New Nazarene pastor pulls double duty
Mickey McCandless balances time between Sandy church and chaplain job
New pastor Mickey MCcanDless says he's received a warm welcome from his church and the community.
marcus hathcock / the sandy post
Although the Sandy Church of the Nazarene doesn’t have the largest congregation in the Sandy area, its new pastor can claim to be the spiritual shepherd of more than 500 people.
That’s because in addition to serving the needs of his Jarl Road congregation, Mickey McCandless works for Marketplace Chaplains, where he tends to the employees of several large Portland-area employers.
McCandless, 41, arrived in Sandy in early July to be the permanent replacement for interim pastor Vic Dunton.
The McCandless family made the move to its home in Happy Valley from Lioti, Kansas, to be closer to wife Michelle’s family. (Her maiden name is Boring.)
“It’s a little intimidating” living in a place where the name Boring is everywhere, McCandless said. “No, it’s fine. It’s a great conversational starter.”
He says he’s enjoying the natural beauty of Oregon.
“It certainly is very pretty, quite different from the prairies of Kansas,” he said.
McCandless, a native of Atlanta, worked as a college administrator, a Home Depot corporate employee and a Navy medic before joining the ministry in 2003.
Today, he spends 20 to 25 hours a week in Portland, where he serves the employees of Oak Harbor Freight Lines, McClain Food Distribution, Ryerson Hardwood Floors and MEC Northwest.
“It’s better than an employment assistance program,” McCandless said. “I visit every week and establish relationships with employees. When a crisis happens in an employee’s life, instead of calling a 1-800 number, they can talk to us. We know them and their families, and where they are in life, and are able to provide more personal immediate care.”
McCandless says the skills he’s developed as a chaplain – communication, empathy, problem-solving – surely will come in handy as a pastor.
He said the response from the church over the past month has been “very positive.”
“The church is very happy to have a permanent pastor,” he said. “They’ve been very open and supportive.”
So have the other pastors, he said.
“They’ve been very friendly and helpful,” McCandless said. His fellow clergymen already have roped him into speaking at this weekend’s Praise in the Park multi-church service.
McCandless says he’s looking forward to starting an evangelism class at the church in September, which he hopes would bring attendees from several Sandy/Gresham-area churches.
Wednesday nights starting Sept. 12, Sandy Nazarene will go through the “Way of the Master” video series, which features actor Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort talking about effective evangelism.
“That will probably be our first major project,” McCandless said.
Looking to the future, McCandless says he’d like to see Sandy Nazarene have a strong presence in the community by supporting at least one “para-church” ministry (a ministry that’s not based at any particular church).
“We have several possibilities right now,” McCandless said.
Increasing name recognition is also important, he said.
“We are a small church, and we want people to realize we are here,” McCandless said. “We look forward to being able to help the community any way we can.”
McCandless may be contacted during Sunday services, Monday afternoons, Wednesday mornings and by appointment. Call the church at 503-668-7008 to reach him.