Living Word Foursquare gathers at 490 NW Crosby Avenue in Oak Harbor, on the ten-acre property that a handful of families purchased together in 1977. The church is known for two Sunday worship times, 9 and 11 am, for a family rhythm that places children in classes during both services, and for the Foursquare identity it carries as part of the International Foursquare Church.
A Story That Began with a Handful of Families
Living Word began with a simple conviction: God is at work in the world to save and restore, and when people gather around the scriptures with open hearts, lives are transformed. In 1977, a handful of families pooled their resources to buy the ten-acre property where the church still meets. What started as a small group of believers with a shared hunger for truth has grown into a multigenerational, multiethnic church body. Over the years, Living Word has become a place where people are encouraged and equipped to follow Jesus and help others do the same, and the church describes its story as unfinished, still being written one life at a time.
The Mission and Values Behind the Work
The mission is to follow Jesus and help others know and follow Him. The vision is to see people connecting with God, growing in relationship with Jesus and one another, and leveraging their lives in serving others. Six values describe how that vision is lived out:
- We value God's presence. The church pursues authentic connection with God through prayer, worship, scripture reading, and serving opportunities.
- We value progress, not perfection. Following Jesus is a lifelong journey of learning and transformation that includes the mind, body, and emotions.
- We value formation through relationship. Relationships are intentionally built to encourage, challenge, and support one another with love, grace, and accountability.
- We value sacrificial generosity. People joyfully leverage their time, gifts, and resources to serve others inside and outside the church.
- We value servant leadership. Teams are built and empowered because leadership is most effective when it is shared.
- We value God's creative intention. Every person is created in the image of God with purpose, dignity, and value, so the church celebrates diversity, champions potential, and develops leaders to make an impact.
Four Squares and Six Distinctives
Living Word is part of the International Foursquare Church. The name reflects the unchanging ministry of Jesus Christ and the mission to declare it worldwide. The four squares represent four scriptural roles of Jesus: Savior, Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, Healer, and Soon-Coming King.
As a global church spanning hundreds of nations and cultures, Foursquare calls for flexibility in style and approach, yet every Foursquare church is identified by the same six global distinctives: kingdom partnerships, sound doctrine, empowering leadership, family relationships, spirit empowerment, and shared mission.
Those distinctives shape the church's teaching. Baptism, Living Word teaches, is meant to be an outward expression of an inward transformation, a public declaration to family and friends that a person has committed to leaving an old life behind and walking in a new life with Jesus. Jesus himself was baptized and instructed his followers to do the same (Matthew 28:18-20).
Sunday Mornings at 9 and 11 am
The goal for Sunday is to cultivate environments for God to work in and through his people, and the church pursues that through engaging worship, compelling messages, and authentic relationships. First-time guests are told simply to come as they are. Arriving 15 minutes early is worth it, because coffee is waiting in the lobby and it is an easy way to meet someone new.
The 9 am service is streamed live on YouTube. Families with children have a simple plan: a team member in the courtyard helps each family check in and find the right class, and the kids building opens 15 minutes before and after both services. Anyone who arrives late can find a security team member, who will help locate a Kids Team member for check-in.
For people who have been attending about a year or less, a Connect Lunch follows the 11 am service in the lobby, where they can meet the staff, ask questions about the church and its denomination, and be known over a meal. Filling out a connect card is the church's recommended way to begin building those connections.
The Kids Building Across the Courtyard
Safe and engaging spaces for children to discover Jesus are a priority at Living Word. Age-appropriate classes and experiences are offered for children from eight weeks old through fourth grade at both Sunday services, and Sunday classes for middle school students in fifth and sixth grades meet after worship at the 11 am service.
The kids ministry building sits just across the courtyard from the sanctuary, and a team member is there to help families check in and find their class. Safety is the top priority: volunteers are interviewed, background checked, and trained, and check-in and check-out use a secure code system. A nursing mother's room is located downstairs in the kids building.
The children's team has dedicated contacts for birth through first grade, for adaptive ministry and vacation Bible school, and for elementary ministry, camp, and families. Children who memorize six or more monthly verses are recognized on stage in January. The church's hope for families is to partner with parents as the primary influence in a child's life and faith, loving, supporting, and encouraging them along the way. First-time families can create a secure login for their children.
Small Groups for Every Season
Living Word places high value on consistent community, and group options are organized around different seasons of life.
Men's ministry exists for men to grow closer to Jesus in community with one another. It is fed by men's breakfasts, a yearly men's retreat, and several men's groups that meet weekly. Men also serve together throughout the year in areas such as grounds care and maintenance, transportation, security, and outreach.
Eden, the women's ministry, is not limited to Living Word alone. It seeks to unite women in the community from all different churches and faith backgrounds, with a mission of encouraging women to pursue authentic and restorative relationships with Jesus, themselves, and others. Women from high school age and beyond are invited to gatherings that include worship, a message, hearty snacks, and meaningful connection, and several women's groups meet weekly as well.
Young adults ages 18 to 29 meet on Fridays from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The group is hosted by the Orona family, aims to seek God constantly and love the people around them unconditionally, and acknowledges honestly that everyone is a work in progress.
Family Connect is a drop-in group for parents and children of all ages on Wednesdays from 9:30 to 11 am in the youth center. Parents meet one another and share a devotional while littles play, and co-ed groups offer additional ways to connect through the season.
Youth From Fifth Through Twelfth Grade
The youth ministry exists to give students in grades five through twelve a place to begin building their own faith in Jesus, in a setting where they can feel safe to learn and to question parts of their faith and build on the foundation of Jesus established at home and reinforced in children's ministry.
Biblical lessons are taught with the hope of building faith in Jesus as Savior, Healer, Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and Soon-Coming King, and students read through all parts of the Bible to better understand the full story of God and themselves. A typical youth group includes snacks, a game, a lesson, and a small group discussion at the end. Middle school students meet Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:30 pm and high school students meet Sundays from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Both groups meet in the youth center, and no advance registration is needed.
Serving Here, Near, and Far
Living Word organizes its service work in three directions: here, near, and far.
Serving here means joining a volunteer team. Frontlines greeters welcome people at the doors, staff the resource wall and welcome desk, pass out communion, and befriend newcomers. The cafe team serves coffee and refreshments on Sunday mornings. The worship and production team leads music through singing and instruments and runs sound, lighting, and media. Children and youth teams rock babies, teach Bible stories to elementary students, play games with middle schoolers, and connect with high schoolers. Safety and security team members patrol the parking lot and facilities and greet people as they arrive, and cleaning, building maintenance, and grounds care teams keep the building clean, warm, and safe.
Serving near means partnering with organizations around Oak Harbor. Living Works is the church's ongoing in-house outreach, sending volunteers outdoors to prune, weed-eat, mulch, haul, trim, and beautify homes and nearby spaces. Local partners include Hearts and Hammers, which Living Word supports by sending more than 150 community members to an annual workday fixing and restoring homes for families in need; Oak Harbor School District, with food and supply drives and candy for the annual Spook Harbor Trunk or Treat; Whidbey Island Women's Clinic, which provides compassionate care and receives the church's support throughout the year; and Mighty to Save Ministries, which supports people learning to live life outside of addiction through transitional housing, transportation to court appearances and legal obligations, financial counseling, mentoring, spiritual discipleship, and help with resumes, job interviews, and job searches.
Serving far reaches through international partners. Each year a team travels to Ensenada, Mexico with YWAM Homes of Hope to build a home for a family in need. Compassion First provides long-term, hope-filled solutions for survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation, including an aftercare shelter for girls in Indonesia, training for local police, and a sponsorship program for at-risk youth and families. Pioneer Bible Translators helps provide written access to God's Word, and the Welch family, who formerly attended Living Word, is working with a remote people group on a Bible translation they can read and understand. Living Word also supports leaders and church plants, sending people out to continue the mission of Jesus and make disciples.
Baptisms, Baby Dedications, and Care
At Living Word, dedicating a child is a way for parents to publicly declare their commitment to raising their kids in faith, and it gives the church family a chance to celebrate and support the family. Baptisms carry a similar public meaning, and the church points to Jesus's own baptism and his instruction to his followers as the foundation for the practice.
The church takes a practical view of care, strongly believing that one way to receive help, healing, and breakthrough is through professional counseling, treatment centers, and support groups, and that God works through those resources to bring physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. Recommended resources include Christian counselors in Oak Harbor, Freeland, Anacortes, Mount Vernon, and Burlington, treatment centers such as The Center - A Place of Hope in Edmonds and Meier Clinic in Bothell, and support groups including Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Sex Addicts Anonymous, Al-Anon, and Pure Desire Ministries for porn addiction. Beyond that list, a team of people responds to community needs in practical ways, and people can request prayer while choosing to remain anonymous. For personal formation, the church also teaches the spiritual disciplines of scripture, prayer, confession, worship and celebration, serving, and solitude and fasting.
Giving and Stewardship
Giving is available online, in the offering bags and mailboxes at the back of the sanctuary, or by mail to 490 NW Crosby Avenue, with checks made payable to Living Word Foursquare and envelopes for checks available in the seat backs.
Contributions are received as donations to Living Word Foursquare, doing business as Living Word, a registered nonprofit religious organization, and all gifts are tax-deductible. Donations support worship, discipleship, outreach, and care for the community. The church has four primary approved funds: Operating, Building, Missions, and Youth. Contributors may indicate a preference for how a gift is used, while final spending decisions are made by the church board in partnership with pastoral leadership. The board serves as a team of trusted individuals who counsel and support the lead pastor, reviewing budgets, ensuring financial accountability, advising on major expenditures, and helping steward resources with integrity and transparency on two-year terms. Give online whenever it is convenient.
The Team That Leads Living Word
Drew Barnhart serves as lead pastor. Amy Jansen is connect pastor, John Accetturo is outreach pastor, Andrew Lawson leads middle and high school ministry, and Elizabeth Lawson serves as outreach, next-generation, and women's pastor. Mikel Helm directs birth through first grade, Samantha Peterson directs elementary ministry and communications, Bri Orona serves in next-generation ministry and family support, and Darwin Angeles directs worship.
Across every role, the pattern remains the one that shaped the first families in 1977: God is at work in the world to save and restore, lives change when people gather around the scriptures with open hearts, and ordinary people who trust Jesus keep writing the story of Living Word one life at a time.