Our Life Together Vol. 4 Nr. 23 June 15, 1976

The artwork on the cover is very appropriate since the lead article is about the beginnings of the Pentecostal Movement in the United States. They symbol of the dove was all over the place during the days of the Charismatic Renewal. This picture of the dove hovering -- or lighting (perhaps on Jesus at his baptism) was used often at FBC. This is another great image from Abbacraft.

Dawn Schmid was a relatively frequent contributor to OLT. She was a good student and writer. Here she presents a paper on the history of the Pentecostal Movement. I still find it interesting. She mentions the excesses present in the Azusa Street movement with the presence of mediums. I had forgotten this. I think that excesses such as these are part of the reason that people fear outbreaks of Holy Spirit revivals. When we are open to the movement of the Spirit, there is always this danger; we must be vigilant without quenching the genuine movement of God. Dawn still lives locally in Chula Vista -- although it has been some time since I have seen her.

On this page, Dawn concludes her article and Bobby Dyal starts another one. Bobby was also a frequent contributor. Bobby was an older gentleman (I have to laugh as I write this -- being in my 70s -- he was probably in his late 40s or early 50s.) I have no idea where he is now.

McFoone gives a good word on our resistance to change -- very accurate.

I am always amazed at how many different people did contribute to OLT. Bobby finishes his article and then Karen Ratliff begins one. She discusses how she was brought out of her shyness. I remember Karen, but have no idea where she is now. 

The letter from the Coates is another example of how OLT was used by people over the years. Other than the letter I know nothing of these people.

This little page has the conclusion of the letter, a notice about our Super Summer Session (I have mentioned our children's program before) and a note about the farewell for the Wolfords. There is also a nice little scripture verse with the grapevine motif -- this was also very common in OLT and other materials from Abbacraft.

The next two pages are an illustration and a poem which I assume was written by Tim Pagard (now Pagaard.) Tim is the oldest son of Ken and Mona. He is still local. He is a professor at Cuyamaca College in San Diego. (Tim -- if you see this you can clear this up for me -- I think you did so at another time -- but I am old and forget.)

The next page has a "filler" poem -- nice but from a book, not from someone in community. Tom and Shirley McCulloch owned the Bible Book Store in downtown Chula Vista. It was one of several businesses that helped support people in community as well as provide a ministry to the wider community. Tom was one of the senior elders. He and Shirley were also heads of MadronaTemecula area and just celebrated their 50th anniversary. Household. They now live in the

Once again, there is a lot of information in the "All in the Family" section.

Our Life Together Vol. 4 Nr. 22 June 8, 1976

This issue is perhaps one of the most historically significant in the entire collection of Our Life Together for it contains the description of the joint Catholic and Baptist communion service. I will discuss this as we get to the appropriate page in the issue. Pictured on the cover is the priest who celebrated holy communion with us, Father Garcia-Herreros from Bogota, Columbia.

Ken Pagard introduces the visit of Father Garcia-Herros. He also mentions that we had a household in the community of El Minuto de Dios which is a part of the Father's ministry. Sam and Elizabeth Ballesteros were the heads of that household with Dale and Bev Hunter, John Gudino, Sally Trejo and perhaps one or two others that I can't remember who were members of that household.

Father GH (Sam Ballesteros used to refer to him that way -- and it will cut down on my typing) begins his article here. It is certainly a word of affirmation to our community -- and specifically to the ministry of Ken Pagard. Ken made at least one trip to El Minuto. He and the Father had similar visions for the unity of the church and the fullness of the Holy Spirit in bringing about that unity.

On this page, Ken continues his article about the Friday evening service. There were four Catholic Priests present (including Father GH), one of which was from the office of Cardinal Suenens of Belgium who was over the Charismatic Movement within the Catholic Church. I will say more about the Cardinal later when we get to the issue about the Kansas City Conference in 1977. Ken goes on to describe the communion service. This was monumental! I was interviewed by the New York Times several years later. We didn't have a clue of how monumental the experience was. This was all done appropriately within the guidelines of  the Catholic Church with the permission of the Bishop of San Diego. I don't know all of the rules but I do know that the celebrant was Father GH. Anything that the elders (including Ken) were in assisting. Those were the rules -- but the experience was actually breath taking.

In the middle of this momentous event, we have an observation on Christian art by McFoone.

Ken finished the article with some interesting thoughts about the future of our cooperation with the Catholic Church. None of these events happened; the future doesn't always work the way that we think it will.

This page also concludes the article by Father GH. I am still overwhelmed to read how much we were held in esteem by this humble, but very important person from Columbia.

Ken also starts a separate article that is really about repentance. He wrote it because we seemed to be in a stagnant place. This seemed to be the way things went all during the 70s; lots of growth and excitement and moving forward followed by a time of complacency (stagnation.)

Ken states that the sins that should bring about our repentance were a critical spirit, moral laxity and worldliness. We really believed that we should be in unity -- this was big. We were also to be holy and holiness required that we not be like the culture around us.

We had several editions of the song book. I'm not sure which edition this was.

The next two pages are the conclusion of "The Lizard" by C.S. Lewis which was started in the last issue.

The next page and a half is a prophecy received by Eleanor Burger. She is still alive and well and lives in Oregon. She and George were heads of Bethel Household; George was one of our elders. In her introductory words she mentions a prophecy that come up over and over again concerning a word that we wouldn't receive God's power until we fully embraced Submission, Obedience and Discipline. This became quite controversial as the days of our community came to an end. At this time they were not controversial, they were just difficult for all of us to embrace.

Mike Shaw provides a list of guidelines for participation in the non-residential household meetings. They are pretty good for most church "small group" meetings. Mike continues to serve in FBC ChulaChula Vista. Vista along with his wife Linda. They are still good friends of my Linda and I. Mike is now retired from his position in the city of

As I have mentioned before, anyone who was around during this time will enjoy reading the "In the Family" section although there is nothing earth shaking in this issue.

The next little article by Ken was very important. He explains the rationale for licensing all of the elders as "lay ministers." This was probably a good thing at the time, although I take issue with Ken's statement about how well prepared we were. I can only speak for myself; I wasn't.

Dolan and Ramona Wolford along with their family were a really important part of our church. DolanWolford's house. We owned it for several years, but never lived there. was an Elder, and he and Ramona were heads of the Third Avenue Household. They still live in West Virginia and are still serving the Lord. From time to time we see them. Incidentally one of the problems was the fact that they owned the house; we didn't want it to leave the community. When Linda and I moved into community, we owned a house, so we sold it and bought the

Then we have the announcement about the Green Lake Conference. We took quite a team. I always envied these teams; I wanted to go. I got my chance in 1979 -- and I still like to go.

Our Life Together Vol.4 Nr. 21 June 1, 1976

Ken Pagard starts off this issue with a good article about "The Word of the Lord." Most of the issue revolves around the Catholic Charismatic Conference held at Nortre Dame University. The beginning of Ken's article is woven right into the artwork of the cover.

The word of God article continues on the next page. Ken discusses the difference between the Greek words Rhema and Logos which are both translated as word. Charismatics and Non-Charismatics have a different way of understanding regarding these two words.

Ken immediately goes on to start a new article out of the book of 1 Kings about God commanding things.

As an illustration of how God commands even the rain, Ken describes a miraculous stoppage of rain during the conference at Notre Dame.

Then McFoone looks at Faith and Science.

Ken ends his article with an exhortation to remember that God is in control; particularly in our problems with the city of Chula Vista about zoning.

Jerry Jamison starts an article where he describes a class that he and Dan Stolebarger were teaching. During these years, the church had several young men who were gifted teachers; among them Jerry and Dan. Jerry was the head of Abba Craft (along with Gary Bell) and is still in art; an advertising man. Dan went on to be co-pastor of FBC with me in the 80s, started a new church, had a position at Horizon Christian Fellowship and now ministers in Montana? (somewhere up north). He spends a lot of time in Israel. It was a great time to be in our church.

After the conclusion of Jerry's article, Ken presents a report of the time at the Notre Dame conference. He is amazed at the size of the workshop; 14,000 people. I remember talking with Ken about this event. I think that this is one of the times when he began to realize the impact he had within the Charismatic community; it surprised him -- and it surprised the people of FBCCV -- after all he was just Ken, our pastor.

I'm sure that the most popular author among community residents in the 70s was C.S. Lewis. On the next two pages we see sections from "The Great Divorce" as illustrated by Abbacraft.

 

As Ken concludes his article on the conference at Notre Dame, he mentions the Regional Conference in San Diego. We attended this. We also had at least one Interdenominational conference her in San Diego in which our musicians participated.

 

After Ken finishes, Joy Trejo presents an article on the Holiness Movement in the 19th Century. Her report is a part of the Church History class in the School of the Prophets taught by Larry Clark. I don't know where Joy is at the present time. She lived in our household (Westby) for some time. She was the assistant secretary for several years (she typed my first paper for seminary.) She was also my first secretary when I became pastor.

 

As Joy finishes her article she demonstrates some of the differences between the Holiness movement as it has become in this day and the Charismatic movement.

 

This "All in the Family" segment once again demonstrates the wide geographical interpretation of our family; Columbia, Wichita Kansas etc. 

 

 

I noticed that Dick and Linda Hensgen left on our vacation. This is the one and only trip our family made for that length of time traveling as far as Cincinnati, Ohio. We went to the wedding of my cousin; a great trip.

 

Read the article on the children's program. The people really worked hard on the Summer program and it was a great time for the children.

 

The page also has a nice illustration.

 

 

I love the testimony about Andy Wetzel. He is a great carpenter. If you were to visit the church today, you would see a beautiful wood paneled front. Andy did that all himself when the church was renovated in 1989. He now lives with his family in Wyoming(? -- or Montana or. . .)

 

Finally the Second Charismatic conference at Green Lake is announced.

 

Our Life Together Vol. 4 Nr. 20 May 25, 1976

This issue was written while Ken Pagard was speaking at a major Charismatic Conference at Notre Dame University. The cover page is another of the wonderful products of Abbagraphics.

The School of the Prophets was a series of classes taught at the church, primarily for the young men involved in Community. Of course there were some young women who also took the courses -- and at least one old man (me). Larry Clark taught a class on Church History. In this article he attempts to provide a rationale for why we didn't see much of the Charismata in the history of the church until the current rise of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements in the 20th Century. I found the article pretty good although I am not in full agreement with some of his conclusions, particularly about the church of the middle ages. I suspect that God has been pouring out his Spirit throughout the history of the church.

Larry concludes his article on this page. This is followed by a quote by R. A. Torrey. When I was in seminary, I was asked by the Dean to attend a class in church history about renewal movements (I was the token Charismatic in class.) When the Charismatic renewal was discussed, I brought up some of the teachings of Torrey -- the instructor was amazed; Torrey was not considered a Charismatic, yet we used several teachings from his books; interesting.

McFoone gives his take on entertainment.

After the article about Torrey, Irene Biccum discusses the hospital ministry. This is a lengthy article so I will just give some thoughts on the entire article. First, Irene is now with the Lord; she was an older woman (probably a lot younger than I am now -- how your perspective changes.) She and her husband Bob were relatively new to the community. I believe that they actually came from Canada. The hospital ministry was headed by Larry Clark with assistance from Dawn Schmid. I believe that Dawn still lives here locally. There were several other faithful volunteers. I am mentioned in the article because for several years I led a sing-along on Wednesday afternoons. This was very rewarding. The people really enjoyed it. My piano accompanist was in her late 90s, but she could play; a great time.

Irene concludes her article on this page. This is followed by a nice poem by Judy Lind. Judy came to us from El Centro (I believe). She and her children were regular members for several years, but I have lost track; I have no idea where they are now.

The "All in the Family" section is always worth reading. There was always a lot going on.

Jerry Jamison and Cathy Williams were a major part of Abba Crafts. Their marriage was a big event for the community. Unfortunately, the marriage is not still in effect. Jerry and Cathy have both remarried. Jerry owns a very successful advertising company -- and is local. I'm not sure where Cathy is, but she is one of my FB friends. This was a "big" wedding.

Pat Escalante is another of the saints who are no longer with us. She was a wonderful, faithful member of the church for a number of years.

Finally, the issue closes with more visual art and advertisements for musical art; the arts were big in the community and the church.