Harbor Christian Fellowship

* Address: 740 W. Wilson St., Costa Mesa

* Telephone: (949) 631-7730

* Web site: www.apayne.com/harbor.htm

* Denomination: Assemblies of God

* Year church established: 1955. Harbor Christian Fellowship is

the oldest Assemblies of God church in Costa Mesa.

* Service times: Sunday worship is at 10 a.m.; Home group Bible

study and fellowship meets 7 p.m. Wednesday.

* Senior pastor: Bill Gartner

* Size of congregation: 40

* Makeup of congregation: Members come primarily from local

neighborhoods near the church. A few members drive in from

neighboring cities. The congregation is a relatively small group of

people with a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

* 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, welcome and prayer. Gartner invites the

children forward for a special word of truth, then they are dismissed

for children’s church. Gartner or a guest speaker delivers the

morning message. Although offerings are always welcome, no offering

is taken during the service. After the service, everyone is

encouraged to stay for refreshments and fellowship.

* Dress: Casual.

* Past sermons: Gartner’s messages are usually part of a series

and are typically expositional and Bible based. He delivers them in a

way meant to challenge people to think about their lives and how they

can positively affect their communities.

* Recent message: Gartner is currently preaching through a series

of messages called “The Romans Road: A Walk Through the Book of

Romans,” based on the New Testament book of Romans. Gartner believes

this book has done much to shape Christian thought throughout the

centuries and still speaks loudly and clearly today.

* Welcome wagon: At 9:45 a.m. each Sunday, doughnuts and coffee

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

congregation are there to welcome visitors.

* Outreach and partner programs: Harbor Christian Fellowship

hosts and partners with La Puerta Abierta (The Open Door) Church. The

Pastor of La Puerta Abierta is the Rev. Heber Paredes, a graduate of

Fuller Theological Seminary. La Puerta Abierta’s services are at 7

p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday. The congregation is cell based.

Cell groups meet every Friday evening in the homes of members.

La Puerta Abierta and Harbor Christian Fellowship are also

partners in some ministry activities, such as summer vacation Bible

school and an American Red Cross blood drive at the church.

On the second Friday of each month, a food distribution ministry

operated by Orlando Sanchez of Qoheleth Ministries gives out food in

the church parking lot. The congregation provides for global and

local missions through financial support to missionaries in India,

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

Church facilities are used by the South Coast Children’s Society

as an extension to its existing school. The society’s South Coast

Priority School gives community residents access to special-education

teachers, licensed speech therapists, school psychologists and other

professionals on an as-needed basis. The school aims to provide

individual instruction for each student.

Harbor Christian Fellowship hosts a number of neighborhood

programs during the year, including Kid’s Game Night, a summer

children’s program, an annual Fourth of July outreach and parking lot

outreaches which invite the neighborhood to the church site to enjoy

free hot dogs, soda and fellowship. The church periodically serves as

host for free mammogram clinics operated by the YWCA and ENCORE Plus.

The dates of the remaining clinics for 2002 are Nov. 16 and Dec. 14.

For more information about the clinics and how to qualify, call (714)

935-9720.

Harbor Christian Fellowship has recently become host facilitators

to UC Irvine’s Community Outreach Partnership Center. This is a new

initiative involving UC Irvine and partners in Costa Mesa. For more

information about this program, contact Victor Becerra at (949)

824-9337.

Harbor Christian Fellowship hosts an after-school learning center.

THINK together, an organization that operates learning centers in

Orange County cities, began a partnership with the church to provide

volunteer tutors and the structure needed to operate such a center.

For more information, contact Larena Arias at (949) 645-2342.

-- Michele Marr