First Presbyterian church has two pastors on staff. John Sowers is our Senior pastor and head of staff. Janeen Steer is our part time Associate pastor for pastoral care.
John Sowers was raised in Southern California and first came to Spokane as a student at Whitworth University. After graduating from Whitworth, John stayed and worked in Whitworth’s admissions department before becoming their Director of Church Relations. While in Spokane, John married Jennifer and they had Kate (now 18) and Emilie (15).
While a member of Whitworth Presbyterian Church, John felt a call to ministry that was confirmed by his family and the church. John attended Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, graduating in 1996. From APTS John began his ministry at Woodland Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN. During his time at Woodland, the church grew in number and in spirit.
John brings a passion for Christ, having known in his own life what it means to be redeemed and blessed by the grace of Jesus. He brings a great love of preaching with a desire to connect the people of God to God’s Word and to the world that God created. He sees in First Presbyterian a wonderful heritage of service in the community, a great wellspring of giftedness in the congregation, and an opportunity for the church to be a blessing to many.
John loves being a husband and a dad. He’s a huge fan of Johnny Cash, C.S. Lewis, the Lord of the Rings and his hometown San Diego Padres. He loves to cook and to play golf (he’s a better cook than he is a golfer).
Janeen was born and raised in Northern California. She started her journey with Jesus by being invited to a Vacation Bible School in 2nd grade and has been hooked on VBS ever since. She attended Cal State Chico where she received her BA in Liberal Studies and received her teaching certificate from Fresno Pacific. Her relationship with First Pres. began 14 years ago when she became the Director of Junior High Ministries. She and Danny (her cool husband) relocated to New Jersey where she received an MA and MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Her real education in grace and mercy came with her three children. Janeen loves lazy days of giggling with her family, camping and riding her bike to The Scoop. Her current bands of choice are Radiohead, The National and The Vitamin String Quartet. Current favorite literature: Anna Karenina, Book of Matthew, Velvet Elvis and Hey Nostradamus!.
Her present life verse: “Come, all who are thirsty, I will give you rest”. I love that Jesus does that for us. What freedom we have in our God!
Jeremy began his ministry at First Pres in January of 2010. He is a graduate of Wheaton College (IL) and Princeton Theological Seminary, and served as an associate pastor for three years at a church in south New Jersey before coming west. He is married to Sarah, a native Washingtonian, and together they have three children: Abby, Josiah and Levi.
Jeremy brings to his ministry a passion for people, a sense of the vitality of God’s Word, and a desire to see the church equipped to live out its calling as Christ’s body on earth. He is grateful to serve a church that seeks to be both “internally strong” and “externally focused.”
As a new resident of Spokane, Jeremy looks forward to getting to know his neighbors and neighborhood, exploring the music scene, and spending time in the beautiful outdoors with his wife and kids.