We're a small Free Will Baptist congregation that gathers each Sunday and Wednesday on Power Road. Hymns from a hymnal. Scripture read aloud. Verse-by-verse preaching from the King James Bible. Come as you are.
We are a Free Will Baptist congregation in the historical evangelical tradition. The shorthand of what you'll hear from the pulpit:
The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired, inerrant Word of God. We preach from the King James Bible, verse-by-verse.
Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by works. We affirm justification by faith and the believer's freedom in Christ.
Free Will Baptists hold that God offers salvation freely to all, and that a person can accept or reject the gift. We are not Calvinist.
Baptism by immersion follows a personal profession of faith, not as a means of salvation but as an act of obedience and public witness.
Each local congregation is autonomous and self-governing under the headship of Christ, gathered around Word and ordinances.
In 1987, the Free Will Baptist denomination's North American Missions program identified Mesa, Arizona as a Target City — a fast-growing Sun Belt suburb with no Free Will Baptist congregation. The Gwartney family answered the call. They packed up their home in Grandview, Missouri and drove southwest, settling on Power Road in northeast Mesa. The congregation they planted held its first services in a rented space, then grew enough to build the sanctuary that still stands today.
Thirty-nine years later, the church is still on Power Road, still small, still Free Will Baptist. Pastor Mike Cash leads the congregation with the same plainspoken, expository preaching the church was founded on. Sunday mornings still open with hymns from a hymnal. Wednesdays still mean AWANA for the kids and prayer for the adults. The bus still picks up neighborhood kids who need a ride. The Spanish-language ministry still meets under the same roof.
We haven't tried to become a megachurch, and we never will. We're the church on the corner — for the family that grew up here, the visitor passing through, and the neighbor who hasn't been to church in years and is wondering if they'd be welcome. They are.
Photograph · Pastor Mike Cash · TK
Pastor Cash leads East Valley Church. He preaches verse-by-verse from the King James Bible and answers the church phone himself. For pastoral care, prayer requests, or just a question before you visit, he's reachable at (480) 807-4242 or pastormikecash@gmail.com.
Plan a first visit, or just show up Sunday morning. We'll point you to the sanctuary and to children's classes, and we'll save coffee for you in the foyer.
Plan Your First Visit