Eastside Church

This Sunday (Aug. 14th), I visited Eastside Church at 200 Ely Blvd. South (at the corner of Ely and Washington). Eastside Church is associated with the National Association of Free Will Baptists. Though Free Will Baptists trace their roots to 17th Century Baptists, much of their tradition is tied to the American revival camp meetings of the 18th and especially the 19th Century. Thus you tend to find lively worship, a sermon with lots of Scripture quotes, and finally an emotional alter call, the latter being something not many churches still do.

When Pastor Gary Bigelow came to Eastside Church (previously Eastside Free Will Church) a few years ago, it was down to 3 remaining members. Since then, he has built it back up to a weekly attendance of around 55 members. (At one time, Eastside Church - which has been in Petaluma over 50 years - had a membership of around 600 members.) The Church has a good makeup of elderly, middle age, and young people. The worship band is mostly made up of very young good muscians who add a contemporary touch and are very committed. A lot of work has gone into sprucing up the church building and the grounds.

I got to see my very good friends Roxanne and Denny Kowalski and their son Joe, who besides being a gifted muscian, loves drama and being in theater.