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.