A Family of Families on Juniper Street

Canby Alliance Church sits on the corner of North Juniper Street in Canby, Oregon, just a block off Highway 99E in the small Clackamas County town between Oregon City and Woodburn. Members describe themselves as a family of families, and the phrase is posted on the welcome page alongside the church's steady motto: We exist to make disciples of Jesus Christ who love God and love others. The congregation belongs to the Christian & Missionary Alliance, and its life revolves around Sunday worship, a deep children's and youth ministry, a women's ministry that has grown into a network of small groups, and a far-reaching outreach program that sends dollars and teams across the Pacific Northwest, into West Africa and beyond.

Sunday Mornings at the Table

Worship at Canby Alliance meets at 9:30am most of the year in the main sanctuary, with a 10:00am start during the summer. Services run about ninety minutes and pair contemporary music with solid biblical teaching from Lead Pastor Ryan Doughty. A free espresso bar is open before and after the service, and the dress code is informal; visitors are encouraged to come as they are.

The current sermon series, Take a Seat at the Table, is part of a steady rotation through books of the Bible that has included Daniel: The King Above it All and a multi-week walk through the Sermon on the Mount. Full services and standalone sermons are posted on YouTube, and sermon notes are available so that small groups and individuals can work through the same passage during the week.

Families with young children find several layers of welcome. Greeters wait at the children's check-in desk. Walkers through age 5 attend Embers in Room 107, kindergarten through third grade attends Sparks in Room 108, and both run during the 9:30 service. For children who would rather stay with parents, worship boxes with quiet activities sit on a shelf in the sanctuary, and an enclosed Family Corner in the back gives parents of infants privacy with the service audio piped in. Just outside, the Hearth Family Room offers a changing table, privacy screen and toys for one- and two-year-olds who need a little more space.

Children from Walkers Through Fifth Grade

The children's ministry at Canby Alliance is built around a simple statement drawn from Deuteronomy 6: love God with heart, soul and strength, and impress those ways on children morning and evening, at home and on the road. Every classroom shares three commitments: everything points to God, volunteers model growth instead of having all the answers, and relationships are built on trust rather than competition.

Embers (walkers through age 5) meets during the 9:30 Sunday service in Room 107. Two volunteers stay in the room, playing, reading, snacking and sharing a Bible truth drawn from the Brite curriculum by Awana. The restroom and the Hearth Family Room are right next door, and volunteers text families during the service if a child needs a diaper change or a break.

Sparks (kindergarten through third grade) meets in Room 108 during the same service hour. Volunteers serve about once a month and rotate crafts, songs and games that fit their students, building variety into the year. Each week they discuss a Brite idea from the Bible and memorize a monthly verse together.

Blaze (fourth and fifth grades) shifts to Wednesday evenings from 5:00 to 6:45pm during the school year, gathering for a shared meal, games and teaching designed to help preteens begin to own their faith before they move into youth group.

For a week each summer, CREATE theatre camp takes over with a half-day program for third through sixth graders. The next session is scheduled for July 19-23, 2027, from 9:00am to noon, with a final-day performance for family and friends. Students practice storytelling, learn a short Bible story, and build costumes and backdrops together, closing the week by showing off the "one more things" they have gained.

Youth: Weekly Fire on Wednesdays

Canby Alliance Youth, branded as Weekly Fire, runs on a Wednesday rhythm during the school year and meets in the Alliance Gym on campus. Middle schoolers (grades 6-8) gather for Ignite from 5:00 to 6:15pm, the whole group shares a church-provided dinner from 6:15 to 6:45pm, and high schoolers (grades 9-12) take over as Wildfire from 6:45 to 9:00pm. On Sunday mornings, Metanoia meets from 8:30 to 9:30am for grades 6-12, giving students a second touchpoint in the week. Friday-night 5th Quarter events run periodically from about 9:30 to 11:00pm in the gym.

The program depends on volunteer cooks who provide Wednesday-night meals through a meal train, and the youth ministry also organizes regional mission trips. On a recent "Three Cities" trip, students traveled to and served in Eugene, Corvallis and Salem, building relationships with other students and the communities they visited.

Women's Ministry: A Family of Women

Canby Alliance's women's ministry describes its mission as connecting the hearts of women to the heart of God through discipleship, and the ministry is organized into several smaller groups that women can move between as their season of life shifts.

Deeply Rooted is open to all and meets to study and pray together, drawing its name from Ephesians 3:17-19. Solo Sisters gathers women who live alone, whether through widowhood, divorce or simply being single, with the goal of encouragement, friendship and biblical fellowship. Bible Recap walks women through a popular scripture reading plan, the CAC Book Club meets monthly at a member's home, and a Women's Prayer Team receives prayer requests by email. Deaconesses serve in hospitality, helping with greeting, coffee and special events.

The ministry also partners with two organizations serving women in crisis. Living Waters of Hope teaches the Oasis Bible Study for women suffering from or recovering from domestic abuse, and Resting Under His Wings provides a safe community where weary women can find rest, encouragement and renewal.

Small Groups Around Canby

Small groups are gatherings of ten to fourteen people who meet regularly for sharing, study, prayer and community. The groups meet in homes across the Canby area and are open to anyone wanting a smaller-circle expression of church life. Those interested in joining can contact Lead Pastor Ryan Doughty.

Local Outreach in Canby

Canby Alliance is a sponsoring church of The Canby Center, an organization brought together by the churches of Canby to meet community needs, and supports it with finances and volunteer help. The church also partners with the Pregnancy Care Center, which provides accurate information and compassionate peer counseling to women making decisions about possible pregnancies.

Through Living Waters of Hope and Resting Under His Wings, the church supports women recovering from domestic abuse and women seeking rest and renewal. The Miracle Sunday Offering, taken each November, directs additional dollars to these local partners alongside regional and global ones; in 2024 it distributed a total of $25,000 across nine designated organizations.

Regional and Global Mission

Outreach is organized into three concentric circles. Regionally, the church partners with Cru at Oregon State University, where it has supported Justin and Jessie Oster for more than ten years, and with Salem for Refugees, a network helping refugees in Salem become valued, thriving members of the community. The youth ministry's regional mission trips carry that same heart for the Pacific Northwest into small towns across Oregon.

Globally, the longest-running partnership is with the Susu people of Guinea and Sierra Leone in West Africa. Since 2000 the church has invested finances and sent short-term mission teams to assist missionaries from several denominations reaching this unreached Muslim people group of more than a million. The church gives thousands of dollars each year to the Great Commission Fund, which supports Alliance missionaries in more than fifty countries, and also supports missionaries working with Cru, Wycliffe Bible Translators and Global Outreach Mission.

Getting Involved Behind the Scenes

Sunday morning does not run on its own. The Coffee Bar team serves drinks before and after most services and trains new volunteers quickly; the Greeting team staffs the front door; and the Worship and Production teams handle music, sound and slides. Monthly men's breakfasts gather at Backstop Bar & Grill at 8:00am on the second Saturday of every month. Children's ministry and youth ministry both rely on regular volunteers, and short-term mission teams are sent out every year to partners in West Africa and elsewhere.

Those who want to pray can join the CAC Prayer Team, the Women's Prayer Team or the Susu Prayer Team, which meets on the first Thursday of each month at 7:00pm to pray for the Susu people. Prayer requests can also be sent to prayer@canbyalliance.org.

The Team

Lead Pastor Ryan Doughty oversees the overall ministry and vision. Steph Winningham directs Children's Ministry and Connections. Nick Charbonnier serves as Next Generation Pastor for youth and emerging adults. Rachel Keen leads the CREATE theatre camp. The Office Administrator keeps the week running, and a Facilities Manager cares for the building and grounds. Music and Production, along with the rest of the staff team, meet weekly to pray for the congregation.

Canby Alliance Church is a self-described family of families, and its calendar shows it: a Sunday sermon series running in the sanctuary while children rotate through three classrooms, a Wednesday night that begins with middle schoolers and ends with high schoolers around a shared meal, a women's ministry that meets in living rooms and church basements, and a mission budget that reaches from Canby to Sierra Leone.