ONECHO BIBLE CHURCH
Church Profile & Senior Pastor Opportunity
Colfax, Washington • The Palouse
Who We Are
Onecho Bible Church is an independent Bible church located in the Onecho community outside Colfax, Washington, in the heart of the Palouse. We are governed by our membership, subject to the control of no other ecclesiastical body, while recognizing the value of mutual counsel and cooperation with churches of like faith. For nearly 150 years, believers have gathered on this ground to worship Jesus Christ, and our congregation today remains what it has long been: a family of farmers, ranchers, tradesmen, professionals, and their households, committed to the Word of God, to one another, and to reaching our community and the world with the gospel through worship, edification, and evangelism.
After 24 years of faithful ministry, our senior pastor has announced his intention to resign in or before May 2027. In accordance with our bylaws, the church council has constituted a pulpit committee, and our congregation is prayerfully seeking the man God has prepared to shepherd this flock for the long term.
Our History
Onecho's roots go back to 1876, when a group of Methodist families began meeting in a log schoolhouse at the foot of Cemetery Hill. In 1890, Mennonite families who had emigrated from Germany and Switzerland began worshiping alongside the Methodists, organizing as a congregation in 1893. In a remarkable act of cooperation, the two groups built a shared church building in 1895 on donated ground — the same site our church occupies today. Early sermons were preached in German and repeated in English.
The congregation adopted the name Onecho Bible Church by vote in 1964, reflecting its settled identity as an independent, Bible-centered church. The present sanctuary was completed in 1981, and our Family Center was dedicated on July 4, 1998. The name “Onecho” itself comes from a pioneer post office operated by J.R. Wicks, remembered as “The Father of Onecho.”
What We Believe
Our Articles of Faith (Constitution, Article 3, Revised January 2024) affirm:
• The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the infallible Word of God, verbally inspired in the original autographs, inerrant in all that they affirm — in matters of theology, history, and science — and the supreme and final authority of faith and conduct. We hold to a literal interpretation of the Bible honoring literary style, historic context, authorial intent, and grammatical construction
• One God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
• Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and is truly God and truly man
• The resurrection of Christ's crucified body, His ascension, His present ministry as High Priest, the blessed hope of His personal, premillennial, and imminent return for the Church, and His glorious appearing with the Church to set up His earthly kingdom
• The Holy Spirit is a Person, co-equal with God, who convicts the world of sin and regenerates, indwells, guides, teaches, and empowers the believer to live in victory over sin. Every believer is baptized by the Spirit at conversion; no gift is the sign of that baptism, and the sign gifts, given primarily to establish apostolic authority, gradually waned as the New Testament was completed
• God created man in His own image, male and female — two distinct, complementary genders that together reflect the image and nature of God. In Adam's sin the whole human race fell and, apart from Christ, is spiritually dead and lost
• Jesus Christ died a substitutionary death upon the cross, by grace providing salvation for all who believe on Him, justifying them on the ground of His shed blood
• All who by repentance and faith receive Christ become children of God; eternal life is a present possession; at death believers' spirits depart to conscious blessedness with Christ; at His coming for the Church their bodies will be raised and transformed
• The eternal, conscious punishment of those who persistently reject Christ; the Church as all who in this dispensation truly believe — the body and bride of Christ, whose mission is to witness for Him among all nations
• Two ordinances: believer's baptism, an outward symbol of new life in Christ, and the Lord's Supper, a memorial picturing His substitutionary sacrifice
• The reality and personality of Satan, who will ultimately be cast into the Lake of Fire
Our Church Covenant further commits our members to godly living, stewardship, family devotions, hospitality, reconciliation, the biblical definition of marriage as the union of one biological man and one biological woman, and the defense of human life from conception through natural death. The full constitution & bylaws will be provided to serious candidates, and candidates will be asked to affirm the Articles of Faith and Covenant and to complete a doctrinal questionnaire.
How We Are Governed
Onecho's government is congregational, vested in the membership. A church council composed of at least six elders — men elected by the congregation to staggered three-year terms — together with the senior pastor serves as the board of directors of the corporation and is directly responsible to the membership. The senior pastor serves as a non-voting member of the church council and of every committee.
Five standing committees carry out the church's work under council oversight: Property & Finance, Christian Education, Missions & Outreach, Worship & Music, and Fellowship. Business meetings are governed by Robert's Rules of Order, with the annual meeting each January and voting by secret ballot open to active members eighteen and older.
Membership is open to believers twelve years of age and older who give evidence of the new birth, have received believer's baptism, and affirm the Articles of Faith and Covenant. Members covenant to attend faithfully, give generously, guard the church's good name, and submit to their spiritual leaders according to the Scriptures.
Our Congregation Today
• Average Sunday attendance: 110, with approximately 70 active members.
• Staff: Senior Pastor and a Pastor to Families/Youth (Todd Kinley/25 years ), supported by office/volunteer staff.
• Annual budget: consistently met by congregational giving. Debt free
• Facilities: sanctuary (1981), educational and administrative wing, and Family Center (1998) on our historic site
Ministries
• Sunday morning worship every Lord's Day
• Family and youth ministry under our Pastor to Families/Youth: Wednesday night youth group with historically 15-30 youth but 50-70 in the last year or two with the addition of many unchurched youth
• Annual Family Camp — a cherished all-church tradition following harvest encouraged in our bylaws under the fellowship ministry
• Missions & outreach: Eighteen to twenty supported missionaries
• The church owns farm ground whose income additionally supports special missions over and above the church supported missionaries
• Women's and men's ministries, Bible studies, small groups
• Worship & music ministry overseen by our Worship & Music Committee in consultation with the pastor: style dependent on the particular volunteer musicians on any given Sunday
Our Community
Onecho sits in the rolling wheat and legume country of the Palouse in Whitman County, a few miles from Colfax, the county seat (population about 2,800). The Palouse is one of the most productive dryland farming regions in the world, and agriculture sets the rhythm of life here — including church life; a pastor who understands that spring work, harvest, and fall work shape the calendar will be at home.
We are within 20–30 miles of Pullman, Washington and Moscow, Idaho, home to Washington State University and the University of Idaho, giving our rural community unusual access to university-town amenities, medical care, and regional airports while retaining its small-farm-town character. Spokane is roughly an hour north. The area offers outstanding hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation.
The Pastor We Seek
Our bylaws require that the pastor accept the Articles of Faith and Covenant of Onecho Bible Church and meet the qualifications set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1–13 and Titus 1:6–9, with candidates considered as to spiritual condition, spiritual gifting, previous experience, and educational qualifications. His duties are to preach the Word of God in purity and power, assist in every department of the church, visit and comfort the sick, admonish and correct the indifferent, administer Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and endeavor to maintain the peace and unity of the congregation. Beyond those requirements, we are asking God for a man who:
• Preaches the Word: a faithful expositor who feeds the flock from the whole counsel of God, in agreement with our Articles of Faith
• Shepherds people: visits, counsels, marries, buries, and knows his sheep by name — and wants to be known by them
• Leads among elders: works humbly and persuasively within our council structure as a non-voting shepherd among voting elders, and as a non-voting member of all committees
• Keeps an exemplary walk: gladly embraces the standard our bylaws set for all church officers, who for the sake of the flock refrain from things likely to give offense, including alcohol, tobacco, non-medical drugs, and profanity
• Reaches the lost: has a heart for evangelism in a community where many are churched by heritage but not converted
• Builds up families and youth: partners with our Pastor to Families/Youth and equips parents to disciple their children, as our Covenant calls every home to family devotions
• Equips the saints: encourages and enables members to serve in all areas of Christian ministry
Education and experience: seminary degree preferred; at least 3 years full-time ministry preferred
The Search Process
In accordance with our bylaws, the church council has constituted a pulpit committee of church members. Our winnowing process, bathed in prayer, is:
• Review of resumes and doctrinal questionnaire
• Review of recorded sermons from select candidates
• Video interview with a committee member followed by reference, background, and credential checks (with the candidate's written permission)
• In-person visit and interviews, then a candidating weekend with the congregation
• Recommendation of a single candidate to the church council, which will call a special meeting of the membership; an affirmative vote of at least seventy-five percent of present and voting members is required to extend a call
All inquiries are held in strict confidence. To apply, please send a resume, a brief statement of faith and philosophy of ministry, and links to two or three recent sermons to lstueckl@gmail.com. Questions may be directed to committee chairman Bob Stueckle, 509-595-0874, lstueckl@gmail.com.
“And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” — Jeremiah 3:15