Sierra Vista Community Church gathers at 514 N. Telshor Blvd. in Las Cruces under the motto “Where neighbors become friends and friends become family.” It is known for a life-giving, multicultural, multigenerational fellowship where people of all races, backgrounds and walks of life come together to strengthen their relationship with God and one another. Sunday worship brings together live music, Bible teaching by an elder, children’s teaching and practical opportunities to belong, grow and serve.
Behind T-Mobile on Telshor Boulevard
The church is on Telshor Boulevard, directly behind T-Mobile. There is plenty of parking, and signs are placed outside on Sunday morning to help visitors find the entrance. Map directions lead to 514 N. Telshor Blvd., Las Cruces, NM 88011.
The main gathering room is the SVCC Worship Center. SVCC also has Classroom #5 for Equipping Time, a Family Room connected to children’s check-in, and a multipurpose room used for gatherings such as Finding Hope in Grief. These spaces allow worship, Bible classes, individual prayer and group support to take place at the same Telshor Boulevard location.
- 9:00 a.m.: Equipping Time meets in Classroom #5 before the main worship gathering.
- 9:00 to 9:30 a.m.: The Worship Center is open for individual prayer before the service.
- 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.: Sunday worship takes place in the SVCC Worship Center.
The pre-service class and prayer happen in different rooms but overlap in time. Adults and youth can attend the 9:00 class while anyone wishing to pray individually uses the Worship Center from 9:00 to 9:30. The 10:00 service follows those morning activities.
A Casual Sunday With Room for Every Generation
At SVCC, people are welcomed no matter who they are or where they have been. The atmosphere is friendly and casual, and the worship experience is designed to be relevant to everyone from Junior High students to adults. The church’s aim is to inspire and encourage through worship while challenging people through the teaching of God’s Word and empowering them to pursue God’s purpose for their lives.
- Live worship music is part of a service designed to engage Junior High students through adults.
- Bible messages are inspiring and encouraging and are taught by one of SVCC’s elders.
- Children’s teaching is designed to be fun and suited to children’s needs.
- Steps of faith include opportunities to give back or to be baptized.
The gathering also reflects Sierra Vista Community Church’s commitment to different generations. Adults and youth may begin the morning with Bible study, make time to pray in the Worship Center and then join the congregation for worship. Children participate in the music with their families and receive teaching suited to their age during the service.
Children Take Part in the Whole Sunday
Nursery and childcare at SVCC cover children through Kindergarten. KidCheck check-in is required before a child is taken to the nursery or a children’s class, and the Family Room can also be used. Ushers help families find the appropriate place and provide an Activity Packet for children who will participate in a lesson during the sermon.
Children older than Kindergarten remain with their parents during worship and join the congregation in singing and other parts of the praise. When the sermon begins, they access an age-appropriate online lesson through a parent’s phone or iPad, using their own earbuds or headphones. The parent remains with the child during the service, while the lesson provides separate age-level teaching.
This arrangement keeps older children connected to the worship service during the music and gives them a distinct lesson while the Bible message is preached. For families with younger children, check-in leads to either the nursery, a class or the Family Room.
Equipping Time Before the Worship Service
Equipping Time
Equipping Time begins at 9:00 a.m. in Classroom #5, before the main church service. It is open to all adults and youth. The class is an opportunity to learn what Jesus taught and to explore ways to apply the Bible in everyday life. Its place before worship makes it possible for adults and youth to study together before the congregation gathers at 10:00.
Tuesday Breakfast and Bible Study
SVCC’s other regular Bible study meets Tuesday morning at 6:30 a.m. at IHOP, 2900 N. Telshor Blvd. Men and women begin together over breakfast and then study and discuss the Bible one verse at a time. The meeting takes place away from the Telshor Boulevard church building and combines a meal, conversation and focused attention to Scripture.
Together, Equipping Time and the Tuesday gathering create two forms of regular Bible learning: one before Sunday worship for adults and youth, and another early in the week that begins around a table.
Breakfast Fellowship at Rudy’s
Men’s Ministry
Men’s Ministry is grounded in Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” The Uncommon Men Breakfast meets on the fourth Saturday of each month at Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q, 1020 N. Telshor Blvd. The gathering brings men together for prayer, Bible study and fellowship.
Women’s Ministry
Women’s Ministry is grounded in Ecclesiastes 4:12 and its teaching about strength together. The monthly breakfast meets on the second Saturday of each month at 8:00 a.m. at the same Rudy’s location. Those who attend share food, worship, fellowship, discussion and prayer.
Both breakfasts give adults a recurring setting for conversation and spiritual teaching outside the main Sunday schedule. They also reflect SVCC’s emphasis on finding a place to belong, serving in a ministry and meeting other people around a shared meal.
Prayer Before the Service and GriefShare Support
The Worship Center is open from 9:00 to 9:30 a.m. before each service for anyone who wants to pray individually. This pre-service prayer time follows the church’s teaching to “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you” in Matthew 7:7.
Finding Hope in Grief
Finding Hope in Grief is SVCC’s 13-week GriefShare support group for people who have lost a loved one. The group offers a safe, welcoming setting for navigating the unpredictable emotions of grief. Its teaching helps participants consider what to expect in the days ahead, explore practical ways of coping and receive support through the stages of the healing process. Meetings use the church’s multipurpose room at the Telshor Boulevard location.
Supporting Refugees Resettling in Las Cruces
SVCC’s Refugee Ministry turns the command to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty and welcome the stranger into practical work for refugees resettling in the community. People take part by providing needed items, sorting and distributing donations, transporting goods or helping newly arriving families.
- Clothing: New and gently used coats, jackets and men’s pants.
- Hygiene: New full-size hygiene products and related items.
- Furniture: Donations are accepted with the exception of beds.
- Household items: Dishes, pots, pans, lamps, blankets, towels and other household needs.
Volunteer roles include sorting and distributing items and providing transportation. Items are not brought directly to the church; drop-off arrangements are coordinated with Lutheran Family Services. This ministry places volunteers and donated goods behind a direct effort to help refugee families establish necessities after resettling in Las Cruces.
Tenebrae and the Christmas Eve Service
Tenebrae During Holy Week
During Holy Week, SVCC observes the Tenebrae worship service, a prolonged meditation on Christ’s suffering. Readings, music, silence and gradual darkness shape the service, which anticipates Christ’s ultimate victory. The emphasis is not limited to one part of the story: darkness and silence create space for prolonged reflection on the suffering before the anticipated victory.
Christmas Eve
The Christmas Eve service invites the whole family to hear the Christmas story, sing carols, participate in candle lighting and observe silent communion. These seasonal services continue the church’s emphasis on Scripture, music, silence and a shared experience of worship.
Unity, Liberty and Love Shape the Fellowship
Sierra Vista Community Church is a life-giving, multicultural and multigenerational church. People of all races, backgrounds and walks of life come together to develop and strengthen their relationship with God and others, to be inspired in worship, to be challenged by the teaching of God’s Word and to be empowered to live out God’s purpose. Its approach to belief is organized around three commitments: unity around essential beliefs, liberty concerning nonessential preferences and love across differences.
Essential Beliefs Create Unity
SVCC calls its essential beliefs convictions grounded in the Bible and commitments for which it is willing to stand. These include salvation, the virgin birth of Jesus, heaven and hell. Its unity emphasis also reflects Ephesians 4:4-6: “There is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all.”
Nonessential Preferences Preserve Liberty
The church treats preferences concerning music style, attire, the time of worship and having only one service each week as nonessential. Such preferences may be influenced by culture, age or religious background and are not presented as tests of faithful character. SVCC encourages people to accept those who are weaker in their faith without judging disputable matters and to keep such disagreements between themselves and God.
Love Is Demonstrated Across Differences
The third commitment is love. SVCC describes charity as the love people share for one another, loving each other despite differences or because of those differences. The principle is tied to 1 Corinthians 13:2, which says that knowledge, even knowledge of God’s secrets, amounts to nothing without love. Unity is therefore not sameness at every point; it is a shared life marked by Bible-based conviction and love.
What Sierra Vista Community Church Affirms
SVCC’s beliefs center on the nature of God, the authority of Scripture, humanity, salvation and eternity.
- God: There is one and only one living and true God. God is eternal and triune, revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three persons work in harmony without division of nature, essence or being.
- God the Father: The Father is the source of everything that exists, whether matter or spirit. With the Son and Holy Spirit, he made men and women in his image. He relates to people as Father and receives penitent sinners in love.
- God the Son: Jesus Christ is co-equal with the Father and Holy Spirit. He lived a sinless human life, died on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people and rose from the dead after three days. He ascended to heaven and will return to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
- God the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and Son. He makes people aware of their need for Jesus Christ and lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides power for Christian living and spiritual gifts for ministry and service.
- The Bible: The Bible is God’s Word, written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian belief and living and is truth without mixture of error.
Human beings are made in the spiritual image of God and have tremendous potential for good. At the same time, every person is affected by an attitude of disobedience toward God called sin. Sin separates people from God and causes many problems in life.
Salvation and Eternity
Salvation is God’s free gift, but it must be accepted. Self-improvement and good works cannot make up for sin. A person is saved by turning from a self-ruled life and trusting in Jesus Christ for forgiveness; eternal life begins when someone receives Jesus by faith. SVCC also teaches that the security of salvation rests in God’s grace and power rather than continued self-effort.
People exist forever. They will either spend eternity separated from God because of sin or spend eternity with God through forgiveness and salvation. SVCC describes heaven and hell as real places of eternal existence.
Elders, Pastoral Leadership and the Sermon Archive
Brian Townsend serves as pastor. He has nearly 30 years of ministry experience and has also served as a church outreach director and collegiate ministry director. He graduated from New Mexico State University with a bachelor’s degree in Fishery Biology.
Miguel Torres serves as worship minister and elder. His leadership has included worship, deacon service and oversight of church technology. Evan Merewether has served as a deacon and in church leadership. The Sunday message is taught by one of SVCC’s elders, while Miguel Torres’s worship ministry helps shape the live music at the center of the gathering.
Sermons can be watched online, and many messages also have PDF resources. The sermon archive can be organized by series, speaker, date, topic or Bible book, with entries extending back to at least September 2021. Video messages are also available through SVCC’s YouTube channel. Some archived sermon notes present English and Spanish text together.
The breadth of the teaching record includes biblical passages from both testaments and messages addressing community, family, spiritual growth, prayer, outreach, missions, forgiveness, unity and other subjects related to Christian faith and practice.
Belonging, Growth and Service Shape the Next Step
SVCC organizes participation around three kinds of personal growth: belonging, making a difference and becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ.
- A place to belong: Breakfast Fellowship and service in a church ministry are ways people move toward belonging.
- A chance to make a difference: God-shaped gifts and skills are used to change lives in the community and the world.
- A way to grow: SVCC seeks to equip individuals and families to develop as fully devoted followers of Christ.
These aims run through the church’s regular rhythm: Equipping Time before Sunday worship, Bible study over Tuesday breakfast, monthly gatherings for men and women, children’s participation in the worship service, support for grieving people and practical assistance for refugee families. Baptism, membership and service are also concrete parts of church life. Online tithes and offerings are accepted through EasyTithe.
At its center, Sierra Vista Community Church remains a place where Bible teaching, multigenerational worship, table fellowship, grief support, refugee assistance and everyday service fit together. Its Las Cruces gathering carries a simple identity: neighbors becoming friends, friends becoming family and people growing together in relationship with God and one another.