Meet the new pastor in town

She is dynamic, energetic, animated and very youthful.

The United Methodist Church here in Cheney has a new pastor, and like a whirlwind blowing into town, pastor Alissa Bertsch Johnson arrived at the Cheney church one year ago and "hit the ground running," as she described it. She was able to make such a speedy and smooth transition into her new role as pastor because "there was such a strong core of lay leadership here, and they were all very supportive."

She inherited a vibrant, growing and dedicated congregation that has a long history in Cheney. The congregation began meeting in 1880, and by 1889 had built the original church at the corner of Fourth and G streets where the building currently stands.

When the church's massive pipe organ was donated by one of Andrew Carnegie's philanthropic foundations in the 1920s, it was the largest organ west of the Mississippi. It was one of 7,000 that were built for churches all over the United States and Europe. These days, however, the services incorporate several different instruments in the worship music, such as guitar, piano and flute, in addition to the magnificent organ. Thus, a varied selection of musical genres can be offered.

It is an exciting time for Johnson and her congregation, who are celebrating her formal ordination as a United Methodist minister, which took place at the end of June of this year. It was a long road to ordination for her, but her determination and perseverance were finally rewarded.

Her call to ministry began after she graduated from Washington State University with a bachelors degree in anthropology. That summer, she signed up for a mission trip to Russia through the United Methodist church. Her group was sent to an orphanage in the countryside north of St. Petersburg.

The orphanage was housed in an old World War II-era prisoner-of-war camp. It was as bleak as it sounds. The facility was little changed from its original configuration, with the former gas chamber serving as the group showers for staff and residents alike. The shower area was set below ground level so that the only access was with a ladder. During the war, after the prisoners were sent in, the ladder was withdrawn.

There wasn't nearly enough funding to properly care for the children in any way. While witnessing the utter hopelessness that those unfortunate children had to endure, Johnson came to the realization through prayer that she must respond to God's call to go into the ministry and work on behalf of the poor.

Upon returning to the United States, Johnson enrolled at Claremont School of Theology in California and graduated with her Master of Divinity in 2005. It was at Claremont where she met her husband, Stephen Johnson, who also earned his Master of Divinity degree there. He is now serving as an ordained minister at the Central United Methodist Church in downtown Spokane.

Johnson spent her first nine years in ministry serving as the United Methodist campus minister at two universities. It takes a lot of energy and ingenuity to be an effective youth pastor, whereas leading a community congregation requires a more complex skill-set. She laughs when relating the story of one of her interviews for the position in Cheney, "They asked me, 'Can you work with people over 24 years old?'"

So how did she end up in Cheney? Her father was a career Navy officer and was stationed in Florida, District of Columbia, California and Bonn, Germany. When it was time for him to retire in 1993, the family decided to settle in the Spokane area. So, when the opening at the Cheney church became available in 2014, Johnson jumped at the chance to come home. After all, her parents are members there.

The church is already packing them in, so Johnson must be doing something right. Still, she has a lot of plans for moving this friendly church forward and emphasizes that to be an effective leader, "You've got to meet people where they are at." With her compassion, enthusiasm and energy, there is no doubt that she is doing just that.

Luella Dow is a Cheney-area author. She can be reached at cfp@cheneyfreepress.com. Lea Simpson is assisting her.