Wonders at the center for 40 years

MICHELE MARR

For the past 40 years, Central Baptist Church has embodied the

expression, “wonders never cease.”

When it first took its place at what is now 7661 Warner Ave., it

was bounded by mostly open space. It would be years before the vacant

land became a developers’ patchwork of strip mall storefronts,

warehouses and high-density dwellings.

Founding member Judy Woods, now 71, remembers the landscape as

stark.

Nevertheless, in 1965, only a year after a fledging congregation

of seven adults and six children -- a mission of Central Baptist

Church in Anaheim -- held its first worship service in a rented room

at Rancho View Elementary school, Acquiring the property was

considered a blessing, even a miracle, by Woods and the church’s

other members.

She remembers one night that year when a visitor named Mr. Montai

presented an offer to the church to sell them a five-acre parcel. He

had first made the offer to the church he attended and it had turned

him down. At Central Baptist Church, the people didn’t hesitate. They

never doubted that God, through them, would put the property to good

use.

Sunday morning, the 800-seat auditorium was filled to near

capacity as clergy, past and present, and members, longtime and new,

celebrated the church’s 40th anniversary.

The auditorium is the second the church has built. During the

early ‘70s, after meeting for a number of years in two temporary

buildings brought to the Warner Ave. site, the church managed to

build a two-story education building and a 400-seat auditorium under

the pastorate of the Rev. Thomas Ray.

Ray became the church’s pastor in 1969, after its first full-time

pastor, the Rev. Maynard Nutting, resigned. Nutting had been the

pastor of the church from 1965 to 1969, after its missionary pastor,

the Rev. Dr. George R Seimins, moved on.

Ray, who now lives in Texas, was back at the church to preach

Sunday morning along with his wife. He mixed quite a few jokes into

his message, including one about a scientist who tells God man

doesn’t need him anymore because man can now do anything God can. So

God challenges the scientist to create a life out of nothing, as he

once did.

As soon as the scientist stoops to grab a hand full of dirt, God

stops him.

“No, no, no,” God says. “Get your own dirt.”

Like all of his jokes, this one made his point; everyone, whether

they know it or not, depends on God. The point sits close to the

heart of the church.

“One thing has never changed [throughout 40 years],” Ray said to

the congregation. “It has always been about the people.”

About introducing people to the God they need, the God who loves

them. The God who forgives them, even of those things they sometimes

believe are the most unforgivable things. The God, Ray said, who will

“never leave or forsake” them.

It’s about taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to anyone who will

listen.

Banners along the auditoriums walls echo Ray’s message. “Love and

serve others.” “Seek and know God.” “Touch and change the world.”

Woods, who now lives in San Clemente but still drives with her

husband Gene to the church each Sunday, said that is what has kept

them and others coming to the church.

“These people love the Lord and we’ve always tried to get other

people to know the Lord. That’s been the motivating factor of ... my

husband and I ... our whole Christian lives. And Central [Baptist

Church] has always been evangelistic and trying to reach out to the

community,” Woods said.

At a luncheon following the worship service, Brad McCaunneghey, a

44-year-old pastor from Seattle, spoke. McCaunneghey was a visitor,

but he’s no stranger to the church. He was baptized in the church in

1974 and later, in his senior year of high school, felt what he said

was a calling to the ministry.

His first job was at Central Baptist Church. He was married at the

church and his children went to school there.

Not all of its children grow up to go into full-time ministry but

many probably feel just like McCaunneghey.

“This church will always be my home,” he said. “Bruce Melton, [the

pastor of the church since 1977], will always be my pastor.”

The sons or daughters of one church family have sometimes married

a son or daughter of another; one of Woods’ sons, Rod, married one of

Ray’s daughters, Cindy. In many ways, the church is like a huge

extended family, sharing its trials and triumphs, its sorrows and its

happiness.

McCaunneghey reminisced about the good years past, but told the

congregation, “The best years at Central Baptist [Church] are ahead.”

Two years ago, with Melton serving in his 25th year as its pastor,

the church completed construction of its 800-seat auditorium and a

three-story all-purpose building to accommodate its worship services,

its K-12 school and its preschool.

The church has seen a lot of success. Sunday, Ray thanked God.

“Humanly speaking, it’s impossible to build a church. Only God can

do that,” he said.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at [email protected].