Good Shepherd Wesleyan Church enters a new era on Sunday with the arrival of its first new pastor in 25 years.
Nick Emery will replace longtime pastor Marvin Dennis, who retired in December and moved to Arizona to be closer to his daughter’s family.
Emery has been the assistant pastor at Riverside Wesleyan Church in Sacramento since 2009.
He comes to Carson City with his wife of four years, Melanie, and two young daughters, Nevaeh, 4, and Grace, 2.
“We feel (Carson City is) a great place to raise our family,” Emery said Tuesday in a phone interview. “We’re very, very excited to be here.
“This is a new era. We invite people to come and be a part of something new and fresh.”
Emery grew up in a small community in Washington state that he said is comparable to Carson City. He attended Simpson University in Redding, Calif., with plans to be a high school history teacher.
“Then God called me into the ministry,” he said of his decision while working at a national youth conference in Arizona in summer 2004.
After becoming a licensed minister in 2005, he served with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and at Yuba City (Calif.) First Church of the Nazarene.
Emery will be formally ordained in the Wesleyan Church on July 9 in a service in San Diego.
In Carson City, “our heart is to connect to people who are new to marriage and have young families,” he said.
“Our goal is to foster an environment at Good Shepherd to become a catalyst for reaching out to multi-generational families and multi-ethnic groups. We want to come alongside and partner with parents to be leaders of their children and point them to Jesus, to be a spark in the community and to partner in community events.”
During Emery’s first official service at the 10:30 a.m. Sunday service June 2, he will be formally installed as senior pastor of Good Shepherd by Dr. Stephen Babby , the district superintendent for the Pacific Southwest District of The Wesleyan Church. An informal fellowship time will follow the service.
At 6:30 p.m. the same day, the Golden State Quartet will present a concert at Good Shepherd. The gospel group will make its second appearance at the church.
Good Shepherd Wesleyan Church is at 1505 Railroad Drive, at South Saliman Road and Railroad Drive. For more information, call 775-885-8361.