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