Our Life Together Vol. 3 Nr. 34 August 26, 1975

I remember the Sandpaper Song and the Sandpaper Ministry vividly. When this issue was posted on Facebook a number of people commented on this. Kevin Cope remembered when he and some of the young men in Sonshine House wrote the little song. It does bring out a major truth however; life in a community household was not easy. When things were going well, it was wonderful. It is really great to be with a group of people who love one another and want the same things in life. But, what about when things aren't going my way? Then things get rough. It really is similar to marriage. We learn to give a little here and a little there; sand off the rough edges. Since the relationships were similar to marriage, it also made leaving difficult. I will discuss that later, but leaving was similar to divorce in many instances; I think I still feel that way about our moving out.
Perry Yates was one of our fine musicians at FBCCV. He became a very fine cabinet maker and is still in the area. He was not just a performer. As can be seen in this issue, God gave him a gift of poetry. He wrote a number of songs, some of which were sung by the congregation for many years.

The book, "Healing" was the major textbook for our healing ministry for many years. I still think it is one of the finest books on the subject in the last 30 years of so. Francis MacNutt was one of the major leaders within the US Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Several years later he left the priesthood and married. About 10 years ago I had the privilege of meeting Francis and his wife at the Holy Spirit Conference in Greenlake. He is still very active in speaking and leading a healing ministry.
Nancy Mitchell was a very talented woman who was in the church during most of this period. She wrote -- prose and poems -- she sang, drew and played the flute. She was never at the forefront in any of these areas, but she was a regular contributor to OLT. She left the church in the early 80s and succumbed to cancer a number of years ago.

Our Life Together Vol. 3 Nr. 33 August 19, 1975

Once again, Ken develops the theme of Community; we really achieve holiness and understand theology when we are in relationship with one another. I think that there is great truth in this article. I certainly was (and am) a true disciple of Ken on this issue. My final sermon when leaving FBCCV in 2005 was "When all is said and done, it's all about relationships." The only argument that I might have with Ken is that he continues to insist that this is the only way. God is much broader than this. God did speak to, in and through those theologians working in their "ivory towers." God did (and does) meet with those who get alone with him in striving to grow in personal holiness. We must be open to meeting God wherever he takes us; yes, in community with its relationships, academically as we study to improve our minds and on the mountain tops as we experience God by ourselves.
I think that the article by Clay is ironic. One of the reasons that Clay and Cheri Ford left community was because of what they perceived as abuse of the issues of submission and authority. The article itself is scripturally true. We are to submit to one another. Most of our teachings in those days whether by Ken, Clay, Larry or other of the elders was correct. There must be submission to authority. The problem lies in the fact that it is quite easy for those in authority to go past proper boundaries and abuse their God given authority. On the other hand, it is also relatively easy for those in submission to get lazy and obey authority without weighing the ramifications of that obedience. All in all, this is a good article.
Larry's article is another fine example of exhorting us to make God first in our lives.
I have mentioned George and Eleanor Burger in an earlier post. Here they are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. That was a long time ago -- I thought they were old. From my current perspective, they weren't old at all. I was just pretty immature.

Our Life Together Vol. 3, Nr. 32 August 12, 1975

I don't really know how often Ken preached on this theme, but it stuck in my mind. Even after the days of community, I realized that for the Christian witness to be effective, the Christian life must be lived. When community started, even though the households took care of human need, there was a strong emphasis on evangelism. Invite people to the household. Let them see how we live. They can see for the first time, life lived totally for Jesus. These were the rallying cries at the time. As the 70s continued, we lost this edge. We became more involved in healing those in need. We stopped inviting strangers in; sad.
David Upp was a young man very active in the church. I knew him well because he was in the choir and, later, in a small group (the Hallelujah Chorus) which was formed for ministry. David was also a part of the Timotheons (young men being trained for eldership). I remember this testimony vividly. It was a real faith builder for people seeking to follow the Lord. David still lives locally and is a facebook friend.
The week of renewal was an indication that we believed that evangelism wasn't just for non-Christians; Christians need to be led into a deeper life also. We periodically had times of renewal for the church. Another emphasis in the little paragraph at the end of the page is that of worldwide hunger. I remember our Friday evening fast nights. It was a great time. We didn't actually go without food. We just went on basic subsistence. Helen Fast used to make wonderful little bread loaves and we would have honey with them; tasted good.
I won't say much about this article by Larry. It does really illustrate how active things were at the church in those days. There were a lot of things going on. In the midst of this, we were worshiping the Lord and our children were being cared for.
Another testimony of our ministry in England. Today, actually May 10, I wished Helen a happy birthday and wrote a note to Jacque who is headed home from here. Both Helen and Jacque live in Bend, Oregon.


I have written many times about the American Baptist Charismatic Fellowship. This is one of the ministries that Ken Pagaard started that is still going strong today under the leadership of Clay Ford. The little testimony from one of our men, a sailor on the USS Kitty Hawk, reminds me that our ministry at FBCCV has always included a lot of navy men. This is not just something of the past, it is still true.
The trip to Whiskey Town Lake was a great undertaking. There were 20 plus people living in the house. We had the Westby van -- a dodge 15 passenger van, a couple of cars, another van pulling a boat trailer. We tried to keep together -- this was actually quite a feat as we traveled through the streets of San Francisco. I had the job of assigning seats. Ken wanted us to fellowship with each other (not just in our favorite cliques). Every morning I would take our name tags and place them in a seat in one of the vans or cars. People weren't always happy with my choices.

We went up the coast stopping at Santa Barbara and Arcata and . . . I remember stopping at a fast food restaurant outside of San Francisco and ordering food for 30 people or so -- we overloaded them. It was an interesting experience. It was always interesting when people would find out that we all lived together.

Our Life Together Vol. 3, Nr. 31 August 8, 1975 Part 2

Clay is still working on building bridges; of bringing people together from different expressions of faith. This is a nice article. The interesting thing to me is that Clay still has this vision and mindset. He is a wonderful leader for Holy Spirit Renewal Ministries. HSRM is the modern continuation of the group, American Baptist Charismatic Fellowship, which was started by Ken Pagaard. Clay is bringing about a new time of cooperation between HSRM and the wider family through his cooperative spirit. I don't mean to imply that Clay doesn't stand firm in his beliefs, he does, but he also gently and lovingly works with those with a different understanding of the working of the Holy Spirit.
Larry Clark was, along with Clay and Ken, one of the most prolific authors of OLT articles. Larry always had something to say, and it was usually deep and almost always interesting. I suppose I am partial to Larry because he and I are both alumni of UCLA. In fact, we were in a small class together and didn't even know one another (at that time.)
This is one of the pictures that I remember most from Abba Graphics.
Jerry Jamison was one of the leaders of the younger generation at FBCCV. He was one of the Heads of Abba Craft, an editor of OLT and Head of the Fifth Avenue Household. He was bright, talented and a great leader. He is still living locally (one of my Face Book friends). Jerry never finished seminary, but he and I both began Bethel Seminary at the same time. We were in the first class offered when the Seminary opened a branch in San Diego.
Cathy Mower was a troubled young woman. She was the mother of Joshua who I have written about in another blog. Joshua was later adopted by Jacque Johns (Mays). Because of Cathy's many problems, I find the poem somewhat poignant.
I was a part of the hospital ministry for several years. My main task was to lead a sing along at Fredericka manor every Wed. afternoon.

Our Life Together Vol. 3, Nr. 31 August 8, 1975 Part 1

On one hand this is a rather straight forward exposition of scripture. Ken is exhorting the people to be aware of the deceitfulness of sin. He is being a good pastor; equipping his people for leading a good Christian life. His example of rationalizing adultery reminds me of one of my very early times of "counseling" a person who came forward at the end of a service. This person wanted some guidance. He loved music and his wife couldn't sing of play, but ___ was a wonderful player. They could make so much music together to serve the Lord. Didn't God want them to be together -- he would just quietly divorce his wife and they could serve the Lord together. Over the years, I have heard many similar stories. Ken was right.

On the other hand, Ken was reinforcing the need for the body. We could only keep ourselves right be remaining in relationship with one another and with the Elders. I think that Ken was really right about this, but it also emphasized a major tenet of our community; to be in fellowship keeps us right with God, to be out of fellowship with one another, we just might be out of fellowship with God.
Eleanor Burger was one of our Household Heads; she and her husband George headed up Oaklawn Household. They would later move into another large house and the name would be changed to Bethel. They were two of the older heads of household (at my present age, I realize they weren't really very old.) George was retired from the US Navy. He was in charge of the church maintenance ministry. He was quite capable and kept things operating. He usually had a group of older youth -- some with a few rough edges -- that worked with him in this ministry. I remember that while I was still in the Navy, Eleanor drove a lunch wagon. When I was attending a school, I bought lunch from her. She writes articles in OLT every once in a while. George and Eleanor are still alive and living in Oregon. Eleanor is one of my Face book friends.

Emery passed away just a couple of years ago. He was the "head Elder". He was probably the first member of the church to be "filled with the Spirit." This occurred before Ken came to the church. He was praying for a Spirit Filled pastor -- and here came Ken. Emery was a wonderful support throughout his life at the church. I know I really appreciated him while I was pastor there.

Our Life Together Vol. 3, Nr. 30 July 29, 1975 Part 2

This is one of those humbling letters where one is struck with how God uses ordinary people. I am not playing down the ministry of Clay or the McCullochs. But, looking back I see all of us as just people who wanted to be servants of God. Here this Vicar describes this visit of our team as one of the most significant events in the life of the church. Wow! I am always amazed by these letters. I am very proud to have been a part of this.


We received their newsletter at least until I left FBC in 2005. They may still be receiving it. This is another of those "wow" letters. These are really worthwhile reading. Something very real was happening in Chula Vista in those days. It was recognized throughout much of the world and was unfortunately missed by many of our close neighbors.
Then there is this letter by a seminary professor! Again, look at the impact of our corporate ministry -- and yes the ministry of Ken Pagaard.

Ken was also a major part of the ministry at the Catholic Charismatic conference.

Our Life Together Vol. 3 Nr. 30 July 29, 1975 Part 1

In this article Ken gives a general teaching about the importance of knowing God, not just knowing about Him. In the background is the hurt that Ken experienced from many Christian brothers, particularly those in church and denominational leadership. Ken could never fully understand how other Christians could not see what we were trying to do. Of course, most of us couldn't understand it either. We all experienced a lot of hostility. It was easy to understand this hostility from those outside the church, but it hurt when it came from outside. We were actually picketed by another church.
The juxtaposition of Clay's article right after Ken's is interesting. Clay discusses how God's purpose is to bring us together. He states that God is breaking down racial/ethnic walls and denominational walls; God is making us all one. This was happening in many ways, and yet, as Ken discusses, there were still a lot of walls against both the Charismatic Renewal and Christian Community.
Ken's announcement of the Weekend of Renewal is one of the few times that Ken really asserts his authority in telling the people that they must attend. I don't and certainly didn't disagree with his sentiments, I just am struck by what a forceful article this is. Some who have been critical in the past think of Ken as domineering -- nothing could be further from the truth. And yet, this article is a little strong.

Finally, both Bud Miller and Larry Clark have articles about radical commitment. Bud was a layman (that is a distinction that we did not make -- he was an elder who worked at the church full time -- he just didn't have an advanced theological degree). He worked in many areas, but the one I remember working most often with him was that of Guest Master; he was in charge of placing people in community, particularly those who were visiting. Here he brings up again the Pioneer/Settler Theology. This was big in our thinking at the time.

Larry talks about being a part of God's Kingdom. It is an article about ultimate allegiance. "You can't serve God and Mammon."

Ed Dubois was the first resignation among the Eldership. This brought about our first addition, Speedy Alari in a couple of months.

Our Life Together Vol. 3 Nr. 29 July 22, 1975

This issue starts with the article by Larry Clark. As we have discussed elsewhere, one of the important ministries of First Baptist Church of Chula Vista was the ministry to other churches. Larry and his team are ministering at a church in Alliance, Nebraska. His description of the suspicion that people had about the Charismatic Renewal is an accurate picture throughout our denomination. I can certainly remember when I was quite suspicious of the movement. In the middle of this meeting, Kevin Cope had a message in tongues with an interpretation by Brian Gire. If there was anything that scared the uninitiated person it was tongues -- this sounded crazy -- yet God used (and still uses) this gift.


Ken's article is a reprint form 1974. I have written about it earlier and also pointed out that it drew a number of comments in Face book. Of course, the direction of the article is that God is calling his people to a radical commitment -- such as the life we were living in community. The comments on this were basically two-fold; 1) Ken was advocating (and saying that the scriptures advocated) some kind of socialism and 2) that Ken thought that theological correctness was a bad thing. I don't think that Ken was really saying either of these.

Ken does put forward his thought that as the church became accepted under Constantine and began to deal with theological issues, that they lost their radical focus. History tells us that this wasn't the case. There were bad leaders in the church, there were very Godly leaders in the church. There were people still leading radical lives, there were people living more "normal" lives. From earliest times the church had been grappling with major theological issues, but, until Constantine, had not had the luxury of calling the bishops together to really settle some of the major theological disputes. Major understandings on issues like the divinity of Jesus came forth from these councils. Ken doesn't dispute this, but he looks back with a great deal of longing to what he sees in Acts 2:42ff.

Later in the article Ken discusses the Magnificat which is a great song of praise attributed to Mary in the gospel of Luke. In it the greatness of God is praised. God is the champion of those who are oppressed. Some read into this an incipient socialism. As Ken state further, the Sermon on the Mount calls us to a radical belief, but this is not calling for a new government, but for radically committed followers.

I have also mentioned before that Ken really believed that community was THE way for Christians to live. I personally believe that community was an expression that the Holy Spirit renewed in the 70s. I was glad to be a part of that movement at that time.
I wish that I could identify all of the members of Shiloh household. Dolan Wolford and his wife headed the household. Some of the members were Mike Sandez (we have talked of him elsewhere), Vernon Crismor, Coit and Barbara Valentine and. . . Dolan was a CPO in the Navy. After he left the Navy in the late 70s, he and his family moved to West Virginia. Linda and I bought the house (for the community -- and never lived in it).

Our Life Together Vol. 3 Nr. 28 July 15, 1975, Part 2

Clay Ford starts a series of articles in this issue about Christian Unity. He writes of how the churches are coming together -- regardless of denomination -- all over the world. I think that there really was a major move of the Holy Spirit in the 70s that brought people together. We even see this in the secular world -- the flower children -- free love etc. Of course from the Christian perspectives, these secular movements were only imitations of the real thing. But there was something going on throughout our world. I think that we have lost a lot of this in the intervening years.

The songs that Clay mentioned bring back memories. They are still sung sometimes in the little church that I now pastor; Bay View Baptist Church.


Tom McCulloch continues in this theme. God sees us as we really are. If we want others to really know us, we must open ourselves so that we can be seen. These were teachings that meant a lot to me and still do. These are relationship building exhortations. Relationships are the most important things that we have.

I mentioned on Facebook about the little quote that the Westby Wall was completed. I have discussed this elsewhere. The wall was a series of retaining walls to terrace the back yard. It was constructed of concrete block. I had never done masonry so this was a major undertaking. All of the young men in the household helped to dig the foundations and set up the re bar for the foundations and reinforcements. Glen Frehafer and I were the main block layers. Thank God, Glenn knew what he was doing. It was a real relief to finish this project.

Larry Clark had a real ministry of picking up the quotable quotes. He did this a number of times throughout the years of OLT. This article gives a flavor of the ferment in our world at this time. Ken's quote about Viet Nam got a lot of comments on Facebook. Frankly I agree with Ken. One of the problems at that time was that most people weren't involved except to see things that bothered them on TV.

A major issue in which FBCCV and the community were involved in was trying to deal with our denomination. The American Baptist structure was not open to the Charismatic movement. As Baptists, each church is autonomous so we were allowed to worship as we wished, but they definitely held us at arm's length.

Our Life Together Vol. 3 Nr 28 July 15, 1975, Part 1

Ken sets forth one of the basic differences that were discussed in the Settler/Pioneer Theology; sin is wanting to turn back. Ken was a very gentle person. Even though many from outside pictured him as domineering, this was not his manner at all. He did, however, call everyone to a life of total commitment. He was totally committed to the life in Christ, as seen in our community. He expected us to be just as committed.

He states that once we have tasted this life we are never satisfied with any less. I think that this is true. I no longer live in a community household, but I look for deeper relationships. I cultivate this in my personal life and in the life of my church. I guess I even still live in a sort of community since Linda and I live with my daughter, her husband, my three grandchildren and two extra teenagers. Some people say, "Wow, how do you do it?" I doesn't even seem strange to me. I love it. Ken was right.
Larry and Bud discuss their visit to Marion, Kansas. They had a great ministry time with the community there as well as with some of the officials of Tabor College, located in the same town. Kevin Cope was also along on this trip and made quite a few comments on Facebook. Kevin was our main musician. He continued to fill that capacity (and much more) until the early 80s. He now is the worship leader at a Lutheran Church in Oregon (he is also an ordained American Baptist Pastor).

Larry also mentions Helen Fast. She had been a Mennonite missionary to Zaire. Then she came to live in our community (she lived in Westby house while my family was there). She was also a Canadian. We liked to joke that she was a Canadian Mennonite missionary to our community. Helen had a beautiful voice and she and I were on some of our traveling teams later on. When I would speak I would always start with, "What does a Mennonite Missionary Nurse have in common with a LCDR in the US Navy?" Of course, then I would go on and discuss the Lord and how we live in community.

My team also ministered in Marion Kansas later in 1979.

This second article by Ken discusses one his experiences on the trip. This was also an important belief of his; not believing is choice that we make. We can chose to believe or not to believe.

Penni Wilson (now Penni Neely) was new to our church at this point. Later she became the director of our Pre-School. I (along with Dan Stolebarger) had the privilege of officiating at her marriage ceremony. She and Dale have been married over 25 years and still live in the Chula Vista area.

I have to also mention the neat little graphic. I loved our artwork.