Associate Pastor of Connections

Columbus Evangelical Church acts as a gathering location for our community. Our church building is used nearly everyday throughout the year for various ministries and activities. We host groups ranging from sports programs to a home school co-op. Our desire to serve and connect with our community has led us to host monthly outreach events which include events like an outdoorsman banquet, father-daughter dances, marriage date nights, youth basketball programs, community BBQ’s and even a family nerf war night. 

Columbus Evangelical Church is a multi-staff church with a growing and healthy congregation. We have seen God’s provision and tremendous growth in our church and community over the last few years. We average between 250 to 300 people on a typical Sunday morning. So far this year we’ve had 24 baptisms and over 50 people commit their lives to Jesus. We also have a rapidly expanding online community that sees 50 to 80 families attend church live online each week.

We have a disproportionately large youth and children's ministry for the size of our community. Our children’s ministry usually averages around 40 to 50 kids on a Sunday morning.  Our midweek youth ministry has on average 25 high school students and 40+ middle school students.

In 2022, our church completed a capital campaign which completely paid off our church mortgage. Hence, Columbus Evangelical Church has been able to be even more generous in the ways we give back to our community and beyond. For example, last year we sent out three different short term missions teams to help with recovery efforts after major natural disasters. This year we are sending a missions team to an orphanage in Ecuador along with supporting numerous local missions groups.

The City of Columbus is the county seat for Stillwater County. With a population around 2,000, Columbus offers a wide variety of recreational, business and social services. Columbus has seen rapid growth and prosperity over the last few years. The City of Columbus has a newly remodeled and expanded school system, in addition to a newly expanded county infrastructure. The City of Columbus recently passed a large-scale expansion to the city which will expand the commercial and residential size of the city by approximately 30% over the coming years. The City of Columbus includes four city parks offering swimming, tennis, basketball, horseshoes and baseball fields with walking/jogging paths. The City of Columbus also has a new hospital with both day clinics and an emergency room. Columbus is located along the Yellowstone River and offers excellent camping, fishing, and floating opportunities.

The economy and culture of Columbus is largely structured around industry and agriculture. There are numerous ranching families in the Stillwater area. There are also numerous industries in Columbus including the Montana Silversmith headquarters and Next FX Fireworks production facility. However, the largest economic contributor to our community is the Sibanye-Stillwater Mine. The Sibanye-Stillwater Mine is also the largest economic income source for the entire State of Montana. A large percentage of the families in Columbus are somehow associated with the mine. Additionally, the smelting plant for the mine is located here in Columbus. The mine is a unique aspect of the culture of Columbus because the mine runs 24/7 on a rotating shift schedule. Hence, there are numerous members of the church who are only able to attend Sunday services two weeks out of the month.