Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene — Attraction in Oro Valley

I'm downgrading my previous review of OVCN from 4 stars to 2 stars. In the intervening years, OVCN appears to have expanded physically but, in the process, lost sight of the triune God and Biblical discipleship. The Bible clearly says to: Not make ANY images of God, not alter/modify scripture, to love neighbors as self, and to bring forth justice and mercy. In the main courtyard of OVCN stands an idol fashioned in the image of Jesus whom the children at OVCN run up to and hug as if an idol can hear, see, feel and respond. The Message, a highly questionable secondary, extra-biblical source (at best), and other secondary sources are preached from the pulpit along with using "translation hopping" in order to cherry pick a man-made 5 point sermon that does not coincide with what the scriptures actually say, all appears to be common practice. In addition, Pastor Craig even alters/modifies the Word of God itself to fit his purposes - a serious accusation and one I don't make lightly. As to loving neighbors, there are many bright pink signs around OVCN stating the neighbors aren't happy. Sunday School is an afterthought at OVCN but is essential for discipleship. OVCN instead opts for small groups led by untrained leaders, most of which just regurgitate the highly flawed sermons in an echo chamber. OVCN also fails to interact with the Nazarene Church (the denomination) on a meaningful level despite being one of the largest Nazarene churches globally. OVCN aims to increase its numbers while the Bible says to "make disciples of the nations." Making a disciple is a long, slow process, which few will aspire to. OVCN baptizes warm bodies while the Bible says to baptize disciples - that is, correct baptism happens AFTER extensive discipleship not immediately/shortly after salvation. OVCN claims to care about children but then fails to financially back reasonable programs such as Children's Quizzing (a few thousand dollars), which aims to instill the Word of God in the minds and hearts of children, but then at the same time is somehow able to dump funding into a large sports complex (millions of dollars). As to societal injustices, OVCN participates in some international missions work but has largely dropped the ball on local and regional missions work, paying lip service only around the holidays. OVCN dropped its excellent choir and musical outreach programs for subpar, deafening worship music that can be heard clearly from far away from the source of the noise. However, according to scripture, God tends to speak to people where quietness exists.

Is God pleased with OVCN? Probably not. At the very least, OVCN is directly disobeying God with the idol in the courtyard. Disobedience to God is sin. So OVCN remains in sin as long as that idol remains. And God will not honor sin and even ultimately set himself up against OVCN should sin persist. The large sports complex that OVCN wishes to build is currently mired in severe difficulties. Perhaps God is working against OVCN already because of the blatant sin that exists in the front courtyard.

No church is perfect. OVCN has its issues. And some of those issues are...

I cannot believe the nerve this man had. After a beautiful service remembering one of the most selfless, loving, and caring souls, Pastor Craig came to close the service and spent ten minutes insinuating this man would not go to Heaven because he wasn't a church goer; thus meaning he hadn't accepted Christ into his life. Really?

I can't believe how stuck in time some religions and people are, and it is in closed minded instances like this that youth are hesitant to follow religion; especially after being told one of their peers may not be in Heaven right now (especially since we ALL know he is).

Shame on Pastor Craig for lacking any sort of sympathy towards grieving family and friends, and instead using this memorial service (with over 550 people in attendance) as a time to solicit his opinion. Who is he to say who will go to Heaven or not?

Unless another memorial service is held here for somebody I know (and for those considering this location as a great place for such, please reconsider unless you want to be told your child/friend/family member will not be going to Heaven), I will NEVER step foot on the premises of this Church again and I feel sorry for those who choose to look up to...

Those who are reading these comments would do well to understand that every single negative comment is coming from a single group of people who had a single negative experience with the church while attending a funeral.

I don't want to minimize their experience, as it obviously profoundly affected them, but they never attended a single Sunday service at this church, and never attended any of the other wonderful community events this church sponsors, including a delightful Christmas program, children's programs and VBS, providing food for the poor both in our community and around the world, and continued support of Interfaith Community Services, a local religious-based charity providing a variety of services to many in need.

This church meets peoples' needs both spiritually and physically, and challenges every member to become involved in service to others while on their journey to grow closer to God.

I apologize if anyone attending the funeral on that day felt judged rather than loved. That is not our goal. Our goal is to demonstrate the love of God as clearly and convincingly as possible. Sometimes the message just...