Committee and for prospective candidates for the ministry here at Christ’s Church on the River, Parker Arizona.

Please direct any questions and correspondence to:

Ms. Nancy Neal

31932 Treasure Rd

Parker, AZ 85344

teachumneal@juno.com

Address & Church contact information:

Christ Church on the River

9098 Riverside Dr

Parker, AZ 85344

928-667-3891

Our Service time on Sunday Mornings is 10:30 am.

January thru March we conduct double services with the first service at 9 am and the second service at 10:30 am.

There is a youth Sunday Bible School at 9:30 am

There are several various small group studies and bible studies during the week.

A.A. uses our facilities two nights a week

Our church sponsors a Celebrate Recovery program on Friday nights.

Our average Sunday worship attendance is approximately 100. During the winter months we see a large increase in church attendance due to the number of winter visitors who stay the winter months in this area. During Spring and Summer months we see a slight increase with vacationing families and other visitors. Our single highest Sunday saw 210 in attendance. This of course includes people of all ages.

Christ’s Church on the River is a Purpose Driven Church.

The Church is run by a Steering Committee which oversees the Senior and Associate Minister’s, sets the budget, provides leadership and makes congregational decisions. Both the Senior and Associate Minister’s are voting members of the Steering Committee, with the exception of their salaries at budget time.

Christ Church on the River began in Oct 1986 in a house. 20 people attended the first service. Six months later the house was outgrown, and the church moved to a local elementary school for Sunday Services. Joe Jewitt, a retired minister from Yuma, AZ became the first interim minister, conducting Sunday Services for 6 months. As the church continued to grow and be blessed, we were able to hire our first full-time minister, Louie Marsh. CCOR continued to meet at the school for the next year.

One of the original goals when starting CCOR was to have a stable, visual church located just upriver from the Town of Parker, in an area known as the Parker Strip. The Parker Strip is an unincorporated area of La Paz Co. stretching approximately 16 miles, in which approximately 3,100 full time residents live. At the time there was not one single church in this area, and as of today, we are the only one.

In 1989 the church was finally able to secure a rental building, and the goal of being "on the river" was becoming a reality.

When the idea of starting an independent Christian Church here along the Colorado River was being explored, the Arizona Evangelistic Association was approached in an attempt to help defray some of the cost in starting a new congregation. Leadership at that time met with church representatives and explained that the area wouldn’t support a church, and that the AEA was primarily interested in starting churches in Phoenix and Tucson, which were experiencing rapid gains in population.

Undeterred, CCOR went through a period of growth, and decline, growth and decline until at one point, with $5 in the checking account, some were ready to call it quits. One of the Elders, Fenton Mel provided a new spark, in which he urged all members to do what might be needed to raise money, to purchase a piece of property or a building, and become a permanent based church along the river.

Fundraising immediately started, over $55,000 was raised, and two lots, side by side were purchased. Within two years the sanctuary was built.

In 2000 a vehicle repair shop located next to the church was purchased, and remodeled into the current Fellowship Hall.

Realizing a need to provide programs and outreach to our young people, John Veech was hired as an Associate Minister, with major emphasis on youth. John still serves in this capacity today.

It was in Jan 08 that Louie Marsh announced his resignation from CCOR to become the Senior Minister at Kingman Christian Church. Louie served 20.5 years with CCOR, and has been the only full time Senior Minister CCOR has had.

Christ’s Church on the River exists to bring people to Christ, membership in His family, build them up in their faith, train them for ministry and to send them into the world as witnesses, all for the glory of God.

Church, made up of believers in Jesus Christ. We accept the Bible as the Word of

God and believe it is the only authority for our faith. Our purpose is based on Matthew 22: 37-38 (The Great Commandment) and Matthew 28: 19-20 (The Great Commission) Christ’s Church on the River exists to bring people to Jesus as well as membership in His family, develop them toward Christ-like maturity, and equip them for their ministry in the church and their life mission in the world.

The main sanctuary was built in 1994, seats upwards of 130 for Sunday Services and other events. This main building houses a nursery room, bathrooms, a Sunday School wing, Senior Ministers office, Associate Ministers office, and a church office.

In the front of the church is a small stage, which has been set up for use by the worship team, which leads a blended service. There is an upright piano, keyboard, drums, guitar stands, music stands. A moveable pulpit sits in the middle of the stage.

The sound system is up-to-date with microphones and wireless capabilities. A power point projector allows songs, sermon outlines, other announcements to be shown on a large screen. The sound booth sits off to the side of the sanctuary from which the sound system is operated. There is a recorder which allows CD’s of the sermon to be recorded.

The Fellowship Hall sits next door to the Sanctuary and was remodeled from a car repair shop into the present day building in 2001. The Fellowship Hall is used for several events and meetings including AA, Celebrate Recovery, and youth programs. It has a full kitchen, and a large screen TV.

The Parker Strip Community is a resort type community, consisting of a mixture of fulltime residents, and visitors. In the fall and winter months the visitors are mostly RV’ers fleeing the cold wet weather from the Northern States and Canada. (They are affectionately referred to as ‘Snowbirds").

In the summer the area sees a large increase in weekend visitors, consisting mainly of a boating crowd from Southern California and Phoenix area. Memorial Weekend sees the largest number of weekenders.

Approximately 3,000 full time residents live along the Parker Strip. There are million dollar homes along the river, and there are single wide mobile homes, and a wide range of housing options in between. Much of the land is controlled by BLM, and housing developments dot this area, approximately 16 miles long and 1 mile wide. Most of the houses are located along or close to the river.

Approximately 60% of the homes are owned as vacation homes. A number of residents are employed by Federal, State or local governments, private business owners, or employed in the tourism industry. Many are also retired.

School Children are bused into Parker, which has 1 K-3 school, 1 Elementary School (grade 4-6) 1 Jr. High (7 & 8), and 1 High School.

The area is served by a community college, Arizona Western College, which has a satellite campus in Parker.

There is one community hospital located in Parker, along with 5 doctors and 1 dentist office.

Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) occupies approximately 350,000 acres, running from the Parker Strip southern boundary all the way down to Interstate 10.

Four miles from the Parker Strip boundary is the Town of Parker, which was carved out from the reservation in 1908. The Town of Parker has a population of approximately 3,100. Another 3,000 people live on the Reservation.

For more information contact the Parker Area Chamber of Commerce

www.parkerchamber.com

Various youth programs for children of all ages, including high school

VBS program in early June

Various youth Camps (held in Prescott, AZ) for 4 grade up through High School

Various small groups

Active woman’s group

Celebrate Recovery Program on Friday nights

Christ’s Church on the River currently supports 3 missions. The Church supports these missions with approximately 8% of our general fund budget. We support two missionaries in Myanmar, and one mission in Guinea, Africa. In the past our Senior Minister and other members of our congregation have traveled to Myanmar (usually 2 weeks in duration) to assist with the missions there.

The Senior Minister’s salary is set by the Steering Committee (of which the Senior and Associate Minister’s are members). Each year at budget time (October) the new budget is developed, and a cost of living increase may be implemented/voted on by the non-staff members. The final budget, including any salary/benefit increases is approved/disapproved by the congregation at the annual congregational meeting (typically held in December)

CCOR also provides the Senior Minister with a stipend (to be determined) for the sole purpose to invest in a retirement vehicle.

CCOR also provides health insurance for the Senior Minister.

At least once each year (depending on current budget) CCOR will provide expenses for the Senior Minister to attend a Leadership or other type conference, usually within a 300 mile radius of the church. This is approved by the Steering Committee

Past practices include a book allowance, Christmas bonus, and mileage reimbursement, but should not be construed as part of the current salary package.