IN THE SPIRIT

-- Compiled by Michele M. Marr

ADDRESS: 740 W. Wilson St., Costa Mesa

PHONE: (949) 631-7730; fax: (949) 631-7732; e-mail: o7

[email protected] ; Web site: o7 www.apayne.com/harbor.htmf7

DENOMINATION: Assemblies of God

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1955. Harbor Christian Fellowship is the oldest

Assemblies of God church in Costa Mesa.

SERVICE TIMES: Worship service at 10 a.m. Sunday; worship and Bible study

at 6 p.m. Sunday.

SENIOR PASTOR: Bill Gartner

SIZE OF CONGREGATION: 40

MAKEUP OF CONGREGATION: Members are from the local neighborhoods near the

church. The congregation is frequently mistaken to be one and the same

with the congregation of La Puerta Abierta, which leases its meeting and

worship facilities from Harbor Christian Fellowship. Each congregation

has its own pastors, services and mission statements. The primary

language of the members of Harbor Christian Fellowship is English, while

the primary language of members of La Puerta Abierta is Spanish.

CHILD CARE: Provided for Sunday morning service only.

TYPE OF WORSHIP: The worship is charismatic and contemporary, with an

emphasis on praise and worship. Services are informal and begin with a

call to worship by way of congregational readings that include the

church’s mission statement, an Old Testament passage, a New Testament

passage, and prayer. Pastor Bill Gartner gives a children’s message, then

members participate in a time of sharing stories about their spiritual

growth, their life struggles and their experience of God’s influence in

their lives. Gartner or a guest speaker delivers a message.

THE MESSAGE: Pastor messages are part of a series and are expositional,

biblical and delivered in a way meant to challenge people to think about

their lives.

RECENT MESSAGE: The current Sunday morning series in the book of Genesis

is an exploration into the character of God and the character of the

human race as recorded in biblical history. The current focus of study at

the Sunday evening Bible service is of Romans 11, which illuminates how

God really is in control.

UPCOMING MESSAGE: For Sunday morning, Genesis 32: “Maybe that’s not my

job after all.”

WELCOME WAGON: At 9:30 a.m. every Sunday, doughnuts and coffee are

available in the Fireside Room of the church. Gartner and the

congregation welcome visitors without making them uncomfortable by making

a fuss over them. Although offerings are always welcome, no offering is

taken during the service at Harbor Christian Fellowship. After the

service, everyone is encouraged to stay for refreshments and fellowship

in the church’s outdoor quad area.

OUTREACH PROGRAMS: On the second Friday of each month, a food

distribution ministry operated by Orlando Sanchez of Qoheleth Ministries

gives out loads of food from the church parking lot. Newport Mesa Adult

Education holds English as a second language classes at the church site.

Four classes are held at the church from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through

Thursday. At 9 a.m. on Mondays, Gartner teaches a Bible study at the

Regal Mobile Home Park in Costa Mesa. The congregation provides for

global and local missions with financial support to missionaries in

India, Colombia, Palestine, inner city Los Angeles and Costa Mesa.

Recently, the church negotiated a lease with South Coast Children’s

Society that will allow this organization to extend the services of their

existing school. The South Coast Priority School of the society gives

community residents access to special education teachers, licensed speech

therapists, school psychologists and other professionals on an as-needed

basis. Most of its students are admitted because emotional problems have

created barriers to their learning process. The school aims to provide

individual instruction for each student. Classroom instruction is

designed to help each pupil achieve personalized goals and objectives.

Harbor Christian Fellowship hosts a number of neighborhood programs

including Kid’s Game Night, a summer children’s program; an annual Fourth

of July outreach that includes fireworks; parking lot outreaches, which

invite the neighborhood to the church site to enjoy free hot dogs, soda

and fellowship. The church’s women’s ministry hosted a community Health

Fair in May that featured free hearing and vision tests provided through

the Lion’s Club and free mammograms provided through the YWCA and Encore

Plus. In August, the women’s ministry gave away 160 pounds of snow cones

and nearly 500 cotton candy treats at the Joann Street/Miner Street

National Night Out celebration, hosted by the Costa Mesa Police

Department. Harbor Christian Fellowship is committed to seeing the city

of Costa Mesa become all that it can be. It aims to be a place of refuge

for the wounded, a voice of justice for the abused and a home where the

members of the community will always be welcome.

DRESS: Casual.

MISSION STATEMENT: “Our primary purpose is to love and worship God in a

spirit-filled, family gathering of servants of our lord Jesus Christ.

Through our desire and calling, we seek the opportunity for growth and

accept the challenge to share the love of God. In service to Christ, we

strive to meet all people at their point of need. We accept the power of

prayer and the Holy Spirit to change our lives, the lives of others and

to strengthen our relationship with God. In the hope that God might use

us to reconcile people to him, we agree to support these ministries which

best reach, teach and keep people. We understand that people respond to

God in different ways. Therefore, within the spectrum of ministry at

Harbor Christian Fellowship, there are many culturally diverse ministries

intent upon reaching, teaching, and keeping children, teens and adults.”

INTERESTING NOTE: The missionary in Palestine, to whom the Harbor

Christian Fellowship sends financial support, is Steve Mashni, former

Costa Mesa resident and journalist for the Daily Pilot.