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.

St. Mary's Chapel

This Sunday (Aug. 7th), I visited St. Mary's Chapel which meets at Herman Son Hall at 860 Wilson Ave (at the corner of Western) with my good friend Harry Cortez. They hold a Tridentine Mass - basically a pre-Vatican II Catholic mass - all recited in Latin except for the homily. (They provide a missal in both Latin and English, side by side, so you can follow what they are saying.) A local parish priest has to give permission for the Tridentine Mass to be held. (I understand William F. Buckley attended a Tridentine Mass every day till his death.)

A Carmelite friar, Fr. Mark Kristy, performs the rite at St. Mary's Chapel. He is based at the Carmelite House of Prayer in Oakville, just north of Yountville and south of St. Helena. He travels from there every Sunday to perform the mass, and then later travels to perform another Tridentine Mass in Rutherford, just north of Oakville. He is not the only one who travels, since most of the 30 or so who weekly attend this Mass live outside of Petaluma, and many travel some distance to attend a Tridentine Mass.

While some who attend a Tridentine Mass do so because of an objection to the changes made at Vatican II, many simply choose this more traditional Catholic mass as an option, which often reminds them of going to the Catholic Church in their childhood or in their early years. The chapel has many traditional icons on display. The women usually wear the traditional Catholic doilies. Overall, it is an interesting glimpse into the Catholic Church before Vatican II.

Together 11 - City Ministries

This Sunday (July 31st) I attended and volunteered at Together 11, a joint church worship service sponsored by City Ministries, jointly held by 11 churches, at the Petaluma Fairgrounds. Nearly 1350 brothers and sisters in the Lord attended representing various churches, denominations, and traditions all worshiping our Lord together. (This is the 3rd annual joint Sunday service City Ministries has put on.)

The eleven churches joining together to put on this effort were:

• Adobe Christian Center
• Calvary Chapel Petaluma
• First Presbyterian Church of Petaluma
• New Life Christian Fellowship
• Hillside Church
• Open Door Christian Church
• Petaluma Christian Church
• Petaluma Valley Baptist Church
• River of Joy Petaluma
• St. John's Anglican Church
• The Salvation Army

I previously wrote about City Ministries with regard to a joint Good Friday service they sponsored. In Psalm 133 (verse 1), King David wrote, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity." (NIV) The Together 11 joint Sunday service was an enjoyable small taste of that.

Later Note: The Christian Bee wrote an article about this event in their August issue.

Hessel Church

I visited Hessel Church this Sunday (July 24th) with my good friend, Rev. Dave Weidlich. Though Hessel Church is about 10 miles northwest of Petaluma (5060 Hessel Road), I made an exception to my usual practice of visiting only churches in Petaluma, since about 15-20% of it attending members come from Petaluma, and with an attending membership of near 1,000, that means about 150-200 members attend from Petaluma, which is larger than many Petaluma churches. (Most of their members come from nearby Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, and Santa Rosa.)

Though the nearby logo for Hessel Church states Sebastopol, California, it is actually about 5 miles south of Sebastopol in the middle of the country. Once you find Hessel, California, which is not a town or a township (a geographical location - a small community), you suddenlycome upon a complex of about 6 buildings that comprise the church, including a large sanctuary auditorium facility.

My overall impression is that Hessel Church is a thriving evangelical church. Almost everything conveys the impression of being well-run. The members especially impressed me. They spoke about the church as their church, and they were a vital part of it. They were very willing to take time to tell Dave and I all they could about their church, to answer any questions we had, and to do their best to make us feel welcome. Walking about the grounds, I noticed that the Sunday School rooms for children were well marked for age and grade so there would be no confusion, and they had facilities set up for services held in other languages, including Chinese. I very much enjoyed my visit there.

The members proudly told me about how their church began about a hundred years ago when a woman, concerned that there were no nearby churches, began a Sunday School for the nearby children, and the church grew from there. They are still affiliated with American Missionary Fellowship which began this work.

First Baptist Church

I visited First Baptist Church at 706 N. Webster this Sunday (July 17th). Though they have a large sanctuary that seats about 750, they meet in the next door educational facility. This is because they have an average attendance of about 10, and so it costs to much to light and heat the large church building with it's beutiful sloped ceilings. (They have a few more members who are too old or infirm to attend.)

First Baptist Church claims to be the oldest church in Petaluma, forming in 1853. (The Catholic Church created the parish of St. Vincent de Pul in 1857.) I understand First Baptist Church at one time had near 700 attending members, and regularly filled their large sanctuary.

Rev. Don Phipps leads the small congregation, who associate with the General Regular Association of Baptists Churches (GARBC, though they just like to say GARB). GARBC formed in 1932 after withdrawing from the Northern Baptist Convention (now the American Baptists Church in American), by conservative and fundamentalist Baptists who were previously known as General Baptists and Particular Baptists (who later became Regular Baptists) who later joined with Separatist Baptists to become United Baptists, though they still use the term Regular Baptists.

Anyway, this is an aging congregation that could use prayers if they are to continue on. Rev. Don Phipps works a full-time job to support himself in addition to his pastoral duties.

Petaluma United Methodist Church

This Sunday (July 10), I visited United Methodist Church at 410 D Street. About 70 members were in attendance. Most of the talk was about their new pastor, Rev. Amy Beth Durward, who just started the previous Sunday.

The Methodists have a long and proud tradition in America. At one time in the 1800s, about one in three Americans were Methodists. John and Charles Wesley started this movement after their awakening in the Oxford holiness club. They were Anglicans, and remained in the Church of England all their lives. The movement they started in the Anglican Church was derisively called Methodism, and their followers took up the term as a badge of honor. Following the American revolution, it was no longer kosher to be part of the Church of England, so their followers here officially became the Methodist Church, and after the Wesleys died, their movement became the Methodist Church in England as well.

Because they came out of the Church of England (Anglican Church), the Methodists have a liturgy, though it differs from what you would find in the Episcopal/Anglican chuch. They also have a bishop, who decides who the local pastor will be.

The Methodist church in Petaluma has a wonderful facility, and I have gotten to know several members there over the years, and so, I enjoyed my visit there.

Update 1

First Presbyterian Church - Resigning Membership

I attended First Presbyterian Church this Sunday (July 3rd) and enjoyed a wonderful 4th of July picnic where I wound up cooking at the barbeque grill.

However, I made a sad decision to resign my membership. Though I was sad about the dissolution of the relationship with their pastor, Dave Weidlich, my decision had more to do with the decision of the denomination to remove the standards for ordination requiring a faithful marriage or chastity in singleness. Though I am sympathetic with this move, and though I believe love should be shown to all, I believe this move displays an imporant move away from biblical standards. I also understand that the new policy will be applied to individual communities as the local congregation and presbyteries feel appropriate. Still, I cannot go along with it.

I am sad because I have gotten to know and love many members at First Presbyterian well. I will continue to visit them in the future, but no longer as a member of their church.