I knew that returning from the medical mission meant that fall was just around the corner. It has arrived and is a busy time of year. But, as a church family it’s about to get very busy. In November, we will celebrate our Diamond Jubilee. Sixty years ago right about now, God was stirring in His people a desire to found a brand-new church. They wanted something more biblically oriented from the pulpit and they wanted something for all their children. It took months to settle on a name, but they met without a final name on the first Sunday of November in 1964, in the Barbara Jontree School of Dance down in Lunada Bay. The mirrors made the crowd look larger than it was, but within a month they were just about at 100.
They would move to what is now PVIS and meet there for two years. Soon they bought a piece of property on Crestridge Road from the Seventh Day Adventists. Crestridge was a two lane road, as was Crenshaw back in those days. There was no city of Rancho Palos Verdes, it was all county land. But God was moving and they followed His lead.
In November, we will celebrate the founding of what is now Peninsula Community Church in the fall of 1964. It became an official church in the spring of 1965, but we look back to those first meetings in Lunada Bay as our origin story. Since those days there have been many ups and there have been many downs. We often learned, as Paul Duncan wrote, “You’ve walked me through the valley, but You never steered me wrong.”
The future of any church family is never guaranteed. We are always one generation removed from extinction. So in our Diamond Jubilee, I don’t want to only look back and swap stories from the “good old days.” I want to be thankful for our founding, grateful for what God has done over the years, and most importantly, hopeful that our best days are ahead of us.
The future is very important to me. I am praying that our Diamond Jubilee will set us up for greater spiritual growth and a deeper walk with God. I am praying that our unity in celebration may draw folks and families to Jesus. This celebration is not about us, but about the Savior and I want to make much of Him.
So, yes, fall is busy. But it is a good busy when it is about what God is doing through and among us. I pray our celebration will set us up to fulfill our mission in the South Bay with greater clarity and energy. We press on and do all for His glory.