Who We Are

Go therefore and make disciples...

The Mission

To make Christ-like disciples in San Antonio through investing in body, mind, and spirit
 because of God's grace. 

The Vision

The vision of San Antonio First Church is to mobilize a community of authentic believers who live out the reality of the gospel in their daily lives. 

The People

The Staff

We are a community that seeks unity through diversity. SAF has been described as a friendly and authentic community that will welcome you with open arms.  Whether you choose to attend on the main campus, the online campus, or our house church, SAF is an inviting atmosphere where you won't feel judged or have to put on a show. Come in your t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops or a three piece suit.... everyone is welcomed and accepted at SAF.Church.
The staff is committed to the spiritual growth of the SAF community, whether through attendance at church, hanging out on campus, utilizing West Avenue Compassion's food pantry, or online engagement. We are here for all of the spiritual wins and challenges. As a team we commit to demonstrating our values and beliefs through action. We are #morethanbeliefs."
 Learn more about us at the bottom of this page or click here. 

Beliefs

ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES
We believe the entire Bible is the inspired and relevant Word of God and that men were moved by the Spirit to write the words of scripture.

ABOUT GOD
We believe in One God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became flesh to reveal God to man and to become
the Savior of the World.

ABOUT MANKIND
We believe that man was created in the image of God to have fellowship with Him, but became alienated from that relationship through sinful disobedience. As a result, man is incapable of coming back into a relationship with God by his own effort, without God having first moved toward Him - which God has!

ABOUT SALVATION
We believe that all people have sinned and need God’s grace and forgiveness which is free and available to all through Jesus’ death on the cross. We also understand that God draws us to Himself, but the decision and freedom to respond are ours. A person must repent and trust Christ to receive forgiveness and eternal life.

ABOUT HOW WE SHOULD LIVE
We believe that every Christian should live for Christ and not for himself. As Christians, we need to offer our whole lives to God. When we give ourselves to God in this way, His Spirit can fully mold us into
Christ-likeness. His perfect love is reflected in our attitudes and actions, and God empowers us to live more abundantly. By obedience to the Word and daily yielding to the Holy Spirit, every believer should mature and become conformed to the image of Christ.
 
ABOUT THE CHURCH
We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ, carrying out His purposes to the world by giving praise and honor to God and making Him known to a lost world.

Denomination

SAF.Church is a part of a larger family of churches called the Church of the Nazarene.

Meet the team

Matt Rice

Lead Pastor
Matt grew up in a small factory town in Southern Ohio called Ironton. He received his BA in Business and Economics from Mount Vernon Nazarene University in 1990. After working for Ashland Oil Company, Matt graduated with his MDIV from Nazarene Theological Seminary in 1994 and immediately moved to Dallas, Texas where he served 8 years as Youth Pastor. He has served as Lead Pastor of SAF since 2002.
Eric Buell
Associate Pastor & Director of
West Avenue Compassion (WAC)
Kaleb Farmer
Director of Ministry to Children, Teens and their Families

Learn More

"You can feel God's presence here....  it does your soul good"

- James via Facebook Reviews

"... all the pastors from Ps. Matt to the youth pastor are great and wonderful and knowledgeable in the Word."

- Eric via Google Reviews

"It was a fun and enlightening first experience. "

- Peter via Google Reviews