By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

The Rev. Dr. Candace Lansberry has helped build up a Methodist church congregation before.

One of her aims as pastor of the Chandler United Methodist Church is to do that again.

Lansberry has helped other churches grow or “plant” their congregations, so a bishop sent her to Chandler to lead and help boost the membership there.

“It was thought that my gifts for getting out into the community and drawing people in, would be a good match here,” Lansberry said. “I’m in the getting-to-know the congregation and community phase.”

Lansberry was the pastor at Desert Skies United Methodist in the Tucson area for eight years before starting in Chandler on July 1. She said churches everywhere were lagging after COVID-19, not only because of the interruption to church services but also because of changes in community engagement.

“One of my main goals is for us to engage more in the community and be of service,” the San Diego native said.

Lansberry said Chandler Methodist was one of the first Protestant churches established in the city. It had three different buildings downtown before that area was redeveloped and members headed to a newer building along Chandler Heights Road, a couple of blocks east of Arizona Avenue.

While branding in terms of being part of a known denomination — Internet searches for “Chandler” and “Methodist” easily help people locate the church — Lansberry said she knows no church is for everyone.

Sun Lakes United Methodist Church on Riggs Road is in a planned community with many retirees.

“We’re multigenerational here,” Lansberry said. “We need to learn how to talk to each other again without putting up walls or yelling each other. What I see in this congregation is a place people can be heard without being judged. We could model for others how to talk together and disagree without being mad at each other.”

Lansberry said the downside to being part of a major U.S. denomination is that newcomers might have a preconceived idea of what Methodists ought to be, how they ought to sound and appear.

“That’s the challenge,” Lansberry said. “We might be a little different than your grandmother’s Methodist church and we try to share that.”

Lansberry said bringing numbers up to pre-COVID levels will involve much community outreach. Chandler UMC partners with several agencies and businesses that serve the community in some way.

One of its strongest partnerships is with AZCEND, the nearly 60-year-old Chandler community program focused on food insecurity and related problems families face.

Twice a month, the church has individuals who are homeless transported to its facility to be housed for the night and fed meals.

She said Chandler Methodist also collects money or sends volunteers or items to other organizations.
Lansberry said there is also a diminished interest in church in general. She calls it apathy, with so many ways for Arizonans to spend their time, but she feels getting the word out about churches as social centers, needs to be done again.

“There are many secular organizations, but there aren’t enough of them,” Lansberry said. “Loneliness is a big issue now. So is the judgmental image of Christianity. So one challenge for me is to let the community know they’ll be welcomed with open arms here.”

Lansberry said while she sees her church as progressive and accepting and loving, some of the regular activities are not necessarily new-age or unique. For example, there isn’t a rock band as part of regular Sunday morning services.

However, there is a choir that’s important to many congregants, along with the chance to do acting or other types of drama. An enclosed playground is on-site; Lansberry said there are hopes to create some type of garden on the unused square footage outdoors.

Church-wide events, such as an October chili cookoff and regular mystery plays, help bond members as well.

Lansberry said social media is one way Chandler Methodist tries to get its message out.

“If you want to be heard and share what you’ve learned, and are willing to do the same for others, this is the place for you,” she said.

Chandler United Methodist can be reached through its Facebook page or through chandlermethodist.org.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Jason W. Brooks can be reached at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

Jason W. Brooks
Associate Editor

Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.

He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.

Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.