We will be featuring congregations and emerging congregations periodically to share the good news!

This week we are featuring the Long Beach Congregation!

The Long Beach congregation began in 1966 and it is a large campus for ministry.  The memories of people, events and ministry have been special to reflect upon with pictures and stories.  The members still attending voted to disband as a congregation on 1-31-2023, and surrendered the building and all assets to the mission center.  Paul and I are working with Roger Saylor on all the elements of this transition while attending to the relationships and people impacted by this decision.  The first step is to assess some of the physical needs to repair or remedy.  The roof is a major issue and being evaluated this week. 

There is NO PLAN TO SELL the building.  We are working with a team of folks local to the community and beyond to discern the multitude of ways we can re-purpose the facility for added neighborhood relationships and ministries.  The going deeper journey has discovered two capped oil wells under the property that would impact any type of selling in the future, but selling is not the plan in this moment.

The ”Dreaming Team” of Transformation for a New Expression for Community of Christ is energized and passionate about what could be next.  Diverse members have been recruited for specific tasks.  Crystal Moreno volunteered to go by the church on Sunday after services in Orange to measure for a refrigerator.  We want to move forward with options for complete hospitality. Good thing she went!  She called me to say there is a dove in the sanctuary.  I asked if it was a Peace Dove to guide our future, and she laughed and said no, it’s a morning dove and it’s flying all over and hitting windows trying to get out to another panicked dove on the other side cooing. 

I know how good Crystal is at wrangling kids, so I asked if she could catch the dove!  She could now see how it got in, which we reported to Roger, and he said he could block the upper window panes that were missing.  The pictures show you our guest, and Crystal’s success in safely catching and releasing the dove!  One point for the Sacredness of Creation!

All of the contents of the building are also being reviewed for a final removal by members for items of personal significance or special sharing with others.  There will be another time when we will notify the mission center to come, look, and take items useable in other congregations or ministries after we inventory items.

Crystal asked about two children’s rocking chairs in the nursery, and they had not been identified to be held for the congregation, so I released them.  Vivian and Maddie are thrilled with their new special chairs as seen in the pictures.

In the first week of this transition, I was called about available space to host a CALIZONIA Rally for youth from Sierra Pacific, Arizona, and PSI to begin relationship building for SPEC.  It’s our first big YES!  Please keep this journey in your prayers, and contact me if you have any questions or comments on what might be on our horizon.  Peace for all!

Denise