 Dr. Nick Warner, PhD
Thank you for visiting our website. You have found this site and if you live in the Coachella Valley, we welcome you to come visit and worship with us. We are a new church, we began in February 23, 2003 and we are up and running on an amazing voyage. Since my partner Ian and I moved to the desert in 2000 we have met so many wonderful people but we did not seem to find a good place to worship. For me that meant a place that was biblically sound and acknowledges Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior but not one that is rigid or too dogmatic or hung up in some tradition that just does not fit out here. A Sense of a Calling Sometime in early 2002 I began to get a sense of a “calling.” If that is familiar to you, you know what I mean. If not, it’s like a personal message from God, though subtle, to do what God wants. I handled that in my usual way: tried to ignore it and, by all means, procrastinate. I thought if I just hung out a while, somebody else would do this and I could just attend. Well, it did not go away. On the contrary, a bunch of my friends would talk about it from time to time. “I wish there was a church out here that would be right for us,” is close to what they were saying. So the annoying “calling” just got louder and I started to talk to Ian and friends like Michael Darling and Devin Buckner and they were supportive – real supportive. We decided to move ahead and call it Desert Oasis Chapel.
Do It Anyway A slight problem came up. We had no building, no backing (we are 100% independent, non-denominational, non-sectarian, non-everything except Christian) and no money. We had a list of people, some taken from the Evangelicals Concerned mailing list. So, in passing, I mentioned that to God. The response? Do it anyway!
So we are doing it. Our operation and our budget are small. We meet every Sunday morning at Wiefels Chapel in Palm Springs. We are a not for profit, tax deductible organization (use the word “organization” pretty loosely for now). But we sure have a mission and a direction to go.
Open, Affirming, Inclusive, AcceptingWe are here for the gay and lesbian (GLBT) community and for everyone who supports them. Our mission is to clear away the clutter of judgment and condemnation and simply proclaim the life-transforming love of God that comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ. That’s the simple mission but there is a lot to it. I hope that this church becomes a place where lots of men and women feel really safe to be who they are and safe to discover the magnitude of God’s love. We call ourselves “open, affirming, inclusive and accepting.” I think you’ll find that to be true.
Room for You and Your TalentsWe still need musicians, singers, artists, sound techs, administrators, prayer troopers and a myriad of other things. Desert Oasis Chapel is not a big established organization. There is so much room for you and for your gifts and talents and passions.
Feel free to contact me, that’s what I’m here for.
Blessings, Nick
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