Iglesia Apostolico

This Sunday (March 20), I visited Iglesia Apostolico, which meets at the facility of Open Door Christian Church at 16 Fifth Street (corner of 5th & B) at 2 p.m. It's a Latin Pentecostal church with between 60 - 80 in attendance. I have been interested in visiting it for sometime, since Pentecostal churches in Latin America have been reported as the fastest growing segment of Christianity for sometime now. (However, 2 p.m. is not my normal church time - and they told me it went till 5 p.m. - a 3 hour church service is not exactly my cup of tea, though some church services go about this long with Sunday School, fellowship time, and the service.)

I got there a bit early, as is my practice. Everyone was deep in prayer - many on their knees up front. Soon the worship service began - and it quickly progressed to exuberant music - with lots of clapping, enthusiatic singing, shouts of joy, dancing in the ailes, with pauses of more meditative music. While I have experienced this in other Pentecostal churches, it had a unique flavor in a Latin church, which almost had the feeling of a fiesta and a bala at times. While I know Spanish (not fluently), I couldn't tell if they were speaking in tonges, but it sounded good anyway - they were wholeheartedly in love with the Lord.

The visiting pastor (Jorge) gave a passionate sermon based on the Parables of the Talents. They had to finish a tad early (about 4:15) because another church needed the facility later, but they first hosted a fundraiser dinner, which I joined and got to meet some of the congregants, who usually described their past life of excessive sin before being saved. I briefly spoke with the pastor, Jesus Mendoza. He informed me they are a member of the Apostlic Church, an international Pentecostal denomination based in Los Angeles. He spent more time proudly telling me about his son, Jesus, who is leading a team of humanitarian effort to Japan, where most Americans are now tyring to get out.

Petaluma Valley Baptist Church

This Sunday (March 13th), I visited Petaluma Valley Baptist Church at 580 Sonoma Mountain Parkway. This church, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), garners a weekly attendance of around 300. The SBC represents the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with around 16 million members, and the second largest religious body in the U.S. after the Roman Catholic Church. Baptists trace their roots back to John Smyth in England, who was connected with the Pilgrims in the early 1600s. They were influenced by the Anabaptists in the Reformation, though they are different.

The Senior Pastor, Rev. Tom Marcum, is a graduate of the Southwestern Theological Baptist Seminary. He has been the Senior Pastor at Valley Baptist since 1999. He is an Adjunct Professor at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary. He is married to Stirling, and they have a daughter, Jordan. Under his leadership, Valley Baptist has grown and thrived.

I went to their Sunday School, where they were studying the Book of Judith, one of the books of the Apocrypha. Though Protestants do not consider the Apocrypha as part of the biblical cannon, they still encourage its reading and study. However, I have never been to any Protestant Sunday School or other bible study where one of the books of the Apocrypha was being read and studied. It was refreshing especially since the Book of Judith has inspired so much literature, music, paintings, and sculptures in Western culture. Gary Arbino, a professor of Archeology and Old Testament at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary, led the class.

First Presbyterian Church - Pastor

I attended First Presbyterian Church this Sunday March 6th. In this post, I am going to focus on their pastor, Rev. Dr. Dave Weidlich. Dave grew up in a family of 8 children in North Carolina. He also grew up in Michigan and Nebraska. Dave told us in his sermon that he used to visit his grandmother "nanny" in Pacific Palisades, and wished (prayed) he could live in California. Now he does.

Pastor Dave attended (and graduated from) the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago (my hometown). He also graduated from the University of Nebraska {BA in Philosophy} (so he is a Cornhusker), Denver Seminary {M. Div.} (evangelical with Baptists roots). and Fuller Theological Seminary {D. Div.} ("arguably the most influential by number of pastors and educators trained . . .")

I find a depth to Dave's sermons more than in others I hear. He puts a lot of study into them, and they reflect his background, balanced with a sense of humor and some good common sense.

Dave is the father of two children now in their teens, Daniel and Kimmy. He recently co-directed Tents of Hope Petaluma to raise awareness of the displaced in Darfur. He maintains a blog at: http://www.dweidlich.com/

The Cooks' Mass

I didn't attend a church in Petaluma this Sunday (Feb. 27) because almost my whole Sunday was taken up with activities around a Cursillo weekend in Santa Rosa. Though I didn't attend this weekend, I volunteered on Sunday for several activities with the weekend event. Some other time, I will describe a Cursillo weekend, though you can find a brief description at: http://www.roostercrows.com/. It is a wonderful renewal experience. (If anyone is interested in going on a Cursillo weekend, let me know. I would be happy to sponsor you.)

For those who volunteer on Sunday, they have what they call a Cook's Mass, a service with a Catholic priest and an Episcopal priest. Father Patrick Leslie, the Resident Priest at the Sonoma Developmental Center in Glen Ellen, who serves at Star of the Valley Church next to Oakmont Village (between Santa Rosa and Kenwood), and the Rev. Mark Allen, Rector at The Episcopal Church of St. Martin in Davis, California, jointly performed the service. I played guitar with others, and immensly enjoyed the service, which had an ecumenical flavor. (De Colores is a favorite expression within Cursillo which basically means the colors, but within Cursillo more conveys the sense of the many colors.) [Though I wasn't in Petaluma, many from Petaluma attended.]

St. James Catholic Church

This Sunday (Feb. 20th) I attended St. James Catholic Church, at 125 Sonoma Mountain Parkway, and played guitar at the 5 p.m. guitar mass, which I do about once a month. St. James is my other home church in a manner of speaking.

I am what is called a cradle Catholic. I was baptized in the Catholic Church soon after my birth, and I was raised in it. I went through First Communion and Confirmation, and served as an alter boy. In addition, I went to a parochial elementary Catholic school, Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Maternity BVM), in Chicago, Illinois, till I graduated from the 8th grade.

I drifted away from the Catholic Church about that time with my parents going through a divorce, and my starting to attend public high school. I later got saved in an evangelical-charismatic church when I was 19, and largely avoided the Catholic Church for many years.

Lately, I have started reconnecting with the Catholic Church, and enjoying many aspects of it, especially its long and rich tradition. As I will be regularly attending the Catholic Church on a regular basis, I will write more about St. James and the Catholic Church in future posts.

Elim Lutheran Church

This Sunday (Feb. 13), I visited Elim Lutheran Church (Elim) at 504 Baker Street with my friend Todd Martin, a member there. Elim organized in 1925, and has been in Petaluma for 86 years. It purchased the old St. Vincent's building (Catholic Church), dismantled it, moved it, and erected it on the current location. In 2008, it had 785 baptized members, with 528 confirmed, and a weekly attendance of 265 at three services at 8, 9:15, and 11:15.

Pastor Tim Kellgren has served at Elim since 1977, for 30 years. Petaluma Ecumenical Properties (PEP) recently decided to honor Rev. Kellgren by naming its next affordable housing project after him, the Kellgren Senior Apartments, to be located on Wood Sorrell Drive. He founded PEP with others in 1978 and currently serves as its President Emeritus. Pastor Kellgren has otherwise been known as an active member of the Petaluma community.

Elim is a member church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States, with about 4.5 million members.

After the 9:15 service, I went with Todd to a confirmation class for parents. Parents who have a young teen to be confirmed have to attend a confirmation class on Sunday which covers the same materials their son or daughter covers in confirmation class on Wednesday night. I have never seen this unique approach. Todd tells me it leads to many interesting discussions with his son.

I enjoyed my visit to Elim Lutheran Church. (If you are wondering, Elim is mentioned in Exodus 15:27 as an oasis with 12 springs of waters and 70 date palms.)

New Life Seventh Day Adventist Church

I visited the New Life Seventh Day Adventist Church (now Abundant Life Seventh Day Adventist Church) at 2695 Petaluma Blvd. N. this Saturday (Feb. 5th). Their pastor, Timothy Judson, also serves as the pastor of the Sebastopol Seventh Day Adventist Church, and rotates every other week between both churches.

I say Saturday because, for those of you who don't know, Seventh Day Adventists meet for church on Saturday, not on Sunday. (That is partly why I have not made it there before - I tend not to think of going to church on Saturday.) They meet on Saturday because, for those not aware, the Sabbath actually falls on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. (They consider Saturday to start on Friday at sunset, and continue until Saturday at sunset.) They believe in observing the Sabbath as it was initially instituted in the Old Testament, and, as they believe, it continued in the early Church. (Christians began meeting on the first day of the week, Sunday, the Lord's Day, because this was the day of the week Jesus rose from the dead.) [Other denominations who observe the Sabbath on Saturday include Seventh Day Baptists, the True Jesus Church, the Church of God (7th Day) - Salem Conference, Seventh Day Remnant, and the Logos Apostolic Church of God.]

Adventist history traces back to William Miller (1782-1849) a Baptist layman/preacher. His followers in the 1830s and 1840s became known as Millerites. The service at an Adventist church is similar to the order of service at a Baptist Church.

Christians ask me from time to time if the Seventh Day Adventist ("SDA") denomination is a cult. Though they were often classified as a cult early in 20th Century, they clarified and modified some of their doctrines so that by the mid-20th Century, they were no longer considered a cult, and accepted as being within evangelicalism, though the majority of Christian churches worship on Sunday instead. The SDA has about 16 million members worldwide, with about 7% in America, and fast growing numbers in developing countries.

The New Life Seventh Day Adventist Church here in Petaluma currently has an average weekly attendance of about 25. In accord with Seventh Day Adventist tradtion, they held a potluck supper following their service, which they warmly invited me to share in, and so I enjoyed a healthy meal (they are into healthy foods) and a good conversation with them.