How Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene Is Growing Across Every Generation
Focusing on multigenerational growth is one reason Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene (OVCN) has flourished. Located in Oro Valley, a Southern Arizona suburb that has shifted from a retirement destination to a hub for young families, OVCN has expanded its congregation by continuing its outreach to older adults while appealing to the next generation of believers.
Lead Pastor Craig Coulter characterizes OVCN as having a “vibrant ministry serving active adults, while at the same time experiencing tremendous growth in our Next Gen ministries. We have the privilege of serving people in every stage of life.”
The church emphasizes outreach to children and students. “A church that is not getting younger is dying,” Coulter notes. “Our vision is that we are in a race for the hearts of our kids—and we plan to win that race.”
In addition to an intentional vision, Coulter attributes the church’s growth to its missions-focused culture and a willingness to take what he calls “God-sized” risks.
“Missions is not just a ministry; it’s woven into every part of our culture,” he says.
The church’s initiatives reflect that commitment. Each year OVCN partners with Children’s Hunger Fund to pack more than 1.5 million meals, an effort involving more than 7,000 volunteers from the church and the surrounding community. During the academic year, the church’s SnackPack ministry provides food on the weekend for more than 600 economically disadvantaged students across 20 schools. Church volunteers also serve at homeless shelters, sew dresses for vulnerable girls around the world, pack more than 2,000 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, provide Christmas gifts for nearly 1,000 local children, and participate in 15 mission trips annually.
Beyond those efforts, every ministry in the church participates in some form of community outreach.
“We are constantly looking for ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus,” Coulter says.
Lawrence Knight, who began attending OVCN with his family in September 2024, says that outward focus immediately stood out. “What I love most about OVCN is that it stands unapologetically on biblical truth while also being a church that does something about it. That combination of strong biblical conviction and compassionate action is powerful and rare.”
Knight says the church has transformed not only his own faith but also his family’s life together. After years of pursuing business success, extreme sports and outdoor adventures, he felt spiritually depleted, even following a serious climbing accident and a rollover crash that saw him cry out to God. He struggled to hand over control of his life to the Lord.
“Finding OVCN has been transformative—not just for me, but for my entire family,” he explains. “I’m learning how to lead our home with biblical courage and humility instead of my own strength.”
Knight now volunteers in the church’s online ministry and takes virtual classes at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. He has already obtained his local minister’s license. Meanwhile, his eldest son will take his first mission trip to Kyrgyzstan this summer.
Coulter also credits the church’s growth to a willingness to be ambitious. For example, in 2020, church leaders set out to build a sports ministry center, but after the congregation grew by 1,500 people in three years, they decided to open a new worship center that’s scheduled to break ground this fall. Moreover, they are already developing plans to expand the church’s satellite campus in Marana, about a 30-minute drive from Oro Valley.
“We believed God was leading us, and he has faithfully opened doors at the right time,” Coulter says.
He also learned that capacity creates momentum. Once the church began to draw crowds that filled 80% of the sanctuary, the leaders responded with more services and an overflow space.
“When people arrive early because they know seats are limited, when overflow rooms are full, and when there is a sense that God is bringing new people every week, anticipation begins to build,” he explains. “People come expecting God to do something.”
The church’s emphasis on relationships also shaped its response during the pandemic. After reopening for in-person worship, OVCN invested in livestreaming and expanded its assistance to vulnerable members. Volunteers delivered food and supplies to shut-ins, seniors and single mothers, while church leaders and other helpers made weekly phone calls to every household in the church database for three months.
“The crisis reminded us that the church is not a building,” Coulter says. “It’s people caring for people in the name of Jesus.”
Ultimately, Coulter believes programs and facilities aren’t the real drivers of growth. A few months ago, he was standing on the church patio when a woman introduced him to several first-time visitors she had invited.
“Pastor, I’ve only been coming for a month, and I’ve been inviting everybody I know,” she told him.
For Coulter, that exchange captured what really fuels church growth: When people experience belonging and purpose, inviting others to join them becomes instinctual.
Knight knows the feeling. “When my wife and I first visited, we immediately felt the Holy Spirit moving there,” he recalls. “Saying ‘yes’ to Jesus has moved from a one-time decision to a daily verb. OVCN didn’t just give me a place to attend church—it gave me a place to surrender, grow and serve.”
ORO VALLEY CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE
Oro Valley, Arizona
Pastor: Craig Coulter
Website: OVCN.church
Denomination: Church of the Nazarene
Founded: 1978
Fastest-Growing: 97
