Church

Calvary Chapel of the Harbour, until recently the only church in Sunset Beach, has officially opened at its new home in Huntington Beach. The church held its first Sunday service last weekend at Peter's Landing Marina, 16400 Pacific Coast Hwy., and has a Christmas Eve service with Victorian-style carolers planned for 6 p.m. Friday, said Kathleen Pedick, the wife of Pastor Joe Pedick. "It was a very exciting and emotional time, just to see the people flood in," she said. The church, which operated since 2003 out of the Sunset Beach Women's Club, began the process last year of seeking city and state approval to move to the spot at Peter's Landing Marina formerly occupied by the Red Onion restaurant.

Titus Sebastian Wagner will likely have a Christian upbringing. That's appropriate, considering that he was born in the church. The fourth child and first son of Pastor Jerrod and Jennifer Wagner, Titus was born after Sunday's service in a restroom stall at the Huntington Beach Central Library, where Church Alive rents the Talbert Room once a week. His birth, nine days early, came as a surprise to his mother, who realized she was in labor during the service but was sure she had time to wait until afterward to go to the hospital.

Michele Marr In the earliest days of his ministry in Huntington Beach, the Lord told Coastland Foursquare Church Pastor Steve Purdue not to despise small beginnings. He was teaching a Bible study for a group of six people, including himself and his wife. By December 1976, that small group had grown to 35. Six months later, on the first Sunday in June, Purdue held a worship service in Farquhar Park for a congregation of 76. "I look back now on what might have seemed, at the time, like tough times," laughed Purdue, "and they seem like a walk in the park."

Torus Tammer An act of vandalism at Huntington Beach Church of Christ several weeks ago has brought a religious community closer to one another. "If it was an act of persecution, it failed. Acts of persecution never work against religious faith because all they do is rally people together," said Frank Macy, minister for the Church of Christ. The 80-member church suffered minor losses late last month when a vandal placed a hose through the window and turned on the tap. Macy said the carpeting was damaged, but the church's insurance will cover the loss.

Huntington Beach granted Calvary Chapel of the Harbour, the only church in Sunset Beach, a conditional use permit to leave its cramped quarters and move to a nearby shopping center. The church, which has operated since 2003 out of the Sunset Beach Women’s Club, received permission from the Planning Commission to move into the space vacated by the Red Onion restaurant in Peter’s Landing Marina, 16400 Pacific Coast Hwy. The property is identified as a commercial visitor zone, and the church needed a permit to operate a religious assembly on the premises.

This is a story about faith, and not just in one sense. When Calvary Chapel of the Harbour, reputed to be the first church in the history of Sunset Beach, approached the city recently to get a conditional use permit to move to a larger space at Peter’s Landing Marina, it brought to light one of the best kept secrets of coastal Orange County. The church is invisible six days a week and opens its doors Sunday morning not in a towering cathedral, but in a tight room that the owners rent at the Sunset Beach Women’s Club.

Those who came to Harvest Christian Fellowship on Friday, or who watched the memorial service online, heard from friends, pastors and family of Christopher Laurie, the son of their pastor, Greg Laurie. They heard music written that weekend in his honor. And they even heard from Christopher Laurie himself. Projected up on a screen before mourners, video interviews of Christopher Laurie recorded before his death gave them a hint of the man’s own voice. In that interview, Laurie spoke warmly of his father, his faith, and the family he grew up in. “We love to just hang out and laugh and do nothing,” he said on the video.

Members of mega-church Harvest Christian Fellowship were surprised this weekend by the sight of grief-stricken Pastor Greg Laurie, who took the pulpit despite the very recent death of his son, Christopher Laurie, of Huntington Beach. “It was not a distant relationship,” Greg Laurie said. “Thankfully I don’t have to sit around worrying he didn’t know I loved him. He knew I loved him.” Laurie, 33, a graphic artist who spent the last three years as the church’s art director, died the morning of July 24 in a car accident in Corona, according to authorities.

A few people and many open hearts have made a big difference for one orphanage in Mexico. For the past 12 years, Jack and Vicki Dishon and Humberto and Emma Macias from Huntington Beach's Seaside Community Church have organized a monthly trip to Tijuana to help the Casa Hogar Ebenezer orphanage. The two couples gather a group of about 12 church members and travel to the home they helped buy and improve. The orphanage is one of very few in Mexico to be accredited, said Jack Dishon, which means it is checked monthly by the government.

Huntington Beach may not be anywhere near New Jersey, but it shares one potential danger — the coast. After witnessing the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy, Robinwood Church in Huntington Beach wants residents prepared for an earthquake or other disaster. Robinwood is hosting an earthquake and disaster presentation from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at the church. The American Red Cross, the Orange County Fire Authority and Huntington Beach Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

St. Bonaventure Catholic Parish officials were greeted by an unpleasant display when they arrived for mass Sunday morning to find the church's nativity scene vandalized. St. Bonaventure Business Manager Nancy Cesar said the damages, which were discovered at approximately 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning, included drawings of 666, a swastika, phallic symbols, writings of "Hail Hitler" and curse words on the nativity figures in Sharpie marker. A recent Los Angeles Times article reported another nativity display at a Huntington Beach home was also defaced.

Police are searching for vandals who defaced a nativity scene at a church and home in Huntington Beach, spray-painting it with swastikas and other crude drawings. Church officials discovered the graffiti at the St. Bonaventure Catholic Parish in the 16400 block of Springdale Street when they arrived on Sunday morning. Police said vandals drew swastikas and phallic symbols and scrawled “Hail Hitler” on one of the nativity figures. The decorations were in front of the priest's house, which is next door to the house of worship.

December may have only been two days old, but the nearly 300 people who filled ShoreLife Church's sanctuary Sunday evening were reminded why the church celebrates the Christmas season. The message wasn't delivered by the pastor but by 34 children, ages 3 to 10, during the church's annual Christmas pageant. The production turned 10 years old Sunday and was directed by ShoreLife Children's Ministry Director Emily Frey, who's been there for the whole run. "I have been working with the Christmas pageant for all 10 years, every year it's been around," said Frey, who was directing the performance for the fourth year in a row. "I was a volunteer before I was hired on as staff.

Elias Hakimian will do what it takes to benefit Huntington Beach's low-income Oak View neighborhood — even if the kids have really, really good aim. Hakimian, the city pastor of Rock Harbor church, is among the local church leaders setting up a back-to-school carnival to raise funds for community programs. As part of the festivities, the churches are providing a dunk tank — and it's his understanding that the pastors from each congregation will take turns in the seat. Has Hakimian, whose church launched in Huntington just over a year ago, ever been dunked before?

The Huntington Beach City Council voted unanimously Monday to form an ad hoc committee to study fundraising options for preserving and relocating a group of historic Japanese church buildings. Councilwoman Connie Boardman requested last week that the council vote on whether to direct staff to analyze possible relocation spots for the historic structures, which date as far back as 1909 and comprise a church, mission, manse, farmhouse and barn. Instead, the council approved a different motion to form the committee, which will include Boardman, Councilmen Matthew Harper and Joe Shaw and other community members.

When Warner Avenue Baptist Church held its first service after June 5, it had an exceptional amount to be thankful for. That Tuesday, a pickup truck had barreled through the intersection at Warner and Gothard Street, flying into the 106-year-old church building and smashing part of its entryway. For a few hours, as police and fire officials stepped over broken glass and a tow truck gingerly removed the truck's remains from the premises, some onlookers might have guessed that Huntington Beach had lost another piece of its past.

The driver whose pickup truck smashed into a Huntington Beach church Tuesday morning has been cited on suspicion of driving under the influence, police said Friday. Lt. Mitch O'Brien identified the man as Robert McIntyre, 36. O'Brien said he did not know McIntyre's city of residence or his condition, but said he had been cited while at the hospital. McIntyre's truck slammed into the Warner Avenue Baptist Church, 7360 Warner Ave. The 106-year-old building predates the city's incorporation.

A driver suffered injuries this week when his pickup truck crashed into an unoccupied, 106-year-old Huntington Beach church, according to police and fire officials. The crash took place at Warner Avenue Baptist Church, 7360 Warner Ave., around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, according to Huntington Beach Fire Capt. Jeff Lopez. The Urban Search and Rescue Team extricated the driver, a man, from the vehicle. He was taken to an area trauma center with significant injuries, according to Lopez.