ABOUT US
A Family Church
Paradise Valley SDA is an active community that embraces its roots while reaching for the heavens. We have an abundance of ministries that keep us busy both within our church and in the surrounding community.
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Our church is more than a weekly service. We strive to be a family of Christians who are journeying together to eternity.
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As a Seventh-day Adventist Denomination, we uphold the Bible as our only creed and maintain 28 fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. Learn more about what we believe here.
OUR History
Life in Paradise
Most days, open doors will greet you at 28th Street and Cactus Drive in a section of Phoenix, Arizona known as Paradise Valley. This valley was not always so centrally located in Phoenix. In fact, when the land for the current sanctuary was acquired by the Seventh-day Adventist church is was well north of what was, at that time, Phoenix.
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The current sanctuary hosted its first worship service on March 1, 1975. The grand opening welcomed special guests: Elder E. Frank Sherrill, (then Arizona Conference President), Elder John Newbern (Pastor of PV during construction), Elder C. Jim Owens (Pastor of PV in 1975), Elder John V. Stevens, Sr. (Former Arizona Conference President) and was held on May 10th of that same year. This was the third church building that the dedicated group of Adventists originally known as the Sunnyslope group constructed.
As early as March 6, 1954, a branch Sabbath School in Sunnyslope began with about 18 adults and 6 children attending. The Sunnyslope efforts took on various methods over the next few years. In 1956, a small group of dedicated Adventists, meeting weekly for prayer at the Aldo Ghelfi home, was impressed to form a new church in the Sunnyslope area. Plans began in March of the same year, with Elder A. R. Sousa erecting a metal portable tabernacle for meetings. These meetings commenced on January 20th of 1957, with Elder W.R. French as the speaker. On March 2nd, the church was formally organized with 49 charter members. Their expressed mission was to “cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ”. Two of these charter members, still minister in Paradise Valley today.
In accordance with their mission, by April of 1957 the Sunnyslope congregation organized a Dorcas Welfare Society (now called Community Services). The very next month, found the first Arizona Conference “Voice of Youth” evangelistic meetings being conducted by the young people of Thunderbird Academy at Sunnyslope. This was an MV (Missionary Volunteer) program. The MV program became what we now call Pathfinders. Again, in December the Sunnyslope church hosted capacity crowds as the Arizona Conference officers shared the gospel message through spoken word and students from Thunderbird Academy shared the gospel through music with the Sunnyslope community. The first church building was completed this same year.
By June of 1959, a new addition was under construction. As the church maintained its vision to “cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ”. The entire congregation accepted responsibility for and actively participated in outreach. On December 19, 1965, the new sanctuary with a seating capacity of 300 and a membership of 121 was dedicated. The former building was used for Sabbath School rooms and the Dorcas Welfare room. In March of that year, a crusade was held, with an average nightly attendance of 178; nearly 142 were non-Adventists. This crusade ended with 46 souls joining the church.
In the March 28, 1966, edition of the Pacific Union Recorder, the Sunnyslope congregation told how Vacation Bible School was an effective outreach ministry. Doris Lamoreaux had invited her neighbors, Mr. & Mrs. Leo Schreven, to bring their children to VBS. This turned into the family attending Sabbath School and eventually being impressed through their study of Scripture to join the church. This spirit of friendship, evangelism, and personal responsibility continues in Paradise Valley each summer as over 60 children come to VBS and learn of our gracious Lord. Many of these children continue in Sabbath school and the various youth programs of Pathfinders and Adventurers.
The Sunnyslope Dorcas Welfare Society began working with local public and school nurses, providing for the physical and spiritual needs of its community and other communities. This outreach spread to the Wickenburg area, where in January of 1968, the Sunnyslope church sponsored the first public evangelism in that town, which was then home to a population of 3000. By February, there was an active company of 13 members. 1968 also saw the Sunnyslope church sending its first missionaries abroad. The Dr. Don Ross family left for Congo, Africa, on September 13th. To this day, as members leave our church family to continue their ministries wherever Christ may call them, we send them off as Missionaries from Paradise Valley.
By 1974, the Sunnyslope church had outgrown the quarters that they had lovingly built by hand. Selling these original buildings for $108,000, they purchased 2.5 acres at 28th Street and Cactus. For over a year, the congregation rented the Cross in the Desert Methodist church while construction of their new facility was underway. Nearly 100 people attended the groundbreaking on January 27, 1974. Again, the youth were a focal point. Four-year-old Anthony Newbern began in earnest to build the church with his toy tractor and dump truck reminiscent of the child Jesus called into the midst of His disciples to illustrate His point in Matthew 18.
Always faithful to their calling, work on their home church did not stop the congregation, now known as Paradise Valley, from engaging in outreach. In March 1974, they were involved in an In-Service training program with the Thunderbird church. This program culminated in 80 people from six churches converging on the small town of Casa Grande, Arizona, securing 91 gift Bible enrollments. This was a significant boost for the tiny Casa Grande company after its recent formation. In November, the PV pastor returned from evangelism labors in Sedona.
The Paradise Valley Church has had 11 pastors since its inception in 1958, beginning with Elder C. M. Christianson, who served alongside other churches. Over the years, various pastors, including A. A. Douglas and Elder Owen P. Jones, have taken on leadership roles, contributing to the growth and mission of the church. Notable figures like Elder Harry B. Sackett and Elder & Mrs. Lewis Wynn, who joined in the 1970s, have left lasting impacts. Despite their varying contributions, the church remains united under the guidance of Jesus Christ, continuing its mission to "teach and preach Jesus Christ."