Hillside Church

I visited Hillside Church (A Church of the Nazarene) this Sunday (Oct. 23rd) at 2689 Adobe Road. They hold 3 services, at 9:15, 11, and a Spanish-speaking service at 1. They average an attendance on a weekly basis of around 250 counting all three services. Their congregation has a mix of ages, with many youth connected with the Spanish-speaking service.
Rev. Brad Edgbert is the senior pastor. He came to Hillside in 1991, and has served there for 20 years now. He previously served Nazarene churches in Alaska, Oregon, and Freemont, California. He and his wife, Sonya, have three grown children (Brandon, Kyle, and Megan).

Hillside affiliates with the Church of the Nazarene, an evangelical denomination based in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2010, they had 663,000 members in the United States and Canada, and about 2,000,000 members worldwide. They emerged out of the Wesleyan Holiness movement, with roots going back to the 19th Century, though the denomination formally organized in 1908. Jesus, from Nazareth, was called a Nazarene in the Gospels, and the early believers were called Nazarenes in the Book of Acts.

Four years ago, in 2008, Hillside launched a Latino ministry called La Iglesia del Nazareno Emanuel, pastored by Abner Garcia, who comes from Nicaragua. During the last year, this ministry has grown from about 40 to 75.
I enjoyed my visit to Hillside Church.