One Church, Five Campuses Across Albuquerque
Sandia Church of the Nazarene sits on Central Avenue SE on the eastern side of Albuquerque, and from that one address has grown something more like a network than a single congregation. The church describes itself as "one church, multiple locations," and the team there includes fourteen ordained or district-licensed pastors, eleven local-licensed ministers in preparation for pastoral ministry, and five lay ministers working across the city. The stated purpose is to share "the saving and transforming love of Jesus Christ" through new congregations that worship in their own neighborhoods and languages rather than drawing everyone into a single building.
Five Communities, Three Languages, One Mission
Where most Albuquerque churches are monolingual and single-site, Sandia reaches the city in English, Spanish, and Swahili through five affiliated congregations.
ABQ Central, the anchor campus at 8216 Central Avenue SE, gathers on Sunday mornings for ALIVE Bible Study at 9:30 and contemporary worship at 11:00. A Wednesday Night ALIVE study meets at 6:00. Valley Church and Valley Spanish meet on the west side at 2315 Markham Road SW, with Sunday worship at 10:00 and a Restart Plant Team Bible study on Thursdays at 6:00. Pajarito Mesa, a Spanish-language congregation, gathers at 5645 Escarpment Road SW with Sunday worship at 10:00. Huduma za Uamsho na Huruma, the Revival & Compassion Ministries in Swahili, is based at 11435 Montgomery Boulevard NE. A Church at Home network of small house groups scatters across the city, with a current site near Louisiana and Candelaria and additional sites coming on line.
Core Values That Shape the Work
Every local Church of the Nazarene shares denominational values, but Sandia has written its own to describe how those values play out in this particular place. Five phrases show up in the church's own vocabulary.
Disciples Are Devoted. Drawing on Acts 2:42, where the early disciples "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer," Sandia wants the same kind of devotion in Albuquerque. Christians Are Compassionate. The word "compassion," the church points out, comes from a Greek root tied to internal organs, the sense of hurting deep in the gut for another person. Christians do not just "should be" compassionate; if Christ lives in them, they cannot help it. Followers Are Faithful. In a culture of broken resolutions, Sandia calls its people to be the kind of followers others can count on, including in tithes and offerings. Saved People Share. Quoting 2 Corinthians 5, the church says believers are "Christ's ambassadors," and someone who is not sharing what Christ has done likely has not really experienced it. We're All In This Together. Drawing on Hebrews 10:25, Sandia pushes back against the "rugged individualism" that has crept into the church. Different congregations are gifted differently, the argument goes, and the work of Christ advances when they cooperate rather than compete.
ALIVE: A Bible Study Engine Running Year-Round
Bible study is not a side program at Sandia; it is the spine of the church's discipleship. The ALIVE Bible Study series walks through entire books of Scripture one chapter at a time on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, and PDF lessons for every passage are available for download. The library covers the full arc of Scripture: Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, the historical books, the prophets, the gospels, Acts, the Pauline epistles, the general epistles, plus topical series on Advent, Lent, marriage, covenant, and an "All In" track.
Studies rotate. A current Wednesday night study has been working through Joshua; the Sunday morning adult study has been working through the Minor Prophets. A separate chronological track through Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, and Nehemiah runs alongside them. Lessons for each passage come with companion YouTube playlists on the Burque A.L.I.V.E. channel so anyone who misses a session can catch up. The Sandia Sermons channel archives the weekend messages for the same reason.
Church at Home: Discipleship Where People Already Are
Sandia is also unapologetic about a movement many congregations treat as a threat: the home church. The Church at Home program rests on the conviction that "many times we spent more time putting on a Sunday 'Event' than we spend on the 'Main Thing' or actual mission of the church… Making Disciples." The groups meet weekly in homes, build real one-on-one relationships with younger believers and unchurched friends, and serve their own neighborhoods, often in coordination with the Compassionate Ministry Center and Mission ABQ. Once a month the home groups come together for a larger combined worship gathering as the family of God.
Mission ABQ and the Compassionate Ministry Center
Outreach in Albuquerque is not a department at Sandia; it is the reason the church plants new congregations. Mission ABQ is the umbrella for the compassionate ministry side of the work, and the Compassionate Ministry Center is the practical hub where Church at Home members and other volunteers find ways to serve. The work ranges from weekly acts of service planned by individual home groups to larger initiatives that meet tangible needs across the city.
A Leadership Pipeline Built Into the DNA
One of the more unusual features of Sandia is the size of its ministerial pipeline for a single local church. The team includes fourteen ordained or district-licensed pastors, eleven local-licensed ministers preparing for pastoral ministry, and five lay ministers. "A major focus in our ministry," the church explains, "is raising up people for both lay and pastoral ministry to accomplish the mission of the church both here in beyond."
The core team at ABQ Central is led by three pastors: Pete Myers, James Landry, and Bianca Rivas, all serving as Sandia Central Core Team Pastors. Patti Rivas pastors Valley Church. Graciela Chavez pastors Pajarito Mesa. Isaac Wilondja leads the Swahili-speaking Revival & Compassion Ministries. Desire Kasi is the Good News Pastor.
Steps, Discipleship Tracks, and Calling
For people ready to take the next step, Sandia has a structured discipleship track. The Steps Studies 101, 102, and 103 walk newcomers from initial commitment into ministry preparation. Above that, Nazarene Core Values and Nazarene Essentials cover identity and theology, and a "Creating a Culture of Calling" track shapes future leaders. A "Disciple-Making the Jesus Way" training runs for both the USA/Canada region and the P. PETE district, with a parallel track on discipleship as a model of leadership development.
What a First-Time Visitor Will Find
ABQ Central is the easiest place to land on a Sunday morning. ALIVE Bible Study begins at 9:30 and contemporary worship follows at 11:00. The Wednesday Night ALIVE study meets at 6:00. Visitors who want to be met personally can fill out an online visitor card. A LinkTree at linktr.ee/sandianaz bundles small-group signups, sermon archives, and the church's GroupMe community chat, where prayer requests, event calendars, and volunteer opportunities are posted.
A first-time visitor looking for a Spanish-language service can find Valley Spanish at 2315 Markham Road SW on Sunday mornings or Pajarito Mesa at 5645 Escarpment Road SW, also at 10:00. The Swahili-speaking Revival & Compassion Ministries is based at 11435 Montgomery Boulevard NE.
Sermons and Bible study videos are available on YouTube (Sandia Sermons and Burque A.L.I.V.E.) and a full calendar of events runs through Church Center. Giving is available online with one-time, weekly, or monthly options, and the old-fashioned way at the church office. The church anchors its giving appeal in Malachi 3:10: "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house."
What the Church Believes
Sandia holds to the broader Church of the Nazarene's holiness and missional identity, with two of the denomination's hallmarks, "Christian" and "Holiness," named directly in the church's own series on Nazarene Core Values. The local expression centers on the call to make disciples who are devoted, compassionate, faithful, and eager to share their faith, and to do that work together with other believers and other congregations rather than in isolation.
That posture is the thread running through everything else: the multi-campus strategy, the home church movement, the ALIVE study engine, the leadership pipeline, and the compassionate outreach. Sandia Church of the Nazarene has decided that the best way to reach Albuquerque is not to grow a single building but to plant disciples in their own neighborhoods and in their own languages, and walk with them toward Christ.