Come visit the Shell Ridge booth at Family Fest this weekend - Heather Farm Park, 10 am - 6 pm, Sat. and Sun.
We're a Welcoming and Affirming Church for All People!

At Family Fest, we met many wonderful people who visited our booth this past weekend!

Our church participated in Family Fest and we really enjoyed the opportunity to make new friends! There were many families who stopped by our booth to play bean-bag toss, get a face painting, or make a purple hand pledge against violence. It was a great weekend!

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Shell Ridge Community Church
Walnut Creek, California

Rev. Dr. Gregory H. Ledbetter, Pastor
Rev. Dr. Angela Yarber, Associate Pastor of Arts and Education


Welcoming and Affirming of All People


Sunday Worship - 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Sunday School for children in first through fifth grades (during second half of worship time)

September through mid-June - 9:30 a.m. - Adult forum, youth class,
and fellowship time for children

Nursery is available every Sunday of the year.

200 La Casa Via , Walnut Creek, CA 94598 (Maps) ~ (925) 935-3250


We celebrated "FIESTA Sunday" on July 4, 2010, to welcome our Mexico Mission team, who returned home on June 24 after a week of building a home for a family in the Tijuana, Mexico area. They shared many inspiring insights about experiences they had!


We've had TWO this summer! Yes, we've had <I>TWO</i>... Family Fun Nights -- LOGOS-style evenings for everyone in July and August.

Thanks to Betty deKat, Chris Shade, and others for organizing and coordinating these very special social events. They were lots of fun, with plenty of great food, and they showed what our regular LOGOS evenings are like for all the children and adults who participate in this popular program, which occurs on Wednesday afternoons each Spring and Fall. Hours are typically 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. and include games, crafts, Bible study, and a shared meal with students and staff. It is a wonderful learning and fellowship experience for kids in 1st through 5th grades. (Older kids and youth meet at different times -- under the direction of associate ministers Rev. Dr. Angela Yarber and Chris Shade.




Listen to "River of Peace," sung by the Shell Ridge Men's Quartet


Maps showing church location

+ + + + + + +


Our Pastor, Greg Ledbetter, was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Divinity degree
by the American Baptist Seminary of the West,
Berkeley, CA, on May 22, 2010.

Our Associate Pastor, Angela Yarber, received a
Ph.D. in Art and Religion
from the Graduate Theological Union,
Berkeley, CA, on May 13, 2010.

Congratulations, Drs. Greg and Angela!


From Pastor Greg's Lenten Devotionals


My God of infinite love,
enter and fill me and
take control of every
area of my life. Let my
mind be as transparent
as a window for letting Your truth
shine through me.

Let my heart be as the widow's
cruse, ever brimming over with
Your compassion for all.

Let the threads of my life be interwoven
with the tapestry of Your eternal purposes.
For Yours is the Kingdom, and the power, and
the glory forever and ever. Amen.




About Universal Health Care in California


Why should I care about Universal Health Care (still proposed in California)?

These are some fundamental principles that should be part of a good healthcare system:

o Everybody is in, nobody is out

o It's portable if I change jobs

o I can access many skilled health care providers

o It's sustainable with administrative costs about one fifth of our current insurance bureaucracy

o Nobody is bankrupted by health care costs

Single Payer is the only approach that does this. It's a highly efficient way of paying for health care through a single organization. With the Single Payer approach health care continues to be delivered through multiple providers; it provides broad choice about where services are received. In terms of coverage, everybody is in; nobody is out, even when between jobs. Nobody is made bankrupt by health care expenses. The Single Payer approach is more effective in delivering better health care outcomes, for example people live longer. SB 810 would provide Single Payer health care in California.

SICK AROUND THE WORLD

On Sunday, February 1, a group of members and visitors viewed and discussed the FRONTLINE video, "Sick around the World," that examines how other capitalist democracies deliver healthcare and what we might learn from them.
Click to see a 6-minute preview of the video at the YouTube site.


(See a summary provided by Ron, and view the video, "The Healthcare Solution - California OneCare," in
22 minutes or
3 minute summary

NOTE: The above links lead to an off-site location for which Shell Ridge Church has no control and takes no responsibility. THESE VIDEOS HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY THE OWNER, CALIFORNIA ONECARE. They may continue to be available on other video sites (search Google).




Shell Ridge is an officially welcoming and affirming congregation.

On Sunday, January 25, 2009, the following affirmation was approved by the congregation:

As a diverse body of Jesus' followers, we affirm:

+ that every person is made in God's image, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and heterosexual and that every person's sexual orientation is a gift from God, a critical part of one's personal identity, and should be a non-factor in regard to sharing in the full life and ministry of our church;

+ that in the Spirit of love, openness, and inclusiveness, we welcome and affirm all, without regard to their sexual orientation;

+ that as agents of peace and justice, we seek to support all who suffer discrimination, injustice or inequality of any kind;

+ that we will continue to appreciate more fully our differences and gifts and that by God's grace our love for God and each other may flourish;

+ the need to seek to fully live out and continue to deepen the welcome and affirmation of all by the grace and strength of God and;

+ that we will seek to remain in loving dialogue and fellowship with those who are in dissent with our decision.

Therefore:

Believing that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender persons have a place in the full life and ministry of the local church, Shell Ridge Community Church shall officially be known as a Welcoming and Affirming congregation.
[Approved January 25, 2009, by 96.4% of members present and voting.]

ALL ARE WELCOME

All Friends, Visitors and Members
regardless of sexual orientation or affectional preference.

An article by Ken Sehested on Biblical Fidelity and Sexual Orientation entitled St. Peter and the Jerusalem Protocol. Additional reading: Sexuality and the Bible by Walter Wink. Both references are comprehensive.

Ken Sehested is founding director of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. His article is reprinted from the Spring/Summer 1995 issue of the journal Baptist Peacemaker.

Welcoming and Affirming of All People
including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People


SPECIAL PROGRAM EMPHASES



IF YOU MISSED THE VIDEO, "WHO IS OUR NEIGHBOR: IMMIGRATION," you can VIEW IT NOW! (Click here, runs 6 minutes)
Produced by Gerson Sanchez, a member of our congregation.


HAVE YOU SEEN THE DOCUMENTARY VIDEO, "FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO"? (Click here to see video trailer at YouTube site).
This is an excellent and highly recommended review of current biblical scholarship and human experience that offers healing, clarity
and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.

Two DVDs of this video were circulated among members of our congregation for viewing prior to the vote for the church on January 25, 2009 to officially become an Open, Welcoming & Affirming church, accepting of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons into our membership. The policy was approved by a 96.4% vote of members present and voting. Although this has been the church's practice for many years, a majority felt it was important to take an official position on this question. Please let Sandy Mitchell or Pastor Greg Ledbetter know if you'd like more information or wish to view the video.

NOTE: The above link leads to an off-site location for which Shell Ridge Church has no control and takes no responsibility. At the YouTube site, click on the little box at the bottom right-hand corner of their video screen to expand to full-screen size on your computer.



The story of the Good Samaritan



Our Pastor's Messages to the People

Click here to read some of Rev. Dr. Ledbetter's recent sermons.

Our 'Social Action Leadership Team (SALT)'

Week of June 28th-July 2, 2010: Shell Ridge is preparing evening meals for residents of
Mountain View Family Shelter, Martinez, which we help to support through the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County.




Please join us in holding the Building Committee in prayer that they may have wisdom and patience, as costs for the proposed Ministry Center have risen greatly due to mandatory requirements by the Contra Costa Consolidated Fire District, Walnut Creek City staff, Design Review and Planning Commissions.

For more information or to make a donation, contact Moderator Karen Duran or Church Treasurer Dick Shumaker through the church office
(by emailing lura at shellridge.org).





Join us for worship each Sunday at 10:30 a.m.


Pastor Greg Ledbetter preaches most Sundays, and the congregation celebrates Communion on the first Sunday of each month.
All are welcome to come and participate.



Shell Ridge sponsors an annual Mission Trip each year. Working with AMOR Ministries, a group of church members, friends, and young people have built houses for families in the Tijuana, Mexico area since 2000. We will celebrate "Fiesta Sunday" on July 4, 2010, to welcome our Mexico Mission team, who returned home on June 26 after a week of building in the Tijuana, Mexico area. They will tell of their experiences and inspiring insights into the lives of people there working to better their lives. Contact the church office at 935-3250 for information on plans for the next trip.





Check out the new VIDEOS section to view the church's participation in the annual Walnut Creek Peace March
with music by the Shell Ridge Ramblers.

NOTE: The above link leads to an off-site location for which Shell Ridge Church has no control and takes no responsibility. At the YouTube site, click on the little box at the bottom right-hand corner of their video screen to expand to full-screen size on your computer.





"To be agents of change in the lives of people. To lift up the fallen. To encourage the failing. To strengthen the weak. To provide a gentle push to the timid. To evidence kindness, concern, caring. To bring out the best in people. To set persons free to be all that they can be."
-- Ray Jennings

Shell Ridge is a liberal Christian Church
in the American Baptist Tradition

We are a community of Christian persons called together to worship God, follow Jesus and serve the world. We are spiritually warm, theologically progressive and socially active. We are an inclusive church welcoming all who seek to join us in our common life and purpose.

So, what is Shell Ridge all about?

Click here for some different perspectives on
what Shell Ridge is all about
Leave a Message on our Feedback Form

Listen to "River of Peace," sung by the Shell Ridge Men's Quartet (with Doug Brown, Tim Michelson, the late Elden Ellingson, and Rev. Dr. Gregory H. Ledbetter, as recorded on the album, "Let Peace Fill the Earth", Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, 2001)


At Shell Ridge. . .

We strive to be inclusive in our worship and community life. We also strive to be aware and respectful of the past, joyfully engaged in the present, and mindful of the future into which we seek to grow. We make every attempt for our worship language to model our inclusivity and our respect for our heritage. . .
-- Rev. Dr. Greg Ledbetter, Pastor


HOME PAGE | SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES | STAFF
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WE SUPPORT | VIDEOS

Shell Ridge Community Church of Walnut Creek
200 La Casa Via , Walnut Creek, CA 94598
Phone: (925) 935-3250 Fax: (925) 935-3281