Iglesia De Christo El Renuevo

This last Sunday (Dec. 4th), I visited Iglesia De Christo El Renuevo at 963 Transport Way. This is a Spanish pentecostalist church, similar to Iglesia Apostolico which I visited back in March, though different. They average about 25 members in attendance on Sundays, with mixed ages.

The pastor is Luis Signor. I believe he told me he is from Guatemala.

Spanish pentecostalists tend to have very lively and emotional services, though at times, the music slows down to allow a very intense connection with God and the Holy Spirit. It seems to work well in the Hispanic culture, which may explain why pentecostalism is one of the fastest growing church movements in Latin America. The service goes about 2 and a half hours, so plan accordingly if you visit.

They are part of a much larger organization called Ministerios Ebenezer. I am not sure what that is, but when I do a search on the web, they seem to be all over Latin America.

St. James Catholic Church - Roman Catholic Church History

I attended St. James Catholic Church this Sunday (Nov. 27th), and played guitar at their guitar mass. Since I wrote before about my attendance there (on Feb. 21st, May 10th, and Oct. 14th), on different aspects of the church, this time I will focus on the history of the Roman Catholic Church (often simply called the Catholic Church - though that term can apply to serveral churches/denominations).

The Roman Catholic Church ("RCC") is the largest Christian church (denomination) in the world at over a billion members, with roughly 74 million members in the United States. The word "catholic" derives from a Greek word which means universal, and so the early church called itself catholic - meaning the universal church. All christian churches derive their roots from this early catholic church (or Catholic Church), and most of those which are not Roman Catholic broke away from it (or were forced out) at some point or other in history.

The RCC teaches that it's history goes back to when Jesus told St. Peter he was the rock He would build His church upon. According to tradition, St. Peter became the first bishop of Rome, the first Pope (papa in Latin - a child's term for father) according to RCC teaching. The RCC teaches the following 264 Popes, down to the current Benedict XVI, follow in a direct line of succession (spiritual - not blood). In addition, it teaches that all of its bishops are successors to the original apostles. (Its' priests serving under the bishops.)

Obviously, the RCC has a very long history and tradition, which I do not have the time and space to review here. Needless to say, there have been good points in that history as well as bad points, which even the most ardent Catholic believer acknowledges. However, the vast majority of Catholics, whether traditional, liberal, charismatic, evangelical, nominal, cultural, folk, or other type of Catholic, feels an intense loyalty to, and love for, the Roman Catholic Church, even with all of what they acknowledge as its faults. Since I have been reconnecting to my Catholic roots, I have to say I have been almost stunned by the spiritual depth of many of my Catholic brothers and sisters.

The Vine Church of Petaluma - 1st Preview Service

I attended the first preview service of The Vine Church of Petaluma this Sunday (Nov. 20th) at 1129 Industrial Avenue, Suite 208 (the offices of the Money Coach Institute). The preview service provides an opportunity for those interested in our church to get an idea of what it will be like when we begin regular services at the start of the year on January 8th (2012). It also gives us the opportunity to try out what the services will be like, to get feedback, and to make adjustments. (A big thank you to Deborah Price of the Money Coaching Institute for contributing her office to us without charge for this preview service.)

Rev. Dave Weidlich is our pastor and delivered the sermon (about Thanksgiving). He last served as pastor of First Presbyterian Church where he resigned in May (of this year, 2011). We feel very fortunate to have this pastor, with his educational background and experience (see the link above). He is an able preacher with a very conversational sermon style, as well as being very based in the word of God. He also led us in worship as well as Holy Communion.

We had about 25 in attendance, a good start for a preview service. We had a wonderful lunch following the service. We have several pictures of the service on the blog at our website. Many thanks to those who came, as well as to Petaluma Christian Church, which donated chairs, and to Petaluma Valley Baptist Church, which loaned a sound system.

The leadership asked me to play guitar as part of the worship band, and deliver a devotional message on worship, at the service. So I had a wonderful time attending the service. It took a lot of work to set up the church at an office site, and then to take it down, but it was well worth it.

Adobe Christian Center

I visited Adobe Christian Center this Sunday (November 13th) at 2875 Adobe Road. They average between 80-100 in attendance on any Sunday, with a mix of ages, though they seemed to have more young people than when I visited them last year.

Bill Funk is the lead pastor at Adobe. He's been there for many years, though I am not sure exactly how long. He is married to Wendy Funk, and they have two children, Tara and Austin.

Adobe affiliates with the Assemblies of God (AG) denomination. They form the world's largest Pentecostalists denominations, with approximately 57 to 60 million members worldwide. The AG has roots in the Pentecostal revivals of the early 20th Century, especially the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles which began in 1906 and continued through 1915. Pentecostals tend to emphasize the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tounges, prophecy, healings, and words of wisdom and words of knowledge, though the degree of emphasis can vary from congregation to congregation. They also tend to have very enthusiatic worship. They are closely related to charismatics. For many years, the AG ranked as the fastest growing American denomination, and still experiences rapid growth worldwide.

I enjoyed my visit with Adobe Christian Center.

The Salvation Army

I visited The Salvation Army Church this Sunday (Nov. 6th) at 721 S. McDowell Blvd. Most do not think of the Salvation Army as a church. They think of it more as an organization like the Red Cross - since they have focused on humanitarian help and community outreach, and done so well. Many also associate it with Christmas bell ringers near shopping districts.
However, The Salvation Army is in fact a church, started by a Methodist minister, William Booth, and his wife, Catherine Booth, in 1865 as the East London Christian Mission. They changed its name to The Salvation Army in 1878 and added uniforms, a flag, its own music, and rank from General to soldiers. The Mission evangelized anywhere and to anyone, and sent converts to local churches. However, they often converted prostitutes, alcoholics, addicts, and other who were often not considered desirable in many churches. Eventually, the Booths converted the Mission to a church which would accept those converts. Today, The Salvation Army is a worldwide church headquartered in London with over a million officers and soldiers.
Scott and Barbara Schneider co-pastor the church at the equal rank of Captain. Though The Salvation Army is theologically orthodox and conservative, husband and wife serve equally as pastors, and the wife can minister in any capacity, including preaching. (A woman can be ordained apart from a husband.) The Petaluma church has between 25 and 30 in attendance of mixed ages.
The Salvation Army in Petaluma is in the midst of constructing a community building that will also be used as for Disaster Relief. They need skilled workers to volunteer to help complete the building. Community Builders Project is partnering to assist them. If you have skills, and want to help them, contact The Salvation Army, or Community Builders Project, by following the links above. I enjoyed visiting The Salvation Army church.

Update#1

The Vine Church of Petaluma

I attended a wonderful lunch meeting for The Vine Church in a special way this Sunday. (You can find more information about this new church at the link above.)

I am involved in a leadership team (Core Team) forming (planting) this new church. After lunch, I led a couple worship songs for the assembled, and then delivered a short message. Others in our Core Team then spoke about opportunities to support this new chuch in prayer, by volunteering, and financially. We also announced plans to launch this new church. We had between 25 and 30 in attendance for this informational (and mini-worship) meeting.

We are not quite a fully formed church. We are targeting starting weekly services on January 8th. In the meantime, we plan to hold monthly (preview) services on November 20th and December 18th, at 10 a.m., at the Money Coaching Institute at 1129 Industrial Ave., Suite 208 (Petaluma, CA). The weekly services starting in January will be held at a location to be announced.

It's really interesting, and a blessing, to be involved in forming (planting) a new church, something I have wanted to be involved in for years.

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.

River of Joy

I visited River of Joy Fellowship (River of Joy Petaluma) this Saturday evening, Oct. 15th. They meet in the cafeteria of Legacy Marketing Group at 2090 Marina Avenue (across the street from the old Yardbirds/Home Depot). They gather around 6 p,m. with an average attendance of between 20 and 40 of mixed ages.

The phrase I think of in trying to describe this church is free flowing. When you arrive, you find them in the process of laying out a small light hot dinner on tables. They invite you to have some with them, and they all casually sit around at the tables in the cafeteria and talk for anywhere between half an hour to an hour. Then they start a worship time of anywhere from half an hour to an hour. After the worship (or sometimes in the middle of it), they invite anyone present to give a testimony about anything God is doing in their life, and various members take up the invitation.

At all times during the service, anyone is free to sit, stand, move around, or get more food or snacks. They tell everyone they want you to feel at home. Unlike all churches I have visited, they do not give you a bulliten (or missal). The entire service has a very free and breezy feel to it. If you visit, be prepared to be there till as late as 9 or 10, though they often finish between 8 and 9.

Larry & Cindy Laxton co-pastor River of Joy. When it comes time for the sermon, which feels more like a message, they both come forward to speak. Larry begins and speaks for about 5 minutes. The Larry and Cindy look at each other, and at the right moment, Cindy begins to speak. They go back and forth like this, in a sort of complimentary team tag manner for half an hour to an hour. You get a male and female perspective on their message. dy Laxton co-pastor River of Joy. When it comes time for the sermon, which has more of the feel of a message, they both come forward and deliver a sort of team tag sermon. Jerry begins

One reason they meet on Saturday evening is so pastors can come and be ministered to and refreshed to go and lead their church service on Sunday morning. They often have pastors who visit for this reason.

St. James Catholic Church - Local History

This Sunday (Oct. 9th), I attended St. James Catholic Church and played guitar in their guitar (youth) Mass. Since I have written before about St. James (Feb 20th & May 8th), I will focus this time on its local history.

The Catholic Church built St. James as the second Catholic church in Petaluma (the second Catholic parish formed). (St. Vincent's is the first), in order to serve the then growing Eastside of Petaluma. They broke ground in 1964, and dedicated the church in 1966. Fr. Charles O'Leary served as its first pastor, Fr. Michael Cleary as its second pastor, and Fr. Michael Culligan as its current pastor. Along the way, they added an educational building, a rectory, a memorial garden, and most recently a community garden called the Mary Garden. The church (parish) has grown (in members as well as ministries) along with the Eastside of Petaluma. It currently serves about 2500 families, and has regular Sunday attendance of well over 1,000 at its 5 Masses.

The archtecture of the church building reflects the adobe structure of early Petaluma settlers, and they finished the interior in redwood to reflect its placement in the redwood empire. Recently, the church tiled the floors (replacing the carpet flooring) with rich creamy swirls tiles, which improves the acoustics for the guitar (youth) Mass.

360 Church of Petaluma

This Sunday (Oct. 2nd), I visited 360 (degree) Church of Petaluma. They meet at Valley Vista School at 730 N. Webster Street. This new church formed about 2 years ago. I visited there about a year ago, and they had a member attendance of around 60. On this visit, their member attendance had increased to about 200 weekly (at least 250 counting the kids in Sunday School), made up of mostly of a younger crowd with some older people sprinkled throughout.
The Pastor, Colton Irving, used to be an Associate Pastor at Calvary Chapel, before he felt the calling to start a new church in Petaluma, where he grew up. He has led the local Fellowhip of Christian Athletes for the last 15 years, and founded the local Harvest Christian School, where he still serves on the Board of Directors. He was recently featured in an Argus-Courier article.
Most of the leadership and about a quarter of the members come from Calvary Chapel, so the church feels much like Calvary Chapel. However, they are independent and are not bound by the Calvary Distinctives. I felt of a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the congregation. I enjoyed my visit there and meeting a few old friends.

Please view Update #1

Penngrove Community Church

This Sunday (Sept. 30th, 2011), I visited Penngrove Community Church at 9970 Oak Street in Penngrove. Though just outside of Petaluma (about 4 miles North), Penngrove (an unincorporated town - officially a census-designated place), is often considered part of the Petaluma community for various reasons, though it has its own unique identity.
Around 50 members regularly attend weekly. Their membership tends to be older, though they have younger members sprinkled thoughout. They view themselves as an Evangelical church, have lively music mixed with hymns, and solid preaching.
The pastor, Lowell Uhlig, used to be an associate pastor at Marin Covenant Church for many years prior to becoming the Pastor at the church.
The church has two church buildings: a newer one built in the 50s where they worship, and an older one next door they use as a fellowhip hall. (In the picture above, the newer building is on the left, and the older building is on the right.) The Methodist Episcopals built the older one in 1898 and it is one of the oldest buildings in Penngrove. It originally stood at the corner of Formshlag Lane and Petaluma Hill Road. In 1910, they moved the church on wooden rollers to its present location.
They asked me to join their worship team as a guest guitarist, which I gladly agreed to. So I had a wonderful time visiting Penngrove Community Church.

Update 1: April 27, 2013
Update 2

Cook's Mass Again

This Sunday (Sept. 18th) I was asked to lead music at the Cook's Mass, which I gladly agreed to. I previously wrote about the Cook's Mass, which is part of Cursillo, so this time I will describe the Cursillo movement a bit more.

Cursillo basically means a short course in practical Christianity. It started in Spain about 1944. It is aimed at layman, and is mostly run by layman. It has since spread worldwide and some version of it is present in most denominations. It is basically a renewal movement, seeking to ground believers deeper in their faith.

It's a wonderful experience to go on one of their weekends, and I would encourage all Christians to go on one. The Cursillo community is a great example of the love a Christian community should show. I had a wonderful time going on a Cursillo weekend, as well as serving on a team. If you have any interest in going to a Cursillo weekend, just let me know.

Open Door Christian Church

This Sunday (Sept. 11th), I visited Open Door Christian Church at the corner of 5th & B Street. They had between 50 and 60 in attendance with a good mix of ages. They are a charismatic church which tends to emphasize a lively worship, a renewed life, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The pastor, W. Paul Bemis, who attended Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, CA, speaks of receiving a supernatural healing from prostate cancer, which turned his life and ministry around. While some Christians have rejoiced, Pastor Paul said in his sermon others have been very skeptical. Some Christians have told him he never had cancer in the first place, though he has medical documents saying he had stage 2 cancer. Others have told him he still has cancer, though his doctor told him he no longer has any sign of cancer. Perhaps the hardest - some Christians have asked Pastor Paul, "Why did God heal you and not me? or, "Why did God heal you and not my loved one?" Paul admits he does not have a ready simple answer for such tough questions. He is just very happy his cancer no longer appears on any test (and yes, he goes back for retests).

Though many churches have the name Open Door, this one has roots in Church of the Open Door that started in Mill Valley in the early 70s, connected with the Jesus movement though often led by pastors trained at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary. The Mill Valley church moved to San Rafael soon thereafter, and from there started churches in Novato, Petaluma, and Vallejo. Though they started a church in San Francsico, that church is completely on its own these days and has changed its name. Another branch started churches in the Los Angeles area, which took a Fundamentalist turn and are no longer affiliated with the original Open Door churches. Living Streams Church in Phoenix, AZ, is another Open Door offshoot. They also started churches in Mexico City and London, which though independent, maintain a loose association with Open Door churches here.

I most enjoyed the worship, led by the talented Frank Van Meter and his lovely wife, Shannon (their daughter also joins them with a lovely voice). Frank is not only a muscian, but an artist, and you can see some of art at his website.

Iglesia Bautista de Petaluma

This Sunday (September 4th), I visited Iglesia Batuista de Petaluma (The Baptist Church of Petaluma), a Spanish Baptist Church that meets at 200 East Ely Blvd South. (They lease the facility where Eastside Church meets - their service meets at 9 a.m., and Eastside meets at 11 a.m.) They had about 60 in attendance.

Nelson Choto pastors the church. He was born in Central America (Guatemala I think). He graduated from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and served as an assistant pastor at Petaluma Valley Baptists for several years before leading Iglessia Bautista. He seems to always be exuberant with joy and delivers good sermons.

Most Hispanics tend to be Catholics, or have a Catholic background. So it interersting to be in a church where a mostly Hispanic Baptist congregation usually carries their Bible and seem to be ready to discuss, or refer, to the Bible at the drop of a hat. However, most touching is the open love displayed - at the greeting time, everyone in the church made a point of going around and greeting everyone in the church, sometimes with a handshake, but usually with a firm embracing hug (abrazo).

Calvary Chapel

This Sunday (August 28th), I visited Calvary Chapel at 1955 S. McDowell Blvd. Calvary Chapel is the largest Protestant church in Petaluma, with a weekly average adult attendance of 700-800, and over 1,000 counting all the children and teens in Sunday School. Calvary meets in a converted warehouse, with offices up front, in an industrial park at the South end of Petaluma.

Zach Vestnys, now 31, became the lead pastor 7 years ago at age 24. Though he never went to Seminary, Bible College, or college, his father was a pastor, and he was raised and trained for the ministry in the church. Though he is young, he leads a church composed of a good mix of age groups, elderly, middle-aged, and young. When I asked members what they liked about the church, many responded that they liked Zach, often saying they believed he was annointed. Others responded that they had a sense of belonging to a close family. I thought one member gave the best answer when he said over the years there, he saw people grow.

Calvary Chapel began in 1968 when Chuck Smith broke away from the Foursquare Church in Santa Ana, California. Calvary Chapel soon became the center of what became known as the Jesus Movement (the Jesus People), hippies and surfers who became Christians. Soon Smith was introduced to Lonnie Frisbee, who became central in both Calvary Chapel and the Jesus Revolution, and was featured in a Time magazine cover article. Frisbee later became central in the Vineyard Church before his homosexuality became known, as related in the film, Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher, by filmmaker David Di Sabatino.

I didn't remotely see any hippies (maybe ex-hippies) at Calvary Chapel, though evidence of its roots are evident. The pastors usually wear jeans and tennis shoes, unlike many of the other churches I have visited in this blog. The congregation also comes very casually dressed. The music is very contemporary, with a lot of rock mixed in. Calvary mostly introduced contemporary Christian music, which many Christians heard through Maranatha Music, mostly formed out of the movement started at Calvary Chapel.

Many other churches spawned out of the Jesus Movement which began at Calvary Chapel. I had a great time visiting at Calvary.

Living Word (Evangelical) Lutheran Church

I visited Living Word (Evangelical) Lutheran Church at 901 Ely Boulevard South this Sunday (Aug. 28th). (Their sign still says Evangelical, though they have otherwise dropped Evangelical from their name.)

Rev. Jeffery D. Smith pastors the congregation whose attendance averages around 35 to 40 weekly, and represents a good mix of young, middle-age, and elderly. He also pastors Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Windsor. After he delivers the sermon at Living Word, he departs to lead the service in Windsor.

This is the third Lutheran church in town. I discussed why there are more than one in my posting about St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. The simple answer is they belong to different Lutheran denominations. Living Word is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), the third largest Lutheran body in the U.S.. Though similar in many ways the Missouri Synod, WELS sees itself as more conservative and stricter about who it can have fellowship with. However, the liturgical service is very similar, and you would not likely be able to tell the difference between the two.