Feature Church: Sacramento, California

Early in the year of 1984, a small group of people in Sacramento, California, made a phone call to the Apostolic Faith Church in San Francisco, asking about the possibility of having Bible studies in their city. The pastor in San Francisco asked Gilbert and Phyllis Olson if they would like to do this. They agreed, and in their first Bible study, eleven people were present.

It was decided to have a study every two weeks, meeting in various homes. This pattern continued until the summer of 1985. The Olsons commuted from San Francisco, a distance of ninety miles, to lead the Bible studies. After the camp meeting of 1986, a new pastor was appointed for the San Francisco church. The new pastor thought it would be good for the Olsons to move to Sacramento and start a church there.

One of the big hurdles of starting a new church is finding an affordable meeting place. After the Olsons had looked at churches for sale, then big houses and buildings for rent, they settled on a house with four bedrooms and a large family room in which services could be held. On February 25, 1986, less than two years after the first Bible study, the first church service was held in the family room of the house. Thirty-two people attended that first service.

God blessed in the services and the congregation grew until as many as sixty people crowded into that facility. The General Overseer from Portland, Oregon, was in attendance one Sunday, and when he saw the crowd, he encouraged the group to secure a larger place for their meetings. They located the North Highlands Community Center, where a bingo game was held every Sunday afternoon, but Sunday mornings and evenings were available for services. Church services were held in this location for the better part of two years.

A large number of Romanian families lived in the Sacramento area. From time to time, a few of those families would attend the Apostolic Faith meetings. Some of the families were quite large, and the younger children had a tendency to favor the English language even in their homes. The elders feared the youngsters would lose their native language completely if they attended an English speaking church, so they would take the family to the Romanian church. However, a number of the younger people preferred the Apostolic Faith Church and attended whenever possible. The pastor paid special attention to these children, taking them to combined meetings with other Apostolic Faith churches in various nearby cities. He also took some to the camp meetings in Portland, Oregon, and to the annual youth camp in the California area. This attention paid dividends, and a number of these children were saved. Becoming adults, many have married and are raising families, and are staunch members of the growing Sacramento church group.

In 1988, the congregation had grown to the point where the need for a permanent meeting place was evident. A building with an affordable price was located in the nearby suburb of Elverta. An architect who loved to work on old buildings was hired, and the work began. First, the building had to be earthquake-proofed, then all the code requirements for a building with public usage had to be met. It was a long, arduous job, but the church was completed and passed inspection in April of 1990.

The dedication of the church was held on June 10, 1990, with three hundred people in attendance. The Reverend Loyce C. Carver, General Overseer of the Apostolic Faith work at that time, was present for the service. The church is located at 7842 Elmont Street, Elverta, California, 95625. The Reverend Clif Kasper is the current pastor, and extends an invitation to all to come and visit.