• Connecting people to an abundant life with Jesus Christ and preparing them for His return

Church Growth/Evangelism

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A Commitment to Community Relevance
A Commitment to Community Relevance 2000 1125 Ken Miller

The Willits Church is committed to remaining relevant to its community by engaging in personal and interactive initiatives that offer valuable service to those around them.

The church runs two ministries that extend compassion beyond its walls, namely the farmer’s market which offers visitors free clothes, food, and spiritual literature, sparking conversations about faith and life.

The Willits Men’s Prayer Breakfast promotes fellowship among men from diverse backgrounds and faiths. Through shared prayers and testimonies of faith, they foster unity and support.

Recently, Ben Capps was baptized, marking a significant milestone in his spiritual journey. His newfound commitment to Jesus Christ was nurtured through Bible studies and supportive interactions with his fellow church members, reflecting the church’s focus on personal transformation and faith development.

The dedication and mentorship offered by the church members demonstrate their outreach ethos. They embody Christ’s love through service and fellowship, and together, they reflect a commitment to unity, compassion, and spiritual growth in the local community of Willits.

Featured in Northern Lights, May 2, 2024
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The Hopeful Movie Provides Witnessing Opportunities
The Hopeful Movie Provides Witnessing Opportunities 2990 2071 Ken Miller

During the premiere of The Hopeful on March 17th and 18th at a local theater, the Petaluma Church actively engaged with the community by distributing Glow tracks to passersby. This proactive outreach was a positive approach to community engagement, leveraging a cultural event to share faith and build bridges with the broader community.

This initiative aimed to create a dialog about Jesus Christ and the Adventist Church. Daniel Yim, pastor, reported that their team successfully distributed hundreds of tracks in the bustling Theater Square district, sparking genuine interest and inquiries about the Adventist faith. This feedback from the community is a testament to the impact of our outreach.

“These interactions were more than just distribution; they were opportunities to connect with people and share insights about their beliefs.” Pastor Yim expressed, “I pray that the Holy Spirit will follow these conversations and cultivate further curiosity and understanding among those they engaged with.”

Featured in Northern Lights, May 2, 2024
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Restoring Dignity
Restoring Dignity 1600 1200 Ken Miller

Pleasant Hill Church recently received a significant addition to its community services toolbox: a brand-new shower trailer. A decade in the making, this idea is the culmination of several iterations, community research, and generous donations.

Mitch Williams, pastor, articulated, “The necessity for hygiene services for the unsheltered was glaringly apparent. Our team already provides food to approximately 100 individuals weekly, and we had a profound understanding of the need. This trailer represents the next phase of our community service, a step towards restoring dignity and enhancing well-being.”

Through collaboration with various organizations, members explored the initiatives of other churches and ministries in their respective areas. A team even ventured to Loma Linda, working alongside a similar ministry to glean the best practices. Armed with this knowledge, a generous grant, and local church fundraising, they were able to procure a 26-foot trailer equipped with four bathrooms and showers.

On the first Sabbath of each month, the trailer will be available for service at the church. Hygiene kits, haircuts, and other volunteer services will also be available. A volunteer stated, “As we learn better how to serve each person, we hope to expand our service radius.”

Foreground, Left to Right: Miguel Verazas, Youth Pastor, Marc Woodson, NCC President, Mitch Williams, Pastor

Featured in Northern Lights, May 2, 2024
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Jonas Baca Installed
Jonas Baca Installed 897 576 Ken Miller

Jonas Baca was installed on April 13 as the new district pastor of the San Leandro Spanish Church and Richmond Spanish Company.

Baca worked extensively in Honduras and Costa Rica, helping to establish several church plants before moving to the United States. He joins the NCC from the Potomac Conference, where he has served since 2004.

Baca explained, “I have a deep passion for reaching souls and bringing them to Jesus. Much of my zeal is for training and equipping lay members to plant and grow community churches. I thank God, the NCC, the San Leandro Spanish Church, and Richmond Spanish Company for opening their arms with sincere hearts full of gratitude and love.

Paul Guevara, Hispanic Ministries Coordinator, stated, “Pastor Roca brings a vibrance to the San Leandro and Richmond Spanish churches. He is a proven church builder and embodies our core values, leading people to an abundant life in Jesus Christ.”

Baca shares his life with Lidia, his wife of twenty-two years. They are the loving parents of two teenage children, Elliebeth, 18, and Jonah, 17.

Featured in Northern Lights, April 25, 2024
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Churches Choose Revitalization
Churches Choose Revitalization 4032 3024 Ken Miller

Three churches recently engaged in the first module of a church revitalization training program. LIFE Church of Berkeley, Sacramento Fijian, and Lodi English Oaks have committed to creating a healthier church, serving each other and their cities.

Kevin Robert, evangelism director, explained, “This course is six modules long. By working through the courses and implementing the training, we see churches become focused outside their walls to become contextualized to their community. This means they are learning to intentionally interact in their neighborhoods, make collaborative connections with other community leaders, and improve their cities. This is serving and sharing Christ in context.”

Developing healthy disciple-making pathways is an investment in each other as they grow together in everyday engagement. That is time not only on Sabbath but serving neighbors anytime. This process also means investing in their members rather than programs, flyers, and other traditional outreach methods. The focus on creating healthy leaders and members inherently produces better community interaction.

Ron Pickell, pastor of LIFE Berkeley, stated, “I am encouraged by what I can only describe as the Spirit stirring in our church. Our leaders are beginning to pull together as a team, an answer to our prayers. I also see new people visiting our church. I feel that we are heading for a turnaround. Revitalization is beginning to have an effect!”

The module also teaches techniques from the NCC’s Organizational Health model to create better leadership teams. As a result, Sacramento Fijian has scheduled a weekend focused on revitalization at Leoni Meadows, a sign that this system inspires people to learn and serve.

Robert concluded, “I was blown away by the responses of the three churches after module one. People commented that they saw hope for their church for the first time in years. This is a very encouraging outcome for this module and the future of church health in the NCC.”

Featured in Northern Lights, March 7, 2024
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Organizational Health Successes
Organizational Health Successes 2000 1125 Ken Miller

The Oakland Emmanuel Temple and Pittsburg churches are dedicated to fostering community relevance and connecting with their neighbors through compassion and diligence—a mission that aligns with the conference’s strategic anchors.

Each church embarked on this journey toward organizational health in the last year. Their leadership teams have crafted thematic goals that resonate with their congregation and the surrounding community. With a fresh perspective, they evaluate church initiatives to ensure they align, maximizing their impact and effectiveness.

Damon Washington, the district pastor, articulated, “We understand that our internal practices reflect the message we send to our community. Recently, our team addressed a broken chair lift that prevented our access-challenged members from getting around easily. During this process, we realized that we were not projecting a message of care and consideration for our infirm community by not fixing this issue. As a result of this realization, we fixed the chair lift immediately.”

Every leadership team member is empowered to shape the churches’ outreach efforts through inclusive decision-making processes. For instance, a community service day initiative unveiled a neglected weekly service program, a casualty of the pandemic. Through collaborative efforts, they’re revitalizing this program, laying a robust foundation for community engagement.

Washington concluded, “Organizational health and its process has provided a leadership structure that creates a more streamlined approach, member ownership, and efficient, well-planned paths to serving our communities.”

<em>Featured in Northern Lights, March 21, 2024</em>

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Intentional Church Building at Home
Intentional Church Building at Home 2000 1125 Ken Miller

The NCC is dedicated to church planting through the Assessment, Coaching, Training, and Sending method, commonly referred to as ACTS. This approach has seen significant adoption and success, both within the country and internationally.

Kevin Robert, director of church growth and evangelism, emphasizes the importance of church planting for the sustainability and growth of congregations. According to Robert, “Churches that fail to produce new church plants tend to decline over time. The ACTS method focuses on initiating churches in homes, initially serving the local community, and then expanding to cover larger areas as they grow.”

The process begins with trained individuals establishing churches in their own homes, reaching out to and serving their immediate neighbors. These newly formed churches are deliberately designed to be flexible and adaptable to the specific needs and cultural context of their surroundings.

Thanks to the training seminars and dedicated members, the ACTS efforts have helped establish six church plants, four of which are local and two located out of state. This success underscores a commitment to planting churches and being community-relevant, mirroring the early Christian church depicted in the Book of Acts.

Featured in Northern Lights, March 28, 2024
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Fostering Mental Health and Wellness
Fostering Mental Health and Wellness 540 360 Ken Miller

Through community-led endeavors, the St. Helena Church strives for transformative change for a brighter, healthier tomorrow. Recently, the church successfully concluded an eight-week depression and anxiety recovery program, championing holistic wellness practices.

The effort resonated with 37 individuals from across the broader St. Helena community. Upon its culmination, marked improvements in depression and anxiety scores were observed among the participants.

In the spirit of compassion and empowerment, the St. Helena Church remains steadfast in its mission to ignite positive change and uplift lives, one healthy choice at a time.

Featured in Northern Lights, April 4, 2024
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Ed Fargusson Retires After 42 Years
Ed Fargusson Retires After 42 Years 777 874 Ken Miller

Ed Fargusson, Assistant to the President, announced his retirement on April 1 after 42 years in ministry, 40 of those with the Northern California Conference.

Fargusson joined the NCC in 1981 and pastored at Hayward, Alturas, Alameda, Tracy, and Roseville churches. He served shortly as the NCC Human Resources Director and became Assistant to three conference presidents.

He reflected, “The most exciting thing I have seen in pastoring churches and working in the administrative structure is how God changes people’s lives. I often say that serving God is like riding a roller coaster in the front seat. It’s a fun ride, but you are not in control.”

Jim Lorenz, Ministerial Director, stated, “Ed brought a varied background to his role as Assistant to the president. Besides pastoring for many years, he served at the Church State Council and was the NCC HR director. Since he spent most of his career in the NCC, his institutional knowledge is without parallel. Because of this—and his outgoing personality—he knows nearly everyone, his retirement will leave big shoes to fill.”

Marc Woodson, President, added, “We will miss Ed’s values, his contagious kindness, always with a smile on his face. Ed has a servants heart, answering all the calls to service without complaint. He is a passionate hard worker that exemplifies the values of God, the church and the Northern California Conference.”

With Anne, his wife of 42 years, Fargusson intends to travel and spend time with family. He hints that he will do some contract coaching with churches and continue to teach and preach the Good News of salvation.

Featured in Northern Lights, April 4, 2024
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Teamwork
Teamwork 1474 1967 Ken Miller

By Marc Woodson, NCC President

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons. (Mark 3:13-15, NKJV)

Last year, I started a series of articles delving into the significance of organizational health within the Northern California Conference. Over the past three years, our journey has been transformative. Rooted in the belief that as a mission-oriented, faith-based organization, our conference’s health is pivotal for achieving significant milestones in service to God and His kingdom.

The exhilaration lies in witnessing the positive impact our commitment to organizational health has had on our office headquarters, churches, schools, and various ministries. Like any pursuit of health, the results are not instantaneous, but we are gradually reshaping the way we carry out God’s work, steadfastly advancing our mission of reaching the people of Northern California.

As I shared in last year’s article, there are four key disciplines to practice on a journey toward organizational health. They are:

  • build a cohesive leadership team
  • create clarity for the organization
  • overcommunicate that clarity
  • reinforce clarity

In this article, I want to focus on teamwork. Let’s look at the example of Jesus, who, as a leader, selected a team of twelve ordinary men to advance His mission of ministering to a sin-sick and broken world. Jesus demonstrated that teamwork is a highly effective approach to achieving goals and getting things done. On this principle, He carried out His mission and established His church.[1]

Patrick Lencioni, in his book, The Advantage, comments on the value of having a leadership team, “few organizations invest nearly enough time and energy in making their leadership teams cohesive, and certainly not with the level of rigor that it requires and deserves.”[2] Moreover, Lencioni acknowledges the widespread misuse and misunderstanding of the term “team” and endeavors to provide a precise definition of what he intends by a “cohesive” team. In his clarification, he emphasizes that such a team functions in close collaboration, fosters interactive dynamics, and thrives on mutual interdependence.

Illustrating this concept, consider a basketball team as an apt example. Such a team typically shares a common objective: winning the game. Like a successful basketball team, healthy and cohesive teams engage in robust interaction and maintain alignment around pursuing a shared goal.[3]

Imagine what we could achieve if we all worked together towards the same goal. By building cohesive leadership teams in our churches, schools, and ministerial departments throughout our conference, we can more effectively fulfill our purpose – connecting people to an abundant life in Christ and preparing them for His soon return. Our united and aligned efforts would enable us to advance God’s kingdom together and make a lasting impact on those around us.

Ellen White shares this same principle of teamwork when she writes, “In counseling for the advancement of the work, no one man is to be a controlling power, a voice for the whole. Proposed methods and plans are to be carefully considered, so that all the brethren may weigh their relative merits and decide which should be followed.”[4]

Our aspiration for organizational health transcends mere programmatic efforts; it represents a profound cultural transformation. Witnessing the tangible impact of this journey is truly exhilarating. We are united in this endeavor, and the positive changes are palpable within our entities that earnestly embrace and embody organizational health principles. As we navigate this transformative journey together, let’s pray for pastors, principals, department directors, conference office personnel, and ministry directors.

Stay tuned for my next article, where I will share what it takes to build a cohesive leadership team.

[1] See Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:8.

[2] Patrick Lencioni, The Advantage (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass), p. 20.

[3] Ibid., p. 21.

[4] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7 (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press), p. 259.

Featured in Northern Lights, January 25, 2024
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