Garden Church

Tucked in the hills east of town is an unconventional place where, each Sunday, politicians meet, but where politics is taboo. On most any warm, summer weekend, the shirt-sleeved crowd gathered in an amphitheater just above the eastbound lanes of the Riverside Freeway includes a variety of local officials, from a county supervisor to an Anaheim councilman. But they are not here to see each other. They are here to hear Pastor Bryan L. Crow, the politically savvy minister of the Garden Church.

The daughter of Crystal Cathedral founder Robert H. Schuller announced Thursday that she would conduct services for her own breakaway church in an Orange County movie theater, complete with popcorn and candy. Sheila Schuller Coleman, who inherited the Crystal Cathedral pulpit from her father, told congregants during Sunday's services that she was leaving the ministry her father founded and invited them to follow her to a new church. That church, it turns out, will be Theater 15 at the AMC multiplex at the Outlets at Orange.

If he had stayed in his native Texas, it might never have occurred to him. But Southern California's Mediterranean climate and unfettered life style "frees you to think a lot of thoughts you normally wouldn't," said the Rev. Bryan Crow, pastor of Anaheim's evangelical Garden Church. What they made Crow think of 20 years ago was a biblical botanical garden and outdoor church.

Leaders of Orange County's bankrupt Crystal Cathedral backed away from talk of selling and called on congregants and "Hour of Power" television viewers to open their checkbooks to help erase more than $50 million in debt. The announcement that the architecturally rich Garden Grove campus is not for sale came during Sunday morning services and followed a vote Thursday by its board of directors. Last week the church reorganized the board, adding five members. In a statement, church founder Robert H. Schuller called the decision not to sell "unexpected" but applauded the effort.

If he had stayed in his native Texas, it might never have occurred to him, said the Rev. Bryan Crow, pastor of Anaheim's evangelical Garden Church. But being in Southern California, with its Mediterranean climate and unfettered life style, "frees you to think a lot of thoughts you normally wouldn't." What it made Crow think of, 20 years ago, was creating a biblical botanical garden and outdoor church.

Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin late in the fall on a 100-unit senior citizen apartment complex on a 2.2-acre site owned by the Hawaiian Gardens Community Redevelopment Agency. Whelan Development Co. of Costa Mesa answered the agency's request last year for a senior housing plan for the site on the south side of 226th Street, west of Norwalk Boulevard.

Six Hawaiian Gardens churches will join in a community rally against gangs, drugs and violence on July 18 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Furgeson Elementary School, 22215 S. Elaine Ave. The Rev. Barry Bruce, pastor of Way Out Ministries, said the event is the culmination of meetings by church pastors to discuss gang diversion programs and other services they offer parishioners.

About 286 volunteers from eight Orange County churches and 18 other Southern California congregations repaired and refurbished the First Christian Church of Garden Grove on Sept. 18. The project was part of a statewide Miracle Day, during which volunteers in Ventura County and San Diego also worked to fix up churches in their areas. Volunteers painted, laid new tile and carpeting, improved landscaping and made electrical repairs to the Chapman Avenue church.

The City Council tonight will consider a $20-million expansion plan by Crystal Cathedral for a six-story family center and cemetery--a plan rejected late last year by the city Planning Commission due to opposition from the church's neighbors. The Planning Commission denied the application on Dec. 12 after hearing complaints from neighbors who said the plan would increase traffic and parking problems in the area. The additions would displace about 300 parking spaces.

On Christmas Day, a free turkey dinner will be offered to homeless, hungry or elderly citizens at the Garden Grove United Methodist Church, 12741 Main St. The fifth annual dinner is being hosted by Real Help of Garden Grove, a coalition of churches and social agencies. Besides turkey and trimmings, Real Help also gives its guests a variety of holiday gifts.

Like assembly line workers beginning a shift, Father Wilfredo Benitez and the Rev. Preston Price exchanged quick hellos Friday and got to work. They greeted their commingled congregations, which were arriving for a reenactment of Jesus' climb, bearing a heavy wooden cross, up Mt. Calvary. "I got a layperson to carry the cross out of the church," Benitez said during a lull. "Good," replied Price, senior pastor of United Methodist Church in Garden Grove.

Debbie McCart's father and mother both died--10 years apart--within three days of Christmas. Since then, grief has been as much a part of her holiday as Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. "When I hear my first Christmas carol is when I start to feel sad," she said. McCart, along with two dozen others, sought solace from their holiday depression at a somber but comforting "Blue Christmas" service in Garden Grove on Thursday evening.

About 286 volunteers from eight Orange County churches and 18 other Southern California congregations repaired and refurbished the First Christian Church of Garden Grove on Sept. 18. The project was part of a statewide Miracle Day, during which volunteers in Ventura County and San Diego also worked to fix up churches in their areas. Volunteers painted, laid new tile and carpeting, improved landscaping and made electrical repairs to the Chapman Avenue church.

Christians don't need to travel to the Holy Land to walk a path similar to those in the Bible. For more than two decades, Trinity Lutheran Church in Simi Valley has maintained its Biblical Garden, which features every tree and plant mentioned in the scriptures, along with a stone marker citing the Bible passage. The serene setting behind the church provides a space for quiet contemplation and a unique look at the Bible, said the Rev. Al Young, Trinity Lutheran's pastor.

The City Council has given a local congregation six months to move from an office building where it has held services for the past six years. The church was supposed to move from an office park near Harper Street and Westminster Avenue by the end of this week. The extension will give the church more time to look for a different location. "This is not what we want, but I'm grateful," said the Rev.

The City Council has denied the request of a local congregation to open a church in a business park, saying it would jeopardize the city's efforts to attract more businesses and expand its sales tax base. In a 4 to 1 vote Tuesday , the council rejected the recommendation of the Planning Commission, which in July voted to allow the Trinity Christian Fellowship to operate a church at the Cedar Grove business park on Garden Grove Boulevard.

Each Sunday, thousands of worshipers at Crystal Cathedral start off services with prayers for American troops serving in Somalia and the people the GIs are trying to save from starvation. The prayers are part of Operation Desert Prayer, which was launched by anxious church members whose sons and daughters participated in military action against Iraq in the Persian Gulf. The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, founder and senior pastor of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, initiated the Somalia prayers on Dec.

Christians don't need to travel to the Holy Land to walk a path similar to those in the Bible. For more than two decades, Trinity Lutheran Church in Simi Valley has maintained its Biblical Garden, which features every tree and plant mentioned in the scriptures, along with a stone marker citing the Bible passage. The serene setting behind the church provides a space for quiet contemplation and a unique look at the Bible, said the Rev. Al Young, Trinity Lutheran's pastor.

Each Sunday, thousands of worshipers at Crystal Cathedral start off services with prayers for American troops serving in Somalia and the people the GIs are trying to save from starvation. The prayers are part of Operation Desert Prayer, which was launched by anxious church members whose sons and daughters participated in military action against Iraq in the Persian Gulf. The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, founder and senior pastor of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, initiated the Somalia prayers on Dec.

On Christmas Day, a free turkey dinner will be offered to homeless, hungry or elderly citizens at the Garden Grove United Methodist Church, 12741 Main St. The fifth annual dinner is being hosted by Real Help of Garden Grove, a coalition of churches and social agencies. Besides turkey and trimmings, Real Help also gives its guests a variety of holiday gifts.