Lewis Godby knew he’d be a pastor again. He just didn’t know it’d be in Sequim.

In April, he started at Olympic View Church of God, 503 N. Brown Road, as its new pastor after a year of change.

Godby and his wife Becky moved to Sequim from Arkansas with the desire to be closer to their daughter who just moved to Bellingham.

“I made the fateful words of ‘I don’t want to live in the Pacific Northwest unless there’s a sunny place,’” he said. “I had no clue there was such a place.”

Enter Sequim.

The Godbys found a home online that he renovated over the past year while Becky began working for Peninsula Behavioral Health. She just recently opened Olympic Psychiatric Care and Lewis began working at the church. They also recently celebrated 35 years of marriage.

Godby left First Christian Church in Mountain Home, Ark., after eight years.

“I fully intended to be back in it (pastoring) all along,” he said.

The Godbys began attending Olympic View Church and Lewis filled in on some Sundays, made home visitations for ailing people and performed pastoral duties without the official title.

He first served as pastor in the Church of God in Fairbanks, Alaska, for three years and spent most of his time in Christian churches, a non-denominational church.

“I’d prayed about planting a church but I did not feel led to start one,” Godby said. “This (Olympic View Church) was just a really good fit for my wife and me.”

Godby follows Pastor Dennis Ackley as pastor who moved to Montana and interim Pastor Tim Richards who took the senior pastor position at Dungeness Community Church.

“(Richards) encouraged me to pursue the pastorate here,” Godby said. “I was feeling led to do so, too.”

Meeting needs

Olympic View Church has about 140 people who say it’s their home church with about 70 people worshiping regularly at the 11 a.m. Sunday services, Godby said.

After a year attending, he’s found one of the church congregation’s strengths is creating the sense of family while remaining open to new people.

“They do reach out and they do meet a lot of people’s needs,” he said. “One of my goals is not lose that culture. We will grow but we want to maintain that feeling of family.”

While the church is friendly and supportive, Godby said attendees are searching for the church’s identity.

“My goal in leadership is to find our passion for serving the community,” he said. “We have a lot of members that do work with the homeless and numerous volunteers in lots of areas and we give to a lot of missions. (But) as a church we don’t have a specific mission within the community that stands that this is what this church does.”

The desire is there though, he says.

Godby estimates it’ll take about a year or two to assess the church’s calling after meeting and praying with church leaders at retreats developing short-term and long-term goals.

Meet-and-greet

Godby keeps regular business hours for duties like counseling and home visits but he also comes to the community with coffee shop hours. He buys a cup of coffee and sits in Adagio’s Bean & Leaf from

9 a.m.-noon Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-noon Wednesdays at Hurricane Coffee, and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursdays at Hardy’s Market.

“It’s so people who want to see me but not in a church setting can have a time to chat, share ideas and get together,” he said.

Godby says his passion to keep pastoring comes from a drive to show people God’s love and their love for each other.

“Everything I preach goes back to a relationship with Christ and each other,” he said.

“We are all ministers of the gospel. I encourage people that as they leave here they are the hands and feet of Jesus.”

Olympic View Church of God is part of the Church of God (Anderson, Ind.) movement and is not a denomination. Godby said there isn’t a church creed or church membership.

For more information on the church, visit www.olympicviewchurchofgod.org, or call the church at 683-7897 or Godby at 808-6975.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.