with the Idaho Foodbank to provide quality food to more than three hundred individuals each Monday night from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. The Amity Campus also supports Desert Sage Elementary, a neighborhood school serving many immigrant, food-insecure, and impoverished families; the church helps ensure the children have sufficient food, clothing, school supplies, and a Christmas gift. An Amity Garden adds another layer to this work.
The Cathedral maintains a long-standing partnership with the Uzhgorod Methodist Church in Uzhgorod, Ukraine, an affiliation that traces back to 1923 when the U.S. Board of Methodist Missions purchased a church in the city. Pastor Alla Vuksta and her husband Vasyl, son of an earlier church leader, continue to lead the Uzhhorod church and a nearby congregation in Kamenitsya. With the ongoing war, both Ukrainian churches take in displaced people and support a Methodist refugee center; the second refugee center has allowed most displaced people living in the church buildings to move into more comfortable facilities, although around ninety people still rely on the two centers. The Cathedral's Ukraine Mission Team meets monthly with the Uzhgorod pastoral staff by Zoom, raises financial support, manages prayer requests, and keeps the Boise congregation informed about conditions in western Ukraine.
Beyond these direct ministries, the Cathedral partners with several non-profit organizations in the Treasure Valley, including Interfaith Sanctuary, Safe Families for Children, Treasure Valley Habitat for Humanity, the Idaho Foodbank, and the Ada County Library system.
Weddings, Funerals, and the Columbarium
The Downtown sanctuary is one of the most popular wedding venues in Boise, and the Cathedral offers three wedding packages to match different sizes and styles. The Sanctuary package seats up to 700 guests and includes the full cathedral experience, a bride's room, a groom's room, a musician for organ or piano, a pastor, and the Cathedral's wedding coordinator. The Emmaus Center package seats up to 400 in the contemporary worship space and provides the same rehearsal time, preparation rooms, and staffing for a piano musician. For smaller gatherings, the Cana Chapel seats up to 50 and offers a more intimate option that can be held at the church or with a pastor who travels to the couple's chosen location. The Cathedral also has the capability to host receptions, which are priced and scheduled separately as events.
Funerals and memorial services are coordinated through the Cathedral as well, and the Columbarium Ministry offers an additional option for members and their families. The Cana Chapel Columbarium is a church-based inurnment space, designed as a low-cost, earth-friendly alternative to a traditional resting place. Niches are available to congregants of either Cathedral campus, and the ministry is open to the wider community. The columbarium is set apart for the dignity and respect of those who have gone before, and the church keeps a brochure, a frequently asked questions document, plaque and niche agreements, and a rules and regulations document for families who are considering a niche.
KASP Childcare and Wesleyan Preschool
Two early-childhood programs operate from the Cathedral's campuses and reflect the congregation's long-running commitment to family life. KASP Childcare (Kids Are Special People) is a licensed childcare and preschool program directed by Heather Sarria, and Wesleyan Preschool, directed by Gina Munkers, has been part of the Cathedral's ministry for decades. Both programs share an administrator and operate from the Downtown and Amity campuses, and the Cathedral has invested in shared playground turf between the two programs.
Small Groups, Adult Education, and Spiritual Formation
Adults looking to go deeper into faith can connect with one of the Cathedral's small groups, facilitated by Small Groups Coordinator Lindsay Cox. The groups meet in homes, on campus, and online, and cover topics ranging from Bible study to book discussions to service projects. The Cathedral's spiritual formation work is led by Rev. Irene Laudeman, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ who joined the staff in 2022. Spiritual formation programming undergirds the small group ministry, the contemplative services, and the educational offerings that connect faith to daily life.
Dr. Jen Binford, the Community Development and Discipleship Pastor, works across the congregation to help shape a community that lives out its faith in concrete ways. A new volunteer pipeline managed by Volunteer Coordinator Caprice Bitar helps newcomers find a place to serve that matches their gifts and their schedule.
The God's House, Our Home Capital Campaign
To care for two aging campuses, the Cathedral launched a capital campaign called God's House, Our Home, with a goal of $2 million. By the time the campaign's progress was last reported, more than $1.8 million had been committed by the congregation. Funds raised have already paid for a new flat membrane roof on the Downtown Campus, a new hand railing at the Amity Campus, new first-floor carpet at the Downtown Campus, an updated coffee bar and lobby, new floors in the Downtown fellowship hall, a complete audio-visual overhaul of the Emmaus Center, painting projects across both campuses, a new playground surface for the KASP and Wesleyan programs, a new Cry Room in the Downtown sanctuary, an upgraded sound system in the Downtown sanctuary, a new assisted hearing system, and handbell upgrades.
Planned projects include new doors for the safe sanctuaries, new playground equipment for the Downtown kids' ministry, window replacements for the youth and Care Collective rooms, an LED lighting conversion across the campuses, parking lot improvements, new furniture for both campuses, a remodel of the Downtown fellowship hall bathrooms, and the continued strengthening of the Legacy Endowment Fund and Maintenance Fund. Five percent of every $250,000 raised, up to a total of $100,000, is set aside for those future-focused funds.
Legacy Giving and the Columbarium
The Legacy Endowment Fund has been a steady source of support for Cathedral ministries since 2011, and through 2026 will have distributed a total of $657,049 across both campuses. Gifts to the fund can be made in cash, by credit card, by stock or bond transfer, through a charitable gift annuity, through a charitable remainder trust, through a donor-advised fund, through a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA or 401(k), or by naming the fund in a will or estate plan. The Legacy Committee, chaired by Brian Liming, oversees the fund and helps members plan gifts that will continue to support the Cathedral's mission for generations to come.
What to Expect on a First Visit
Visitors at the Downtown Campus are greeted in a large historic building that has hosted Methodists in the North End for many decades. The Classic services at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. follow a familiar liturgical pattern with hymns, prayers, a sermon, and Holy Communion observed regularly. The Contemporary service at 10 a.m. in the Emmaus Center features a fuller band, modern songs, and a more informal feel. Children are welcomed at every service; the kids' ministry area is staffed by background-checked volunteers and offers age-appropriate programming for infants through fifth graders. Downtown building hours run Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Visitors at the Amity Campus find a smaller, family-friendly setting with Traditional worship at 9 a.m. and Contemporary worship at 11 a.m. The Amity office is open Mondays from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. (during the food pantry), Wednesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sundays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Children's Church meets at 11 a.m. for kids from six months through twelve years.
Anyone looking for a quieter, more meditative worship experience can join the Boise Contemplative Center. Candlelight meets on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Waypoint meets on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., both in the Cana Chapel on the Downtown Campus.
How to Get Connected
Newcomers can fill out a connection card online, request a visit from a pastor, or stop by the front desk at either campus. Prayer requests go to the Care Team, who pray for each one and reach out if follow-up care is requested. Baptisms can be scheduled for any of the Sunday services by submitting a baptism request form online. To talk with a pastor, the church can be reached at pastor@boisefumc.org.
Giving is offered in several ways: by text, online through the church's secure giving portal, by mail, in person at the front desk, or during any Sunday service. Cash can be given anonymously. Capital campaign pledges for God's House, Our Home are made online or by mail, and Legacy Endowment gifts are accepted online or by contacting the Legacy team at legacy@boisefumc.org.
Two podcasts extend the Cathedral's ministry beyond the Boise area. HEAR at the Table invites listeners into honest conversations about faith, and All Means All explores what it looks like to live out the Cathedral's inclusive welcome. Both are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube, and the sermon archive on YouTube goes back more than a decade.
Whether someone arrives looking for Sunday worship, a quiet Tuesday evening at Candlelight, a place to serve a meal through the Friendship Feast, a morning of respite for a loved one with dementia, a wedding in the historic sanctuary, or simply a community that takes the phrase All Means All seriously, Cathedral of the Rockies is built to receive them.