The Hankins Homestead and a Church on a School Campus
The story of Campion Seventh-day Adventist Church begins on a homestead, not a church lot. In 1881, W.A. Hankins filed a homestead three miles south of Loveland, Colorado. Not long after, he learned from two new Seventh-day Adventist families in the Berthoud area about the Sabbath. After some Bible studies and a series of tent meetings held in Loveland in 1884, both Hankins and his wife accepted Adventism.
In 1904, Mr. Hankins gave twenty acres of his homestead, set right next to the railroad tracks, so a school could be built there. The reasoning was practical: the train could deliver students straight to campus. That school, Eastern Colorado Academy, opened in 1907, and the Adventist believers began meeting in its chapel as soon as it was built. In 1914 the school was renamed Campion Academy, and the church that met inside it became the Campion Seventh-day Adventist Church.
For the next half century the church followed the school. When the academy administration building burned in 1919, a replacement called Hankins Hall went up and the church met in its chapel, with the wise preachers pausing for passing trains, since the entrance was at the front and latecomers would have to find another way around. When the current academy gymnasium was built in the early 1950s, the church moved its worship services there during the school year, although sharing the floor with later basketball games was not ideal. Members began saving for a permanent home of their own; a small wooden church bank had collected more than two thousand dollars by the late 1940s, but when the new HMS Richards School needed a building, the money went there. Christian education kept winning.
In 1960 the conference first appointed a dedicated pastor to the church, O.L. McLean, who initiated plans for a separate worship space. His successor, Pastor James Mead, kept the project moving, and on March 24, 1966, ground was broken for a new church building. The work hit an early snag when a strong wind blew the newly raised trusses down like a row of dominoes, but construction soon resumed. The next pastor, Arnold Scherencel, saw the building through to completion, and the first service filled the sanctuary. Theodore Carcich from the General Conference preached at that opening, and the formal dedication came on December 9, 1972, with HMS Richards, the Voice of Prophecy speaker and a Campion Academy graduate, as the honored guest.
Since that dedication the church has been served by a long line of pastors and associates: Lloyd Austin, Richard Warner, Ted Bartter, Al Williams, Eric Nelson, Barry Taylor, J. Harold Alomia, Micheal Goetz, Nestor Soriano, Michael Morss, Michael Taylor, and Leandro Bizama. On June 16, 2016, the congregation voted to build a 12,000 square foot, $2,000,000 addition and renovate seven areas of the existing building. The new wing brought children's classrooms, administrative offices, a library and conference center, and a multi-use Community Center. Outside work wrapped up in October 2020, the interior was completed in July 2021, and a Celebration of Opening was held in August 2021, with finishing touches continuing into 2022.
A Saturday Sabbath in Loveland
At Campion Church the week is shaped by the seventh day. Saturday is the day for corporate worship, and the rhythm runs like this. At 8:00 a.m. a brief prayer call opens the day on Zoom. From 9:30 to about 10:30 a.m. the Sabbath School hour fills the building with classes for every age. At 10:45 a.m. the worship service begins in the sanctuary, with music woven through it and a Christ-centered, Bible-based sermon of about thirty minutes. The whole morning is designed so that families arrive together, kids go to their classes, and the congregation reconvenes for the main service.
First-time guests are welcomed by a Connect Card that can be filled out online or by scanning a QR code during the service, and a weekly connect card is offered for those returning to share prayer requests or updates. Visitors can expect blended worship that brings different generations and a variety of music styles into one service, creating a worship experience that is meaningful for everyone from children to longtime members. The preaching is Christ-centered and Bible-based, intended to deepen a walk with God and offer practical encouragement for everyday life. Sabbath School for all ages runs at the same time as the adult lesson discussion in the sanctuary, so children, teens, and adults all study the same quarterly topic at their own level.
Blended Worship and a Theme Song for Revelation
The church's worship is led by the Campion Worship team under Pastor Leandro Bizama. The music is intentionally blended, drawing from contemporary and traditional styles so that multiple generations can worship together. Pastor Leandro, who holds degrees in Music and Theology from Southwestern Adventist University, is a composer as well as a worship leader. He has worked as music director at Mile High Academy, Ozark Adventist Academy, and Delap SDA School in the Marshall Islands, and as school pastor and Bible teacher at South Texas Christian Academy before coming to Campion.
Among the team's own songs is "Alpha and Omega," which Pastor Leandro wrote as a theme for a sermon series on the book of Revelation. In his own description: "After thinking about the book of Revelation for several months, knowing we were going to be studying in for several weeks in the Fall, I sat down to write a song that was Bible based and communicated the most important points of the book: Jesus, His love for His bride (that is us), the urgency of His message (fear the Lord, come and drink, wash your robes) and the promise that soon we will be completely His and swallowed up in His embrace." The song became a favorite in the congregation and has been released through Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. Another original, "I Will Sing," has lyrics and chords available online, and the church makes the chord charts, lyrics, and instrument scores for its songs available through shared drives so the wider community can learn them.
The Pastoral Team
Campion's pastoral team is led by Rodlie Ortiz, D.Min., who serves as Lead Pastor. Pastor Ortiz previously spent twelve years on the pastoral team of Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Southern Adventist University, a Master of Divinity from Andrews University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. He and his wife Iveth, a special education teacher, are parents to two sons, Jonathan and Daniel.
Leandro Bizama is the Associate Pastor of Worship and Family Ministries. A native Argentinean, he is described as "a pastor at heart with a passion for youth ministry and teaching." He enjoys deep conversations, appreciates honest dialogue about creation evidence from a nature and science perspective, and continues to compose, write, preach, conduct, play, and sing whenever he can. In addition to his role at Campion, he has worked at South Texas Christian Academy as school pastor and Bible teacher, and at Mile High Academy, Ozark Adventist Academy, and Delap SDA School in the Marshall Islands as music director and Bible teacher.
Sabbath School from Cradle Roll to Academy
Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., the entire Sabbath School wing fills with the sounds of children learning the Bible in classes built around their age. Every division is interactive, Bible-based, and designed to lay a foundation or build on one already laid.
Cradle Roll welcomes newborns through age four with songs, props, and stories that introduce little ones to Jesus. Kindergarten, for ages four through first grade, uses catchy music, memorable stories, cool crafts, and a weekly memory verse. Primary, for grades one through three, has students reading Bible stories in their own Bibles and singing songs the older kids enjoy. Juniors, grades four through six, help lead song service, take part in mission projects, and read through the Bible on a three-year rotation, currently in year B. Earliteen, grades seven and eight, treats students as ready for serious Bible study and real mission impact, also working through year B of their rotation. The Youth division, grades nine through twelve, includes a large interactive study hosted by Campion Academy in its chapel, plus a smaller, entirely student-led class within the church that works through a regular curriculum while building community during the high school years.
For the youngest ages, additional music and video resources are produced each week. The church's SeedPod Podcast supports the Kindergarten and Primary classes, video song archives accompany the memory verse curriculum, and the Primary Treasure magazine is used alongside in-class activities. A current song for the quarter is highlighted on the children's video page so families can reinforce the lesson at home.
Adventurers, Pathfinders, and the Loveland Cougars
Beyond the Sabbath School hour, two Adventist club ministries keep the kids and teens engaged week by week. Adventurers is for ages four through nine, a club that helps young children experience God and His Word in creative and practical ways, with a club year that begins each August. Pathfinders is for grades five through twelve, and the local club carries the name Loveland Cougars Pathfinder Club.
Pathfinders is a worldwide faith-based character and skill organization sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, with nearly two million members around the world, and it accepts any youth who promises to abide by the Pathfinder Pledge and Law, regardless of church affiliation. The program is built on six age-specific levels and roughly 650 honors spanning arts and crafts, aquatics, nature, household arts, recreation, spiritual development, health, and vocational training. Activities range from community and civic service projects in local communities and across the globe, to nature and conservation studies, to camping and high adventure trips. One core feature is the Pathfinder Bible Experience, the official North American Division Pathfinder Bible study program (formerly known as Bible Bowl), in which teams of six members study assigned books of the Bible and are tested at four levels: Area, Conference, Union, and Division. The Loveland Cougars have represented Campion at the International Camporee.
A Campus of Three Schools
The church sits on the campus of Campion Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school community in Loveland. The elementary school on campus is HMS Richards Elementary, named after the founder of the Voice of Prophecy radio broadcast, himself a Campion Academy graduate. The high school is Campion Academy itself, a boarding academy that has educated students since 1907, with dormitories on site. Together with the church, the campus brings elementary, secondary, boarding, and congregational life under one roof, and that arrangement shapes the church's identity in a particular way. Campion is a family-centered congregation where faith and Adventist education grow up side by side, and where the rhythms of the school year and the church year overlap. Many academy students attend Sabbath School and worship in the church sanctuary each week, and the church hosts events and services that include the broader campus community.
Grow Groups: Semester Communities
Outside the Saturday gathering, Campion Church organizes its small-group life around semester-based Grow Groups. The idea is simple: people gather around a shared interest, grow in faith together, and serve outside their four walls. Each semester has its own catalogue, with new groups opening for sign-up in the fall. Groups meet in homes, study a book together, pursue a hobby, or take on a service project together, and the congregation is invited to step outside the Sunday-morning-style box of one weekly meeting into a more relational rhythm. Anyone interested in leading a group can apply through the church's online forms, and the church staff helps connect prospective members with a group that fits their season of life.
Four Mornings (and Evenings) of Prayer
Prayer is woven through the week at Campion. Wednesday opens with a 7:00 to 7:30 a.m. prayer time on Google Meet. Wednesday evening brings an in-person prayer meeting from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. in the Long's Peak Room. Thursday at 5:30 a.m. another prayer call gathers on Zoom. Saturday at 8:00 a.m. the Sabbath itself opens with a half hour of Zoom prayer before Sabbath School. The Thursday and Saturday morning Zoom links are available from the church office. Anyone with a prayer request can submit it online through the prayer page or by text to the church's text line, and the staff prays over the requests on Mondays and throughout the week.
What Seventh-day Adventists Believe
Campion Seventh-day Adventist Church describes itself as part of a worldwide Protestant Christian church that bases its beliefs solely on the Bible. Its most important belief is that God loves humanity so much that He has given the free gift of salvation (John 3:16). The denomination is known for its worldwide work in evangelism, health, education, mission, and disaster response and relief, and for its commitment to religious liberty for all.
The 2016 Building Project
The most recent chapter in the church's physical story is the 2016 building campaign. On June 16, 2016, the church voted to break ground on a 12,000 square foot, $2,000,000 addition, alongside renovations in seven areas of the existing structure. The new wing added dedicated children's classrooms, administrative offices, a library and conference center, and a multi-use Community Center that has changed how the church hosts events, meetings, and small groups. The exterior wrapped up in October 2020, the interior was completed in July 2021, and a Celebration of Opening took place in August 2021. Finishing touches and additional renovations continued into 2022.
Reaching Beyond the Campus
Although Campion is a campus-centered church, its ministry is not confined to the campus. The Loveland Cougars Pathfinders organize community service projects that include food collection for the disadvantaged, cleaning and volunteering for elderly neighbors, and other initiatives to support the wider Loveland community. Periodic special series, such as the "Revealed: Focus on Daniel" events with Dr. Ken Norton, draw guests from across the region into the sanctuary for three evenings of Bible teaching on the book of Daniel. The church also partners with affiliated Adventist institutions such as Discovery Mountain, the HMS Richards Elementary, and Campion Academy campus, supporting local families and the wider Adventist school community.
Listening Online: Livestream, Roku, and Podcasts
For those who cannot be in the sanctuary on Saturday morning, Campion Church streams its services live. Sabbath School streams at 9:30 a.m. MDT, the Worship Service at 10:45 a.m. MDT, and the broadcast runs on Facebook, YouTube, and Roku (through the Boxcast channel). Sermon clips and full sermons are available in the archives online, with audio versions of the weekly sermons also available through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, so listeners can catch up on the go. The bulletin for each week is posted in PDF form, with archives going back years, and announcements and event invites come through the church's weekly email. A church app, Church Center, keeps the directory, registration, giving, and small-group information in one hub, and online giving is available through Adventist Giving.