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  • Ken Miller
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25 Countries In A Single Church
25 Countries In A Single Church 2000 1125 Ken Miller

Capitol City church did two community-relevant events in the span of two weeks:

First, they provided a cooling center for the community amidst a heatwave. Then on September 10, the church held its annual international day church service and potluck.

Members and guests representing twenty-five nations were dressed in colorful attire from their respective countries. The potluck dinner was akin to an international bizarre with ethnic foods from the Caribbean, Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

According to one attendee, “I was blown away by the friendliness of the staff and all the diverse clothing of their home countries. The food was phenomenal, and I can’t wait for next year.”

Carol Herbert, mission council leader said, “This year’s international day was one of our best celebrations. We received so many compliments on how great everything was, from the program and the set-up to the food. Praise God!”

Featured in Northern Lights November 17, 2022

Leif Cano Ordained
Leif Cano Ordained 1200 621 nccsadmin

Leif Cano, the youth pastor at the Placerville church, was ordained on Sabbath, October 22.

An avid musician and energetic leader, Cano is a passionate, hard worker. According to Jim Lorenz, ministerial director, “One of the neat things about Leif are the kids he has impacted for Christ—turning their lives around and influencing them to attend Adventist schools, colleges, or universities.”

Cano said, “The youth of today are tired of religion but have a passion for helping others that needs to be nourished. Our ministry draws about 80% non-Adventists from public schools. We teach them about Jesus Christ, inviting the Holy Spirit to work in their lives.”

Leif and his wife Kenia have been married for nine years, and they have two children: Giovanni, 5, and Lyannah, 3.

Featured in Northern Lights November 3, 2022

Andriy Mykhaylovskyy Ordained
Andriy Mykhaylovskyy Ordained 1200 620 nccsadmin

Andriy Mykhaylovskyy pastor of the Sacramento Ukrainian church was ordained on October 22.

He joined Northern in 2018 as a youth pastor at the Sacramento Slavic church. While there, the congregation grew and planted the Ukrainian group, which became a church in 2021.

Sacramento Ukrainian church is the only one of its kind in the Pacific Union Conference. Recently, Pastor Mykhaylovskyy has been providing refugee assistance and resources for local Ukrainian families.

Jose Marin, executive secretary said, “Pastor Andriy is not only gifted in leading his church congregation but also at engaging the Ukrainian community abroad with his unique skills.”

Featured in Northern Lights • October 27, 2022

150th Anniversary For Woodland Church
150th Anniversary For Woodland Church 1200 675 nccsadmin

The Woodland church celebrated its 150th anniversary on October 22.

According to Daniel Garza, district pastor of the Woodland and Vacaville churches, “The sanctuary was absolutely packed, spilling into the foyer for the program. Cars filled the parking lot and ran down the street.”

Active since 1872, Woodland has a unique history tracing back to the beginning of Adventism in California. The first church building was built in 1873, and in 1913 the members built a small school offering kindergarten, academy, and a vocational school.

The Woodland church has a history of being community relevant. It started in 1959 by opening the Community Clothes Closet. Later, it partnered with the county court system to provide supervised visitation for non-custodial parents. During the pandemic, the church members developed an interactive online media ministry for homebound members.

Garza continued, “We were thrilled to have our guest speakers trace the history of the Woodland church and give inspirational messages. Our members were absolutely thrilled and honored by this anniversary and are motivated to continue serving their community.”

Featured in Northern Lights • October 27, 2022

Pastors are CALLED!
Pastors are CALLED! 432 400 nccsadmin

NCC pastors and their families recently joined thousands of ministers from the North American Division at the “CALLED” convention in Lexington, Kentucky.

CALLED is a “camp meeting” planned and focused specifically for pastors and their families.

According to Jose Marin, executive secretary of the NCC, “It is a powerful event for strengthening pastoral calls to ministry, and it provides a space to connect with friends in ministry and share stories and faith.”

A very meaningful presentation was the 30 years of service medallions where several NCC pastors received the honor including, Marc Woodson and Jim Lorenz.

Woodson said of the honor, “I’ve always seen this honor as the older guard getting rewarded, but now that I’m here it has a very special meaning.”

Featured in Northern Lights • July 7, 2022

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  • Julie Lorenz
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Orangevale Church Drive-thru Christmas
Orangevale Church Drive-thru Christmas 720 540 Julie Lorenz
For the second year in a row, the Orangevale church hosted a Drive-thru Christmas event for its community. During two hours on Dec. 11, the church welcomed more than 350 people, who came to view a manger scene with real animals, hear voice and bell choirs, enjoy refreshments, and receive gifts. They also had the opportunity to participate in a canned food drive for the church’s food closet.
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Pastor Jon Cicle approached every car to welcome the visitors. “I was happy to meet new people from the community who felt this was a safe holiday event to come and enjoy,” he said.
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About 100 adults and kids volunteered, including students from Orangevale SDA School, who welcomed guests, sang, played handbells, and created gifts. “I love seeing our church family serve our community—sharing with our children the true meaning of the season and the joy of serving others,” said the event’s organizer Lian Funada.
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Church members offered to pray with the visitors. With tears streaming down her face, one woman told a volunteer, “No one has asked to pray with me before.”
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  • Julie Lorenz
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Gracepoint Church Community Christmas Party
Gracepoint Church Community Christmas Party 720 540 Julie Lorenz
As part of their ongoing efforts to build relationships with their neighbors in a nearby apartment complex, the Gracepoint church in Rocklin hosted a Christmas party on Dec. 11, attended by more than 100 people. The festive event included a photo booth, gingerbread house construction, food, treats, and more!
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Church members “adopted” 17 neighborhood families, providing presents for 31 children. The church worked with the local apartment manager to advertise the party and connect with the families.
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The congregation’s efforts to forge relationships are making a difference. “People were very appreciative,” said Associate Pastor Marlene Rodriguez. “One lady texted: ‘Thank you for all you guys do. I really want to know more about your church.’”

Panorama of Prophecy Reaches Thousands
Panorama of Prophecy Reaches Thousands 640 427 nccsadmin

By Shenalyn Page

The Granite Bay Hilltop church hosted Panorama of Prophecy: A Bible Study Spectacular in partnership with Amazing Facts International from Oct. 15 to Nov. 13. The 25-part prophecy seminar, presented by Pastor Doug Batchelor, was broadcast to a live worldwide audience of over 100,000 via 3ABN and Hope Channel. Thousands of online viewers from 120 countries also logged in to watch the live broadcasts on Facebook, YouTube, AFTV, Good News TV, and SUMTV. A live Spanish translation with Pastor Carlos Muñoz further expanded the reach. Thirteen individuals were baptized at the church following the series.

“It’s thrilling to see God’s Word going out to so many at once,” said Batchelor. “We’ve heard from people all over the world telling us how excited they are to learn the truth. There is power in the Word of God. We preach it, then stand back and watch God work conversions in people’s lives.”

Rogina Blissett, a Roseville nurse who was baptized at the end of the series, said, “Panorama of Prophecy was amazing. I have a much clearer understanding of God’s Word than I did before. My life is completely turned around from where it has been for the past 40 years. I am so grateful.”

Reaching the Local Audience

The Panorama of Prophecy meetings were the first full evangelistic series held at the Granite Bay Hilltop church. “This is a dream that has been in the works for fifteen years,” said Wayne Leman, media producer for the series meetings. “From the very beginning, we’ve wanted to use the new church auditorium as a venue for global evangelism.”

Granite Bay Hilltop members were actively involved in the Panorama of Prophecy meetings. Members invited and hosted guests, prayed for the meetings, and much more.

Volunteers also made up about 80 percent of the media production team. Father and son, Bob and Ricky Curtice, from Sacramento, have been assisting with media production at the Sacramento Central and Granite Bay churches for over 30 years. For Panorama of Prophecy, Bob operated the jib camera and Ricky served as a stagehand. “There is nothing stronger than a volunteer’s heart,” said Leman. “They put in 110 percent, and God can certainly work with that.

One team of church volunteers ran a prophecy program for kids that included nature and Bible lessons, crafts, and activities. “Children’s evangelism is so important,” explained Amy Martin, children’s program leader. “Kids are like sponges. When you take a dry sponge and fill it up with water, it gets so full it starts leaking all over. These children learned about Jesus. They got so excited, they just couldn’t contain it. They wanted to share what they learned.” Martin and her team are working to continue building relationships with the young people who came and will be studying the Bible with several of them.

Students from Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism spent the fall months doing Bible studies in the communities surrounding Granite Bay. They also supported an evangelistic series at the Folsom church plant led by evangelist Dakota Day.

Powerful Partnerships to Share Prophetic Truth

Partnership with two of the world’s largest religious broadcasting networks gave Panorama of Prophecy a truly global reach. Hope Channel is the largest Adventist media network in the world, broadcasting on 69 channels around the globe in more than 80 languages. The meetings were aired live on Hope Channel’s English and Spanish channels.

“Many of our other language channels will be translating the recordings and showing them soon,” explained Vyacheslav Demyan, vice president for programming. “The world needs the hope that comes from Revelation and the biblical end-time message. It is exactly what must be preached at this time so people can understand what is coming and the hope that we have in Jesus.”

Adds Greg Morikone, president of 3ABN, which has a potential audience of 95 percent of the globe, “People are very much attuned to what is going on in the world right now. There is a lot of chaos and uncertainty out there. We’ve had a fantastic response to Panorama of Prophecy. People have a higher interest in prophecy than ever before.”

  • Julie Lorenz
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LIFE Church of Berkeley Hosts Fall Festival
LIFE Church of Berkeley Hosts Fall Festival 640 481 Julie Lorenz
On Nov. 6, the LIFE church of Berkeley invited university students and neighborhood families to a Fall Festival. About 70 people enjoyed a meal and fun autumn activities, including a country hymn singalong, a chili cook-off, a pumpkin pie eating context, and the Tony Hannah Country Band.
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“People commented how great it was to be together and sing some well-known songs and share some delicious home-cooked food together,” said Carolyn Pickell, church events coordinator. “What a great evening of fun, bringing students, neighbors, and friends of our church community together in celebration of fellowship and the change of seasons!”
  • Julie Lorenz
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Sacramento Ukrainian Church Organization
Sacramento Ukrainian Church Organization 720 360 Julie Lorenz

On Sabbath afternoon, Sept. 18, the NCC formally organized the Sacramento Ukrainian church—the only official Ukrainian congregation in the Pacific Union. The service took place in the congregation’s rented church sanctuary in Fair Oaks.

The joyful program included music from children’s and young people’s choirs, as well as a sermon by President Marc Woodson. The congregation presented the conference with a beautiful illustrative carving of Psalm 23, created by Ivan Noshyn, church elder.

“The members are very happy! It’s a big step in their lives—a miracle for a lot of Ukrainian people here,” said Roman Tsyganiuk, senior pastor of the Sacramento Slavic/Sacramento Ukrainian district. He serves with Andriy Mykhaylovskyy, associate pastor of the Ukrainian church and youth pastor of the Slavic church.

The new church has its roots in the Sacramento Yugoslavian church, where a number of Russians and Ukrainians worshipped together several decades ago. The Yugoslavian church established the Sacramento Slavic company as a “daughter” congregation, which became its own church in 2004. Later, the Slavic church created a “daughter” congregation of its own. The new Ukrainian group, with 116 members, held its first service in October 2018. They were organized as a company a few months later in January 2019.

About 100,000 Ukrainians live in the Sacramento metro area, and church members are eager to reach out to them. The new church has active ministries for children, youth, families, and health, as well as a vibrant media ministry. The congregation is making plans to eventually purchase a church facility of their own.

“Please pray for this church and for the pastors,” said Tsyganiuk. “We believe that this church will grow and be a blessing.”

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