During these weeks when we can’t meet together in a normal worship service, we’ve tried to use on-line social media to create an inspiring virtual service at our usual meeting time, 11 am Sunday morning. We’ve done our best to keep all the familiar elements of our service — welcome, praise songs, announcements, receiving the […]
Maurine Georgiades has been part of the broader ABC family since the early 1950s. She’s now 93 years old and is pretty much homebound because she has severe respiratory problems and is dependent on breathing support. In the past few years, one of the church’s TLC groups has been meeting at her home to include […]
Dear Altadena Baptist Family, The state of California has issued their “Safer at Home” request. This means that, going forward, we will not be meeting in the church building. But that won’t stop us! Because the church is really all of us, united in spirit wherever we are, and we can still take care of […]
These days, watching the stock market fall is almost as scary as watching the number of coronavirus cases rise. There has been quite a bit of talk about a looming recession, and some economists are saying we’re already in one. Yesterday, I heard the word depression used to describe where this financial roller coaster is […]
This is the title of our Pre-Easter (Lenten) sermon series which began last Sunday. These will be studies based on the “Upper Room Discourse” of Jesus, as recorded in John 14 through 17. These are a series of important teachings Jesus shared with his disciples when he knew that “his hour had come to depart […]
Psalm 103 begins and ends with this exclamation of praise: Bless the Lord, O my soul. In between are a cluster of wonderful gems of faith that make this, for me, one of the greatest poems ever created. Here are a few: The psalmist tells his soul to remember all God’s gifts of grace (verses 2-3). […]
Here are my personal reflections on last Sunday Black History Celebration: There was no drama similar to the disruptive protest we experienced last year when District Attorney Jackie Lacey was our speaker. This allowed us to be a lot more relaxed. However, I don’t regret last year’s more edgy event because it demonstrated that we’re […]
Have you ever been to one of those closing programs of a camp or Bible School in which every kid gets some kind of award, ranging from First Place in a running race, to Best Haircut, to Stayed Awake During Chapel? Just to cover a child who doesn’t seem to stand out in any way, […]
In the early 1970s, when Altadena/Pasadena was undergoing the rapid change of racial diversification, many white churches fled the African American influx by moving east of Lake Avenue. ABC decided to meet that change head-on by staying put and committing to the neighborhood. Once African Americans graciously integrated this formerly white church, ABCs DNA of open arms […]
Do you remember when there was prayer in the public schools and when Sunday mornings were reserved for worship so people could go to church without competition from sports; when it was expected that everyone went to church every Sunday? That was a time of cultural privilege for Christianity. Churches thrived in a culture that […]