Santa Rosa First Opens Stony Point Worship Center;
Tries New Tack of Spring Stewardship Drive

Santa Rosa -- March 15, 2006

Santa Rosa First UMC, planning for southwest Santa Rosa since 1997 and actually building since Palm Sunday last year, had the grand opening on February 25 and 26 of its new Stony Point Community Room and Worship Center. It is the second campus of its "one church in two locations." The church has had its main campus in east Santa Rosa on Montgomery Drive since 1954.

It had a media blitz in mid-February. A large turnout of community folks on Saturday included those interested in the new ESL (English as a Second Language) classes sponsored by church members. On Sunday, Stony Point attracted 400 to two services. The following Sunday, March 5, the Christ Led Abiding Youth (CLAY) -- from six Sonoma County UMCs -- began meeting there weekly, making full use of the Worship Center's multi-media capabilities. The Worship Center has two Sunday Schools rooms as well as the all-purpose room. Associate pastor Joe Major conducts most services, with interim senior pastor Jim Current preaching once a month.

Santa Rosa First UMC also is experimenting with new timing for stewardship.

Most churches do stewardship drives in the fall so that they can have financial pledges at hand for planning a budget for the next year. But Santa Rosa First UMC is just now into its 2006 stewardship campaign -- changed from fall to spring. Rev. Current explains, "Fall is backward looking. Spring signals beginning. Lent focuses on what we are willing to give up for the Lord. It ends with the passion of Jesus -- total commitment to the cause."

The church also observed that church-shopping visitors tend to come in the fall, right after school starts, or during Halloween to Christmas. Analyzed the proposal for the change: Newcomers don't like perceiving what they may regard as a "shakedown process." They get a reinforced notion that "all the church ever talks about is money!"