In Olympia, Washington, South Sound Church gathers at 1717 Eskridge Blvd. SE, while its church office is on Willamette Drive in Lacey. South Sound is known for a mission that shapes its worship and ministry: KNOW Christ and make Him known, GROW disciples who grow disciples, and SHOW the love of Christ to the community and beyond. Biblical teaching, family discipleship, practical care for women facing unplanned pregnancies, and a Sunday gathering at 10:00 a.m. are central to the church's life.
Sunday at Ten at 1717 Eskridge
Sunday worship begins at 10:00 a.m. at 1717 Eskridge Blvd. SE in Olympia, Washington 98501. The same gathering is offered as Online Church at 10:00 a.m., with live participation and chat for those joining remotely. The Online Church is reached through Join Us Live.
Music, Scripture, and preaching shape the service. The church teaches that praise songs and the reading of Scripture are common elements of Christian worship, and it has treated Communion, giving, prayer, spiritual growth, and the authority of Scripture as subjects that belong in the life of the church. Past messages are available through South Sound's message archive.
- In-person worship: Sundays at 10:00 a.m. at the Olympia location.
- Online Church: Sundays at 10:00 a.m. with live participation and chat.
- Kids: Sunday classes with age-appropriate activities and a secure check-in system.
- SSC Youth: After Sunday worship for students in grades 6 through 12.
An online connect card lets newcomers introduce themselves so the church can serve them well. The office at 2601 Willamette Dr. NE, Suite C, Lacey, WA 98516 can be reached at (360) 491-0899. The youth room and Fellowship Hall are at the South Sound Church location in Olympia.
Know, Grow, and Show: One Mission with Three Directions
The first part of the mission is to know Christ and make Him known. South Sound says a deep, personal relationship with Jesus is the foundation of a fulfilling and abundant life, and it seeks to deepen that relationship through worship, prayer, Bible study, and fellowship. This is a church that places the same Christ at the center of personal faith, public worship, and the love it shares with others.
Growth is deliberately multiplicative. Rather than describing discipleship as a single step or private pursuit, the church calls people to grow as disciples who then help others grow. Its programs offer spiritual formation and discipleship, while its teaching emphasizes trials, community, obedience, and dependence on the Holy Spirit. A defining phrase is that discipleship is made through loving relationships, one person at a time.
Showing Christ's love is the third direction. The church describes love as visible and tangible, not merely a private feeling, and points to local and global missions and outreach as expressions of that mission. Its teaching about the early Church stresses that the Church is not built on human strength, strategy, or comfort, but on the Holy Spirit's power and a mission to make Jesus known. The result is a church organized around formation and sending: people know Christ, grow as disciples, and carry Christ's love into community life.
Small Groups for Faith and Everyday Life
Small groups are described as places to do life together: grow in faith, build genuine relationships, support one another, ask honest questions, pray for one another, and live out the Gospel. Groups meet at different times and locations, giving room for connections beyond one fixed gathering format. Their purpose is both growth and mission, reaching beyond the church family with the love of Christ.
The church's teaching on spiritual formation has highlighted guarding time, heart, sleep, and study; sharing what one has; noticing what God is doing; journaling; and committing to life with other believers. These habits make discipleship visible in ordinary life, while small groups supply the relationships in which truth can be discussed, questions can be heard, and faith can be practiced together.
Children, Youth, and Young Adults
Children are treated as God's gift and vital members of Christ's family. Kids Ministry provides Sunday classes with age-appropriate activities, and its stated priority is a safe, loving place where children can learn and thrive. Safety is concrete: South Sound uses a secure check-in system, screens volunteers thoroughly, and provides volunteer training. A monthly memory verse is also part of the ministry. Pastor John Benshoof serves as Children's Pastor.
SSC Youth welcomes students in grades 6 through 12 and meets after Sunday worship in the youth room. Rather than studying an unrelated youth program, students consider the same biblical topics as their parents in the main service, approached in a way focused on teenagers. The stated aim is for younger generations to connect with peers, experience God in new ways, and grow into faith that reaches beyond their age group.
Young adults, described as roughly ages 18 to 25, gather Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. The emphasis is community, meaningful discussion, and becoming disciple-makers in the city. This group gives young adults a regular setting to connect with others and talk through faith rather than treating faith as something practiced only inside Sunday worship.
Family life is also addressed as a spiritual practice. South Sound has taught that families rooted in Christ can withstand storms, that healthy homes are built through intentional choices, and that people are called to leave a legacy of faith for the next generation. Family Camp, family-centered messages, and the ministry to children, youth, and young adults together show a consistent concern with forming faith across generations.
Women's and Men's Fellowship
Women's Ministry instructs and encourages women of all ages to apply God's Word in daily life, develop their gifts and callings, and build lasting friendships. Its activities include Bible studies, fellowship and events, outreach, community service, and meals for people who are ill or experiencing loss. The ministry also emphasizes prayer and loving support through each season of life, encouraging women to invest in others rather than walking alone. Susan Johnson serves as Women's Ministry Director.
Men's Ministry provides spaces for spiritual growth and fellowship among men. Its regular rhythm includes weekly Bible studies, monthly breakfast meetings, and special events, led by trained volunteers who seek to make the gatherings relevant and challenging. The church also describes a safe, confidential setting where men can share struggles and find help and healing. Rick Graham serves as Men's Ministry Director, and his background as a Christian school principal brings an educational dimension to the ministry's teaching.
A House of Refuge
South Sound describes itself as a House of Refuge for anyone in the church or known to the church who needs refuge. Its first application is to women facing an unplanned pregnancy. The church says pregnancy is not sin, the child is not a punishment, and the child is a blessing. It explicitly refuses to support or encourage abortion, explaining that the child is made in the image of God and is intrinsically valuable and loved by God.
The House of Refuge also names the behavior of the church family: no gossip, shame, or abandonment. Those facing an unplanned pregnancy can expect people willing to mentor them, organize a baby shower, and connect them with resources inside and outside the congregation, including a local pregnancy care center. The church says it will do everything in its power to remove obstacles to carrying and caring for the child, and it also holds men accountable for living out their calling to provide and protect women and children.
For women who have previously had an abortion, South Sound says the act is not an unforgivable sin and that those who confess and forsake their sin find mercy. It offers connection to a post-abortion Bible study as a path toward healing and freedom. The House of Refuge is therefore both a concrete pregnancy-support ministry and a statement about how the whole church treats people: with love, without shame, and with active responsibility toward mothers and children.
Water Baptism and Public Faith
Water baptism is an important step in the Christian journey at South Sound. The church understands it as an outward expression of an inward commitment, a public declaration of faith, and identification with Jesus Christ. Going under the water symbolizes dying to an old self and way of life; coming up symbolizes rising to new life in Christ. Baptism is also obedience to Jesus' command in Matthew 28:19 to make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
South Sound offers water baptism to anyone who has made a commitment to Christ and is ready for that step. Pastors and leaders help people prepare for and understand the experience. The church ties baptism to its wider emphasis on discipleship, where following Jesus is expressed through faith, baptism, Bible study, service, and community.
What South Sound Church Believes
South Sound's teaching has a clear biblical and Christ-centered outline.
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit
God is affirmed as Creator and Ruler, eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal and one God. Jesus Christ is God's only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin. The church affirms that he was fully human and fully God, lived, suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried as a sacrifice for sin, then rose, ascended, and now intercedes for believers. The Holy Spirit lives within believers, gives power to live holy lives, and guides them into truth.
The Bible and Human Beings
The Bible is affirmed as God's Word, written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit and the supreme source of truth for belief and Christian living. Human beings are created in God's image. Because of Adam's sin, people inherit a nature inclined toward wrongdoing and cannot achieve a life without sin on their own. Yet that image includes the capacity to know right from wrong, choose a course, and take responsibility for one's choices.
Salvation and Sanctification
Salvation is described as God's free gift that must be accepted; self-improvement and good works cannot make up for sin. Trusting in Jesus Christ's offer of forgiveness restores a relationship with God broken by sin, and new life begins when a person receives Christ by faith. Sanctification is the work of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, making the believer pure in heart and fully committed to God. South Sound describes this work as both instantaneous and gradual, beginning at salvation and continuing throughout life.
Spiritual Gifts and Eternity
Spiritual gifts are given to all believers to build up the body of Christ and bring glory to God, and their exercise is to be marked by love and unity. The church also affirms Christ's personal return, whose time is unknown, and believes people will exist forever, either separated from God through sin or in union with him through forgiveness and salvation. Heaven and hell are affirmed as real places of eternal existence.
Giving as Worship
South Sound teaches tithing as giving a tenth of income back to God, describing it as worship, obedience, and gratitude because everything belongs to him. The church connects this practice to the Old Testament temple and to Jesus' teaching to give time, talents, and resources. Giving is also described as a way of putting God first, trusting his provision, and demonstrating faith. Online giving through Planning Center supports one-time or recurring gifts, and checks can be mailed to the church. Visitors are welcome to attend without any obligation to give.
Pastoral and Ministry Leadership
South Sound's ministry is led by Lead Pastor Rob Brower. Brower previously spent 12 years as a youth pastor, continues to speak at regional and national youth conferences, and co-founded Ministry Tools, LLC, which develops practical AI-powered tools for churches and ministry leaders. His ministry background connects preaching and discipleship with an ongoing concern for helping ministry leaders communicate clearly, save time, and advance the Gospel.
The wider team includes Children's Pastor John Benshoof; Youth and Young Adults Director Amber Luzier; Worship Director Taylor Luzier; Women's Ministry Director Susan Johnson; and Men's Ministry Director Rick Graham. Luzier has experience in youth direction, camping ministry, children's ministry, and preschool leadership. Taylor and Amber previously served together on a worship team. Johnson taught in private Christian schools for more than two decades before directing the church's women's ministry, while Graham's background as a Christian school principal informs his work with men. Together, their roles cover preaching, children's formation, youth and young adult discipleship, worship, women's encouragement, and men's fellowship.
Local Care, Global Mission, and a Church on Mission
As a Church of the Nazarene congregation, South Sound's regional life is connected to the WaPac District, and its missionary emphasis includes Nazarene Missions International. Its House of Refuge also gives the mission a distinctly local expression by connecting church members with a local pregnancy care center. These ministries reflect the church's commitment to visible love at home and beyond.
The church's story comes together in three active verbs: know Christ through worship, prayer, Scripture, and fellowship; grow disciples through groups, families, leaders, and spiritual practices; and show love through baptism, service, generous giving, pregnancy support, missions, and a culture that refuses shame. South Sound Church is built around that movement from personal faith to mature discipleship to visible service, gathering each Sunday at 10:00 a.m. in Olympia and carrying the same mission through its ministries for every generation.