Hi!  I'm Debi Hasdorff, pastor of Cheney United Church of Christ.  Welcome to our website! 

Let me tell you a little about this congregation.  We are welcoming and accepting of all different kinds of people.  We love to sing folk music, to be inspired by artistic expression, to think and talk about the connections between politics and religion.  This congregation leads with their brains, always seeking to learn, to think, to reconsider old assumptions.  We often agree to disagree, and try to create a safe space to share both our differences and our agreements.

We are passionate about mission and justice, and we work together to make the world a better place.  Past projects have included helping build homes for Habitat for Humanity, sponsoring Muslim students from Azerbaijan as they pursue degrees at Eastern Washington University, and collecting items to provide Church World Service health kits for people in dangerous and deprived areas of the world. 

We are a congregation that loves children, from nursery through youth group.  And we are a people of faith, seeking to share both our faith and our doubts, learning from the teachings of the Old and New Testament, inspired by the connections between religion and culture.

If you're looking for a church that will give you all the right answers, we are probably not that church!  We believe that each of us must find our own path to God, and that we work out our own faith through worship, study, service and relationship.  In our church, you are invited to question -- question why we do what we do, question what you believe and why you believe it, question the historic assertions of faith that you may have taken for granted throughout your life. 

We are not a church requiring adherence to a doctrine or statement of faith.  Instead we invite you to walk with us, to struggle through life's complexities with us, and to find acceptance, compassion and support within our community, as you work through your own faith in God -- however you define God.  Our congregation is composed of individuals from the entire spectrum of faith, conservative to liberal, evangelical to barely Christian, traditional to contemporary.  What holds us together is our passion for God, our commitment to follow Jesus, and our belief that together we can make a difference in a suffering world.

I have been the pastor at Cheney UCC since the fall of 2000.  I grew up all over the United States, living in New Jersey, California, Arizona, Virginia, Texas, Missouri and Connecticut.  I graduated from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, with degrees in psychology and women's studies.  I received my theological education at Chicago Thelogical Seminary, graduating in 1986.  My first church was in Vernon, Connecticut, and I did interim ministry for ten years in Eastern Washington, serving churches in Veradale, Tekoa, Ritzville and Spokane.  I am married to Ron Baer, who is also a UCC minister.  Together we have four children: Sam, 19, Laura, 17, Bethie, 11 and Grace, 10.  My professional interests include process theology, interim ministry, feminist theology and psychology.  In my "spare" time, I carpool kids, read, sew and avoid housework.

If you think Cheney UCC might be a good fit for your kind of faith, please come visit!  I am in the office Tuesday through Friday mornings, and would welcome a call or an e-mail.  Wherever you are on life's journey, you are welcome here!