Adventist Heritage Month: 125 Years of local ministry
Dear Friends and Family,
This is our second in a five-week series featuring our Adventist Heritage. As you may know from my previous couple of letters, this series features a variety of topics from our organizational roots to our present structures, current trends and theological developments, social justice wins and losses, and a look at the amazing educational institutions that have blessed us so much through the years!
Today is the 125th Anniversary Celebration for our beloved Southern California Conference. Personally, I'm very grateful for our Conference and Region system. It's been a joy to work here and in the West Region for nearly thirty years. And what a ministry—so many firsts! At one time, the territory boasted over 50,000 members. It was the largest and one of the richest Conferences in the world. Today, it’s the second poorest, for myriad social, economic, demographic, managerial, and cost-of-living issues. And yet... we're still here. The great news is that we continue to hold services in staffed churches, operate schools, and share the good news.
When this church’s former pastor Ryan Bell (2004 to 2013, speaker, blogger, writer, adjunct professor, and dialogue partner with significant players in the "Church Next" movement) was placed on administrative leave and asked to resign, the months following were challenging. The Church was divided over his departure and deeply impacted as his nationally published "Year Without God" experiment began in 2014. Pastor Stoltz, then serving as an Associate Pastor to Charles Jensen in Simi Valley, was not yet ordained, had never had his own church, and was thrust into service in Hollywood. He not only survived, but thrived! He innovated, helped grow the attendance and membership, and guided Hollywood through the pandemic. Few places could hold more significance or meaning for him. We're blessed that he’s still a member of our Church, still willing to come and serve, speak, and witness. Welcome home, Elder!
May Grace and Peace Attend You,
Pr Greg
P.S. Today will be our last day offering Coffee Service, at least for the foreseeable future. We're going to be opening the facility a little later, in keeping with this new reality too. The doors will be open for the public around 9:30 am. Sabbath Schools will continue to meet at 10:00 am. And Church will start at 11:00 am. We're going to be publishing some guidelines we hope will help all participates maximize their time, focus, connection to God and participation in our community. We look forward to continued service as a place "where the Spirit is given space to change people's lives."