• We really feel that this idea of the two churches becoming one was God’s idea. River’s Edge (unbeknownst to Steve Hart) was approaching a time of major transition, when the Lord brought River’s Edge to Steve’s mind, along with the words “better together.” The backstory is that Matt Deisen and his family had recently received a fresh call from God to go to the Philippines to plant new churches, and River’s Edge was potentially looking for a new building in addition to a new lead pastor. You can hear the full Philippines story HERE.

• Steve and Matt (lead pastors of Soma and River’s Edge) started talking, and as the idea of combining churches emerged, both elder teams began to meet (separately and together) and pray very seriously about what it would look like for River’s Edge to “marry in” to Soma and become one church. The more we prayed and talked, the more excitement we began to feel, and from start to finish we’ve really sensed the Lord guiding us in this direction. You can listen to the full story HERE:

• Ultimately, we are merging because we feel this is what the Lord is calling us to, but the potential benefits are many. We believe that we can do more together than we can apart, that we can have greater Kingdom impact together than we can apart, and that the Kingdom of God will expand both in Spokane and the Philippines as a result of the “new thing” that God is doing among us.

• In terms of church mergers in general, many churches have found that “1+1=3,” especially when God is the one leading them together. We are anticipating a fresh sense of momentum and Kingdom advance as a result of this merge that will result in greater Kingdom impact, more people giving their lives to Jesus, and hopefully more church plants in the years ahead.

• We believe that God is doing similar and complementary works at both of our churches, and that as we come together there will be a “synergy” between the two church communities, with fresh Gospel advance, a new depth of discipleship, and new ministries and initiatives that are born as the two become one.

• You can hear the full teaching on the benefits of merging HERE.

• I (Matt) toyed around with several combo-names, such as “Soma’s Edge” and “The River Soma” but neither had a great ring to them. So instead, we’ll stick with “Soma” (the Greek word for “body”). But in all seriousness, we want to be clear that River’s Edge is “marrying in” to Soma, and like any marriage, some things change or are left behind. In fact, in every marriage someone has to change their last name and take on a new one! As the newer, younger, “joining” church, we have opted to lay down our name in the transition. This is one of the things that will be left behind. We have always been more about Jesus and the Kingdom of God than our particular name or “brand,” and we believe that God is going to do some amazing things through the “marriage” of our two churches.

• Staff: Our staff and leadership teams are the process of combining over the next few months. Matt Deisen will be a full time part of the Soma staff, while Evan Parton is stepping off payroll completely to focus more on physical therapy. Evan will continue to serve during the transition and beyond in a “non-staff” capacity.

• Leaders: Everyone who is serving at River’s Edge is invited to serve at the “new church” that will be formed out of the two, and in fact we need people who are willing to serve once a month in Kid’s classes, because we are bringing A LOT of kids into the new church! If you’re up for serving in that capacity, you can email joel@somaspokane.org to get started.

• MCs: River’s Edge missional communities will continue to meet through and after the combining of the two churches, in fact we need people from River’s Edge to keep leading MCs during this time, as there is not enough room in existing Soma MCs to accommodate everyone who is “marrying in.” As we take this leap of faith and begin growing relationally with the Soma community, our hope is that some Soma people will organically join “River’s Edge MCs” and vice versa, as part of the melding of our two communities.

Our two churches had many points of overlap in late 2023 and early 2024, including a joint gathering, joint Christmas Eve event, and two joint teaching series. As of Sunday February 11th we have been one church in one location!