What should a church do when people stop coming? That's the question Sandia Church of the Nazarene's Valley Church location in Albuquerque faced recently.

In June 2024, Valley Church had stopped meeting, facing the decision of closure or reset. But thanks to continued commitment to serving those in its community through the Mission Training Center, multiple families seeking a faith community are helping bring the location back to life.

"We feel that God has just given us a new church, a new group of people who wanted to know more about him," said Patti Rivas, pastor of the Valley Church. "They wanted to serve him."

Patti Rivas is the pastor of the location and the director of Mission ABQ's Mission Training Center, which is located at Valley Church. The Mission Training Center offers community and life skills courses, lay training, and even ministerial training, ranging from Course of Study classes to church planting training.

According to Pete Meyers — pastor of ABQ central location of Sandia Church of the Nazarene and executive director of Mission ABQ — the Mission Training Center partnered with a local organization called Shine, teaching life skills classes to those in the community through a course called Getting Ahead. Rivas, who taught those classes, made some connections with a couple of the families involved.

The final class focuses on recognizing the available resources and identifying those previously unused, both resources and individuals. The families Rivas connected with in class recognized their need for spiritual resources and God.

"They wanted to know more about the Lord," Rivas said. "They wanted to be part of a church family."

When the workshop was complete, these families asked Rivas details about her church and if they could start attending.

While Sunday services won't start until 7 September 2025, more than 30 people have been attending on Thursday nights since January 2025. They are taking discipleship classes, ministerial training, and even church planting classes in preparation for launching the Valley Church campus on Sundays again.

Many of them have come to the Mission Training Center because of the connections made through the Getting Ahead courses. One of those who got involved is Pamela Gonzalez. While developing life skills was important, Gonzalez also learned to see herself the way God sees her.

"The classes helped me to see that I was worth investing in before I even took the class," Gonzalez said. "I thought of myself as a lone island that saw the world passing me by and that I had very little to offer. The classes and the members of Sandia Church have helped me to see that I was an important part of society, and that I was important to God and others."

Rivas called this new life for Valley Church a miracle that God placed in their lap.

"We're excited about what God has done in their lives," Rivas said. "This is an amazing story of how the Lord works through our community, works through his people and their commitment to wanting to make sure that his kingdom does come on this earth."

--Daniel Sperry for Nazarene News