Hispanic CRC Launched in California
There is a new Hispanic Christian Reformed Church in California. Recently, Crossroads CRC of San Marcos, Calif., hosted a joint bilingual service with the Camino al Cielo (Highway to Heaven) congregation with which they have been sharing facilities for eight years.
It was a culmination celebration of a process that included a $3,000 grant from Christian Reformed Home Missions.
At a Sunday service on Feb. 22, the council of Crossroads CRC oversaw a reaffirmation of faith by members of the Spanish church, for the purpose of affiliating with the CRC as an emerging church.
Elder Arie Wilgenberg read the form in Spanish with Rev. Mark Vermaire, who has served as pastor at Crossroads since 1999, speaking words of welcome. Two baby girls were baptized in a service filled with emotion and satisfaction at taking this important step.
In his sermons, Pastor Jose Balderas emphasized the Reformed understanding of the sacraments, covenant baptism in the first service, and the Passover-Lord’s Supper connection in the joint service.
In the potluck that followed, Ralph Nieblas from the Chula Vista Trinity Fellowship/Monte Sion churches spoke words of encouragement. Home Mission’s Hispanic Ministry Developer for Southern California, Ms. Mirtha Villafane, also gave greetings. She expressed great satisfaction in observing this celebration, and offered further training for the church leaders.
Crossroads and Camino al Cielo agreed to work together, but they are not contemplating a merger. Crossroads will hold the Camino memberships until that congregation is organized as an established church.
Rev. Balderas and his wife, Crecencia, started the church in their backyard in Escondido and it later grew to a congregation of around 100 people in the facilities of the Christian and Missionary Alliance church.
Upon losing the use of that facility, what the congregation considers a providential leading brought them to Crossroads in San Marcos. While that move cost a fairly large number of members due upheaval and distance, about half made the transition to San Marcos.
Total membership settled for a time at around 50; over the past several years there has been steady growth. Sunday noon services in the Crossroads sanctuary have an attendance of around 65-75, including 15 young people and nearly 20 children.
There have been conversations between the leadership of the two congregations as to how best to continue to relate to one another. Essentially, they agreed that Crossroads would commit long-term to maintaining close ties with Camino al Cielo.
