A Salem Family Since 1953
Peoples Church has gathered in Salem, Oregon since 1953, and today it lives across three places to call home: the Salem campus on Lancaster Drive, the Español congregation that meets in that same building, and a second location in Stayton. The church is known for a simple mission, 'To know Christ and to make Him known,' and for a family that makes room for children, teenagers, adults 55 and older, Spanish-speaking families, and people taking their very first steps with Jesus.
What started as a small gathering has grown into a multi-generational community, a movement of hope in Salem, where real faith meets real life and every story matters. The vision is 'a Christ-centered community growing spiritually-thriving households.' The core values ask the church to desire God's presence and direction in everything it does, preach and teach biblical truth without compromise, pursue risks by faith to reach the lost, serve people and inspire people to serve, give generously, deliver ministry with excellence, and protect the priority of leading and loving their families.
Lead Pastors Tom and Jennifer Murray welcome people to worship and describe the church as a place of 'hope, forgiveness, restoration, and purpose,' calling it a privilege to serve people on their faith journey. Their invitation carries the church's motto: 'Come as you are. Leave changed.'
Three Places to Call Home
Salem: The Home Base on Lancaster Drive
The Salem location at 4500 Lancaster Dr NE has been a place of transformation in the heart of Salem for more than 70 years. Sunday worship gathers at 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM. The 9:30 AM Traditions Gathering meets in the Conference Center for people who prefer timeless hymns and choruses in a quieter, more reflective setting, while the 11:30 AM gathering is contemporary, with a band leading current worship songs. On Wednesdays at 7 PM, the Salem campus hosts Bible study and devotionals, discipleship groups, and separate kids and youth gatherings.
Guests at Salem find easy parking with dedicated first-time visitor spots, a warm welcome from the team, fresh coffee and connection time, and dynamic kids ministry at every service. Multiple service times are offered so families can fit worship around the week.
Stayton: Growing Together
The Stayton location at 657 N 2nd Ave serves Stayton and the surrounding area with Sunday worship gatherings at 8:30 AM and 10:30 AM, with kids programming alongside. Wednesday at 7 PM is Prayer Night. Pastor Scott Walberg leads this location, which is described as an intimate worship setting with a close-knit, family-focused feel, local outreach opportunities, and personal connection with the pastors.
Every location shares the same practical welcome: free parking, a coffee bar, a nursing mothers room, and accessible facilities.
Español: Una Familia en Cristo
The Español congregation meets at the Salem building in two weekly services, Sundays at 1:30 PM and Tuesdays at 6:30 PM, with services completely in Spanish. Location Pastor Jairo Amaya leads a community where faith and culture come together to create an authentic family, with a dynamic family ministry, active life groups, special events, and opportunities to serve. The mission and vision carry the same words as the English congregation: to know Christ and make Him known, and to grow a Christ-centered community of spiritually thriving households.
Spanish-speaking families walk through the same discipleship paths as the rest of the church family. Temporadas is the eight-week discipleship journey offered four times a year, while Primeros Pasos introduces the basics of salvation, prayer, Scripture, and relationship with God for new believers, and Elevate is a leadership track for those called to lead and multiply disciples. A separate Spanish welcome page carries the same invitation: 'Donde cada historia importa y Jesús lo cambia todo.'
Peoples Kids: Check-In Kiosks, Name Tags, and Safe Rooms
Peoples Kids partners with parents to lead children to a relationship with Jesus Christ and to work together to make Him known through them. The ministry serves children from six weeks old through fifth grade at the 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM services, with three age groups: nursery for six weeks to two years, preschool for three to five, and elementary from six years through fifth grade. For the earliest years, the church's education ministry includes Encourage Preschool, a Salem preschool.
Check-in happens at kiosks in the Kids Center, where team members assist families and print two matching security name tags, one for the child and one for the adult at pickup. The entryways to the Kids Center are secured, a security team is always present, and volunteers are background and reference checked before they serve on the Dream Team. A team member escorts each family to the right classroom, and Bible lessons come alive through interactive games, discussions with leaders, age-appropriate activities, worship, and prayer time.
Midweek programs at 7 PM add early childhood classes for birth through preschool, Royal Rangers for boys in kindergarten through fifth grade, and Girls Ministries for girls in the same grades, all aimed at helping children realize their importance and potential in the kingdom of God. Kids Ministry is led by Patty Farmer, whose team is described as safe, engaging, and committed to helping every child understand God's love and their unique purpose.
Peoples Youth: Middle School, High School, and the Serve Team
Peoples Youth calls itself 'a generation rising up for Jesus' and 'a community where everyone is welcome and we encounter God together.' Middle schoolers meet on Wednesdays at 7 PM for small groups in Conference Rooms B and C, and on Sundays at 9:30 AM for worship in Room 201. High school students gather for a first-Wednesday worship in the conference rooms along with weekly small groups, and on Sundays they can serve with the Serve Team at 9:30 or 11:30 AM before joining their crew in the youth section for worship at 11:30. The rhythm is high-energy worship, real talk about Jesus, prayer, and friendships that carry into daily life.
Youth Pastors Milan and Ilonna Araujo lead the ministry, and their conviction is plain: students are not the next generation but the NOW generation. The ministry's three priorities are going deeper with Jesus through Spirit-led worship and biblical teaching, finding your people in small groups and genuine friendships, and making your mark by serving others and leading their generation.
Groups for Every Season of Life
Small gatherings are called Micro Groups, and they form through family, friendships, workplaces, neighborhoods, and schools, meeting in homes, coffee shops, and parks. Groups are strongest when they reach across generations and cultures, and a weekly discussion guide supports Micro Group seasons throughout the year.
Rooted is the growth track that helps people get connected to groups, join the Serve Team, and become part of the church family. Each session includes community building, interactive teaching, small group discussion, and next-steps planning, and membership is not required to take part. The Seasons journey is an eight-week discipleship path offered four times a year, and Rooted classes focus on marriage, transformational living, faith and government, and the seven spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible, worship, Holy Spirit, service, mission, and generosity.
Beyond those, the church offers a Ladies Bible Study on Tuesday mornings, Men of Faith on Tuesday early mornings, Single Moms Connect on Thursday evenings, and women's prayer gatherings on Monday evenings and Tuesday mornings in the Prayer Chapel. Creative Stitchers meets Tuesday and Thursday to make quilts and other needlework items for missions and the community, with no experience necessary and members bringing their own lunch. A Sunday Social gathering after services on the first Sunday of the month helps newcomers hear the church's story, meet the team, and discover their next step.
Church leaders also walk people through other next steps: a First Steps class for new believers that explores the basics of Christianity and makes room for questions, water baptism by immersion as a public declaration of faith and new life in Christ, and child dedications, where parents publicly commit to raising their children to know God while the church family supports them.
Peoples Legacy: A Community for Adults 55 and Older
Legacy exists for men and women 55 and older who want to keep growing in their relationship with Jesus Christ and live out their faith with purpose in this season of life. Bill Gilchrist leads the ministry, which meets for Sunday morning Bible study at 8:15 AM in Room A. The monthly rhythm includes a relaxed game night for adults 55 and older on the last Friday at 6 PM, a Legacy luncheon on the second Thursday at 11:30 AM, and a ladies' luncheon on the last Thursday at 11 AM. Legacy is open to anyone, whether Peoples Church is your home church or you are simply exploring, and the community includes both retirees and people still working full or part time.
Peoples Young Adults: Thursdays at 6:30 PM
Peoples Young Adults aims to 'make disciples, not consumers' through intentional Spirit-led gatherings, clubs built on community, and deep genuine friendships. The group meets every Thursday at 6:30 PM at the main entrance in Conference Rooms B and C. The ministry's three priorities are going deeper with Jesus through Spirit-led worship and biblical teaching, finding your people through small groups and friendships that help in the wins and the hard parts of life, and making your mark by serving on the Dream Team and leading others. Dolan Enloe and Bel Enloe, both graduates of Southwestern Assembly of God University who have served in full-time pastoral roles for seven years, lead the ministry.
What Peoples Church Believes
Peoples Church holds to one true God who has always existed without cause and who has revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has always existed, became human, lived a perfect life on earth working miracles, died on the cross as a substitute for the sins of every person, and was raised from the dead by the power of God.
People were created upright, but willful choice to ignore God's instruction brought physical and spiritual death, which is separation from God. Salvation is deliverance from spiritual death, provided for all who believe and accept God's free offer of forgiveness by receiving Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Water baptism is by immersion of water, and the Lord's Supper, or Communion, is a memorial of Christ's suffering and death. The church teaches that baptism in the Holy Spirit is God's plan for every Christian, giving spiritual power to witness and to live the full, happy, and godly life outlined in the Bible, and that divine healing from God is an integral part of the gospel.
The church understands itself as an agency of God for evangelizing the world, a unified body in which people worship God, and a channel for building a body of saints being perfected in the image of the Son. It includes all Christians without boundaries as to age, race, gender, or denomination, teaches that there will be a final judgment, and holds that all who have accepted Christ and died will rise to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air, while Christians who are still living will be caught up with them to be with God forever.
Kingdom Builders: From Salem to the Ends of the Earth
Mission work at Peoples Church is organized under Kingdom Builders, a community of people passionate about advancing God's kingdom through sacrificial generosity. The church reports more than 150 global missionaries and partnerships with more than 20 nations, supporting ministries that plant churches in unreached areas, train local leaders, share the gospel, and provide humanitarian aid. Kingdom Builders giving can be any amount given above and beyond a tithe, whether that is five dollars or five thousand, because the heart behind the gift matters more than the size of it.
Members can serve locally in Salem, where the church is committed to serving hurting people and meeting real needs in the community, or join mission trips that put people in the nations to plant churches, train leaders, and serve suffering people with compassion. Priority partners include Africa's Hope, which equips and trains African church leaders to disciple nations in the power of the Holy Spirit; AG Trust, focused on church planting, church revitalization, and Bible engagement in American communities; Unsion, which uses television and digital media to serve Ecuador; Africa's Tabernacles, which constructs basic church buildings serving as the center of life, faith, and community in African villages; International Media Ministries, bringing quality Christian content to televisions, cinema screens, and mobile phones in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East; Priority One, which builds Bible colleges, schools, and leadership development organizations; Project Rescue, partnering to restore hope in women and children survivors of sexual exploitation and slavery across central and southern Asia, Europe, and Africa; and Fire Bible, which translates, prints, and distributes a Pentecostal study Bible for leaders in the world's most used heart languages.
The missions emphasis rests on a simple command: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'
Your First Sunday: Coffee, Parking, and What to Expect
First-time guests are told to come as they are: 'You'll find people wearing everything from jeans to business casual. We're more concerned with meeting you than with what you wear.' Gatherings last about 75 minutes and include worship music, practical teaching, and occasional special elements. Teaching is Bible-based and practical, designed to be relevant whether someone is new to faith or has followed Jesus for years.
Free parking is available at all campuses, and the Salem location has designated first-time guest parking near the main entrance with a parking team ready to guide drivers. On arrival, a welcome team greets guests, points families with children toward the kids check-in area, or walks them to the worship center and answers questions. Complimentary coffee and tea are waiting at the coffee station, a natural place to meet people before or after service, and the lobby includes a Next Steps area for those who want to get connected.
Kids ministry is available during every service, and teens in sixth through twelfth grade may join the main service or the dedicated youth ministry. The facilities are wheelchair accessible with dedicated parking spaces, and the 9:30 AM Traditions gathering provides a quieter, sensory-friendly worship setting for anyone who prefers it. A Connect Card at the Welcome Center lets the team follow up with questions and help. People who are not sure about faith yet are welcome too: 'That's okay! We're a safe place to explore questions about God and faith. No question is too small or too big to us.'
Sunday worship is livestreamed at 9:30 and 11:30 AM, with past messages and Bible study tools available to watch, and messages also offered as podcasts on Apple Music and Spotify. Giving online includes credit and debit gifts, stock transfers, charitable distribution, and digital currency gifts, with tithing taught as the biblical foundation for giving and Kingdom Builders for those who give above and beyond.
Real People. Real Faith. Real Community.
Since 1953, Peoples Church has grown in Salem, Oregon into a multi-generational family that gathers across three locations, teaches biblical truth without compromise, makes room for every age and language, and sends people out to serve both their neighbors and the nations. Its heart has not changed: to know Christ and make Him known. Come as you are. Leave changed.