Index page for Ganado Presbyterian Church in Ganado, Arizona

Alphabetical Directory

Arizona Map
Valley of Sun Map

Ganado Presbyterian Church
in Ganado, Arizona

Ganado Presbyterian Church P.O. Box 389 1 Mission Way Ganado, Az. 86505 Phone: 928-755-3255 Fax: 928-755-3232 Church Email: ganado_pc@citlink.net Website: www.pbygrandcanyon.org/ganado Office Hours: M-F 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Ganado Presbyterian Church
Worship Services Sundays - 11:00 AM Church Programs Choir practice every Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM	Sunday Christian Education
Pastoral Staff Interim Pastor	Office Staff Vivian Manning Secretary Clerk of Session Henry Haskie
GANADO PRESBYTERIAN MISSION BAHANÉ Summer 2007 Newsletter
HISTORY Ganado Presbyterian Church was founded in 1901 with the arrival of Rev. and Mrs. Berkamper in the area that was to become Ganado. The Berkampers lived at Hubbell's Trading Post for two years while the first Church and a Manse were built. That first Church still stands and is being used for an apartment building for two of the six Physicians at Sage Memorial Hospital. In 1906 a boarding school was started in order to teach the children to read and write English and so that a Sunday School could be established. The Presbyterian Medical Mission at Indian Wells was moved to the Ganado Mission during the drought of 1912. With the hospital, the three Missions of Ganado began, ministering to the minds, bodies, and spirits of the Navajo people. The late 30's and early 40's, the last great building program at Ganado was completed. In 1941, the new Presbyterian Church at Ganado was completed. When the Mission School was closed in 1968, the College of Ganado was opened. In 1982, a steam eruption in the service tunnel beneath the Church totally destroyed the interior of the Church. In 1985, the restoration was completed and the Church was whole again. In 1986, the College of Ganado closed and the Three Missions became two Missions. The word Presbyterian comes from a Greek word that means elder. Presbyterian refers to the kind of government found in the Church - a representative, democratic kind of Church organization. Elders, elected by the Congregation, along with the Pastor, called by the Congregation make up the ruling board called the Session. While our Government may be different, we share with all Christians a faith that Jesus the Christ is Lord and Savior of us all. PASTOR Ganado Presbyterian Church is currently served by elders of the church. The church's former Pastor, the Rev. Paul Stone did extensive Pastoral, Alcohol, and Career counseling for residents in and around Ganado. Pastor Paul Stone came to Ganado from a small church at Chicago Ridge, Illinois and after 20+ years at Ganado, he retired from the Ganado Presbyterian Church in November of 2003. The church is considering the possibility of a Commissioned Lay Pastor. WORSHIP Worship of God in the Christ is an essential part of Ganado Presbyterian Church. Bringing together people from the Public School, the Hospital, the Trading Post, and the Chapter House, the Church is a small cross-section of the Ganado Community. Worship begins at 11:00 AM every Sunday morning. Everyone is welcome, and a fellowship time following the Service gives us a chance to know each other better. MUSIC Historically, the Ganado Church has been known as a Singing Church. The Navajo Language Choir offers its musical prayers as part of the Worship Service and goes to other Churches to sing and witness from time to time. Anyone who likes to sing is invited to sing with the Choir. We like to use the talent that God blessed us with to bless those who hear us sing. Then all of us, singers and listeners, are lifted up by the Spirit to feel the nearness and love of God. RADIO The first all-Navajo language radio. broadcast was made by the Presbyterian Church in 1939 and the Church has been broadcasting ever since. The weekly CHURCH IN YOUR HOGAN is broadcast to both the Eastern and the Western part of the Navajo Nation. Designed to tell the love of the Christ to the remote parts of the land of the people, we receive correspondence from Sheepherders telling us how much they like to listen to our broadcast on horseback watching the sheep, tuned in on their "walkman" transistors. Anyone may help with the Church's radio ministry by coming on Tuesday nights and singing with the Choir as part of the broadcast. The broadcast lets us use the Navajo Lay-Pastors of the Church in their service to God to send out the message. We welcome new people who want to share their faith with others by preaching the Word. SERVICE OF LOVE The Ganado Presbyterian Church takes very seriously the mandate to "clothe the naked." We distribute, at a minimal cost, thousands of pounds of clothes each and every year. With each bag of clothes, a card goes out which reads, "The clothing you have purchased comes to Ganado from towns and cities all over the United States. The Christian people who donate the clothes and the Churches who send the clothes to us do so because of their love for the Lord Jesus the Christ and their faith that Jesus wants them to share with the Navajo people. This card is our personal invitation to you to attend the Ganado Presbyterian Church and share the joy and love that Christians have for one another. We always have much laughter and fellowship in the Church, and work hard to share one another's burden in life. In Church you experience that good Spirit that is above all spirits, the good Spirit of God. Come and see for yourselves." WORLD MISSION Through the wider Church in the State, Region, and World, the Ganado Church shares in the "making disciples" of all people. Committed to spreading the life-giving Gospel of Jesus the Christ, we share in the "reaching out" to the entire World by the Church. As a Church we sent a family to Kenya, Africa as medical missionaries. A Camp Christmas represents the Church's wintertime mass evangelistic effort. Designed to explain the real meaning of Christmas behind the tinsel and wrapping of the world's Christmas, Camp Christmas speaks to more non-Christians in one place than any other effort of the Church. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION The materials used in the Sunday School are written to give all those involved in the Sunday School a thorough knowledge of the Bible, and what the Bible says as to how we are to live our day-to-day lives. We have classes from Nursery to Adult. The emphasis is on Christian Preparation. Those who learn their faith are trained to go out and share the love of Christ with others. Throughout the summer the church offers Vacation Bible School to the children of the community.
Mission Yearbook February 3, 2008 Ganado Presbyterian Church The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest thing that has happened to the Navajo people in and around the community of Ganado, Arizona. Ganado is located on the Navajo Indian Reservation in northeast Arizona approximately 30 miles west of Window Rock, the capitol of the Navajo Nation. Ganado fondly remembers all the caring individuals from both outside and within the Navajo Nation who have left their legacy of faith for Navajo Christians of today and tomorrow. These God fearing individuals who brought the ministry to Ganado in the early years have all left lasting impacts upon the Church and the communities. Today Ganado Presbyterian Church carries on the ministry to largely Navajo people in the community and surrounding areas. The Ganado Presbyterian Mission was established in the early 1900's, for the purpose of providing Christian ministry, education and health care. Presently, only the mission of Christian ministry is continued. The Church has a congregation of eighty plus members and at minimum approximately forty people will attend Sunday services. The Church's ministry outreach programs include a radio broadcast which airs on a local Christian radio station to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the listening audience of the Navajo Nation. As there are non English speaking members, the Church offers services in both English and the Navajo language. The Navajo Bible, which is written completely in the Navajo language, is used in addition to the English Bible. Adult Sunday school is also conducted every Sunday morning where the leader also uses both the Navajo and English Bibles. Throughout the year, the Church is active in bringing communities together with the focus on teaching the Word of God, this is accomplished through such events as Camp Christmas, an Annual camp meeting, Singspiration (an annual gathering of churches from the area and across Navajo Nation where Christians worship the Lord with music), Easter service, New Year's Evening service, prayer services and providing periodic special events to bring people together to hear the Good News. The Church has a ministry program for youth however at this time there is no volunteer to lead this group. There is a special room designated to house a small library of books, foos ball table, pool table and other games that would be of interest to youth; this is a place where participating youth learn about the Bible. The Church also operates a Thrift Shop which sells donated used items and clothing for nominal prices. During the summer months, work groups from various locations across the United States come to Ganado to help the community with Vacation Bible School for children, minor repair to the church grounds and occasionally they will help repair homes for Senior Citizens of the area. All these are done to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church has a Session that is composed of Elders who serve in leadership capacity and who manage the affairs of the Church. When and as it is able, the Ganado is active in outreach ministries around the world and when resources are available it assists with disaster relief. The Church strives daily to bring the saving news of Jesus Christ to those who are lonely, abandoned, ill, desolate and hungry. The Church also endeavors to build up the faith of its members by teaching the Word of God in such a way that it is understandable and applicable to their lives. Finally, the Ganado Presbyterian Church is strong in its commitment to reach those in need with God's Word.
Driving Directions - Interactive Map