LIVING and SERVING COMMUNITY

Winter Retreat 2011

2011-01-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

Just got back from Twain Harte with an amazing retreat! So glad God brought us together in community for the weekend. About 55 young married and single young adults spent time in the snow, music, prayer, laughter, reflecting, God's word, and many great meals.

Pics and video coming soon

Dave Morey's Story

2010-11-17T00:17:00.000-08:00

Last Week of Summer

2010-08-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

The last week of summer was FULL, crazy, intense, & fun. Here's some snapshots!
Praying for summer interns as they take off on their last Sunday!
Sumo wrestling on the lawn after the 5:30 gathering. This was a blast. People lost their minds!
PCCYA lead the RWC movie on the square & interns Leelee (w/ Franco the parrot) and Brandon MC'd.

End of Summer--Emerald Lake--Party (now an annual thing) at the lake was awesome!

We also had a baptism! We celebrate w/ the new life of Gus!!!

Coming up Stuff for Fall 2010 & Beyond

2010-08-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

SMALL GROUPS RE-UNITE
It's a new season START SEPT 7TH Tuesday Night!
Meet PCC campus 7pm more details to come
& new groups to form!

MISSION CITY COFFEE HOUSE
Upper Room Worship Gathering
Tuesday Sept 14th (7-9pm)
Meet PCC campus 6pm to carpool

Fall Retreat is SEPT 24-26
Santa Cruz-Sign up & Pay online via:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=106864646038043

SF Serving Retreat TBA in oct (22-24 or Nov 19-21)

PCC Thanksgiving Lunch
Thursday Nov 25th

PCCYA Christmas Party
Tuesday December 21st

2011 January 7-9 Winter Retreat

MEXICO MISSION TBA

July 29-31, 2011
Hot Water Weekend

Hot Water Weekend 8/6-8, 2010

2010-08-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

a little snippet from Red Morton Park

2010-06-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

Interns have arrived! Summer is here!

2010-06-12T11:26:00.001-07:00

1st Red Morton gathering of 2010!

Intern intros:
Intern prayer commissioning:

Summer is here!!

20 interns came from all around the Word including Israel and Africa, East Coast (NY) to our own state of California! Small groups have officially started in Red Morton Park. To join the small group gathering go here for more info! and show up to Red Morton Park (Valota Entrance) every Tuesday night around 6pm for activities & dinner starts at 6:30pm.

Make sure you join the Facebook group to keep in the loop with spontaneous happenings!

Meet some Summer Interns for 2010

2010-05-27T23:35:00.000-07:00

San Francisco Serving Retreat 2010

2010-04-21T13:25:00.001-07:00

PCCYA SF Serving Retreat 2010 from PCC Young Adults on Vimeo.

Kelley Rhoads' Story

2010-03-31T11:36:00.001-07:00

PCC's own Kelley Rhoads was an intern, taught group power (exercise), served with High School Ministry and was an active young adult in the PCC family. Now she's a missionary as a teacher in Guadalajara, Mexico!

Kelley Rhoads from PCC Young Adults on Vimeo.

Serving

2010-03-06T21:29:00.000-08:00

This week was "Read across America," which enabled PCC young adults to read to kids in East Palo Alto, thanks to (teacher) Autumn Buzzell. (See Ellen and Candice talk about it here). We seek to continue to live out our vision to be a SERVING COMMUNITY!

Also in this video is Dave Shearin talking about his passion for STREET CHURCH.

Tony Ricci's Story

2010-03-03T21:48:00.000-08:00

Currently we have small groups happening throughout the week, most meeting on Tuesday nights. If you'd like to be a part of one let us know. www.pccya.com

Family Fueding 2/19/2010

2010-02-19T23:10:00.000-08:00

The young adults participated in a PCC Student Ministries' Fund Raiser and... we LOST BIG TIME (to the 50+ Ministry)! But we had cool shirts (Thanks to Charmaine) and a team name. Way to go Mellow Yellows.

And we are unveling our new website designed by our own Andrew Dunn of Peal Designs. Great job, Andrew!

Sydney Eyre's Story

2010-02-11T21:58:00.000-08:00

I believed my dad was in prison because I wasn't a good enough Christian. He couldn’t be there for us. I was lost, numb, and in a bad relationship with my mom. I felt I needed to be the adult. We would go days without talking, and I’d find any reason to leave the house. I stopped caring and shut off all emotion. My mom was falling apart and I tried everything I could to help, but nothing worked. I started blaming myself. I broke down and prayed one last time, and for the first time, in a long time, I felt! I felt HIS warmth, a LITERAL embrace, I could barely breathe, but it felt so good! I felt TRUE love for the first time. I fought so hard to keep going and took on the responsibilities of keeping my family safe and myself in school, but the one thing that made me prosper and gave me happiness was letting God take care of me, and everyone around me.

Through PCC I learned that God loves me for who I am, even when I sin, He loves me. I was very thirsty for a deeper relationship with Jesus when I entered PCC! My thirst is quenched. I’m challenged to be more disciplined and to evaluate myself, not blame God. This community values each other, respects each other, and is always looking out for one another. I'm growing by staying in the scripture. When rough times come, I read, pray, and listen to God. I take delight in my new identity as a child of God, not as a child of a messy situation and big mistakes.

So many people have helped me through my trust issues, people who know I can depend on, and it makes me happy to know that I am apart of the body of Christ with PCC, and things have changed with my family. My mom is alive, has a job, and cares about life once again. My dad is a Christian worshiping God behind bars. It's amazing.I know God is protecting him. Although it has taken 8 years, my family is healing, and God is growing us to His own liking.

Kevin & Natalie Talistu's Story

2009-12-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

Brother and Sister share how their lives have changed by God.

David Bromberg's Story

2009-12-11T23:15:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year and a half since I've joined the community here at PCC. Originally from the east coast, I moved out here after graduating from college because of a job offer- I work as a software developer for Electronic Arts in Redwood Shores. I didn't know anyone out here. I found PCC through a Google search for churches in the Bay Area, and after coming to Sunday Night once, I knew enough that I wanted to keep coming back.

My first experience with the Young Adult community was coming to Mercy Cafe (a summer bbq and hang out on PCC's lawn). I met Frankie Markovich (a PCC Young Adult), who right away started introducing me to people. I know it sounds cliche, but it's true- everyone was so welcoming. The next Wednesday I started coming to our small group gatherings, and the day after that I was hiking with another PCC Young Adult, Evans Leung, and seeing my first redwoods. People really made the effort to engage with me, and as I also made the effort, relationships grew.

Having been involved a lot with my college fellowship, the Navigators, I wanted to not only receive from the community, but also serve, and so I talked to PCC's worship pastor about joining the Sunday Night band. And having led small groups in college, (PCCYA Pastor) Tony challenged me to lead a care group that Fall. The guys that I met in that care group would become some of my closest friends here. And other guys I met in the Young Adult group would become my roommates. We started out not knowing each other very well, but as we trusted God and sought to serve each other, God used us in each others' lives and grew us closer together.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate." And so I would encourage everyone who wants to be involved in a deep, enriching, loving community, to stop looking for it and start making it. Rather than reaching for some ideal, and giving up when we don't find it, we should engage with the people God has already placed around us, seeking to love them and serve them in the ways we've been gifted. Community will emerge naturally. Now, I'm happy to announce I'm engaged to long time college friend, Leah Thomason, with plans to wed in the fall of 2010.

Kevin Talistu's Story

2009-11-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

I could say that God has been a big part of my family for generations, but I was not drawn to God entirely by that. I think I first found God at 13, when a friend of mine from elementary school invited me to come hang out at the PCC middle school group called T.N.T. There were about two months where I found myself seeking God and talking to a "higher power," that culminated when I signed my name in a Bible. I felt like I had done something very important. But after that, I didn't pursue it further. You could say that a seed had been planted, because I forgot about it, but not entirely. Fifteen years later, I've been struggling in my life to find purpose, identity, and direction, among life's daily struggles and came back to the PCC to join the young adults' (YA) group that my sister was a part of.

I was drawn in by the community, much like my first connection to God 15 years earlier, and my own doubt didn't seem to matter. At the YA Fall retreat in October, I finally opened myself up fully and totally to God. He has touched me, guided me, and even pulled me towards Him. In one night, it felt like God changed me forever. In reality, I know He has been there my whole life. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to redeem all our sins. He is healer, guide, and my connection to God. Jesus loves me without question, He is my friend and I believe He is my Savior without doubt. The shackles that held me down were broken. I initiated a covenant with God, I have been baptized, and I want to let the world know that I have been saved!

Jenny Lewis' Story

2008-11-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

Two months ago I was seeing someone who wasn't necessarily good for me. I came to my friend Shoe for advice thinking he could give me some answers from a male point of view. The response that I got from him was unexpected to say the least. He asked some questions of me that really made me take a step back and look at myself in a way that was different from what I had anticipated. He allowed me to look at myself as something more than just "in the moment" and allowed me to see a bigger picture. I asked him where this difference in him had come from? He said that he had joined PCC and that he was learning about God, and when I was listening to him talk about God I could sense that his passion was real, his excitement was genuine, and I'd known him to be a non-believer. So to see this change take place in him so quickly was awe inspiring. It made me stop and think, I mean really think of the choices I was making.

I've know of God since my childhood, but we stopped attending church regularly when I was 10 or 12. And somewhere along the way the lines got blurred and what God wanted of me became less and less clear. I drifted further away from following Christian values because those weren't the values of the world I was living in. I thank God I had my mom to talk to, so that I never really lost faith, just kinda lost my way. I knew my mom had faith but I couldn't make her faith my own. When I saw Shoe's transformation I knew that God's hands were all over it so I told him that I wanted to check out his church cause something amazing must be happening there to have such an impact on him. I hoped it would have the same effect on me.

I was hesitant about going thinking, do I have to dress, look or act a certain way before going? But finally I came to "Sunday Service at 5:30" and found all different kinds of people who love God. I went to La Tartine afterwards and right away I felt comfortable and welcomed. There I met people my own age that I could identify with. After that I felt the need to change some poor choices, and I ended that unhealthy relationship and started to work on a more important relationship--my relationship with God. When I was 10 I wanted to be baptized but for some reason it never happened. My desire to take that step and to publicly announce that I have accepted God into my life once again became overwhelming. This past Sunday I got that opportunity. It may have taken 14 years to actually be baptized into Christ, but it was well worth the wait.

Christina Agoff's Story

2007-10-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

This summer I had the incredible privilege of traveling to Uganda with the African Children’s Choir. I was first captivated by the Choir when I first saw them perform at PCC over two years ago. So, I was overjoyed when, after their most recent visit in April, the opportunity arose for me to travel all the way to Africa to work with their organization.
During my time there, I was a part of a team of twelve people, and we led camp at three different schools, which are all sponsored by ACC. Needless to say, I was blessed and changed by the time I spent with the children at the schools. Both weeks each “auntie” or “uncle” had a prayer group they met with each morning before camp got started. During this time, we chatted about the topic of the day (our theme for the week was the Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22) and then spent time together praying. I was struck by the way the children praise God. Although they do not have much materially, they have an incredibly profound appreciation for life, an appreciation I deeply admire and have yet to experience in the same way. The struggle to survive is a reality for these children, and they know that education is a vehicle to a more prosperous life, which makes them overjoyed to have the opportunity to attend school.

From my perspective, the real beauty and attractiveness of Ugandan life lies in its simplicity. Life is by no means easy, but it is simple. Coming from a society that values success, comfort, security, efficiency, etc, I was surprised to see that a life without all the frills can be so fulfilling. As James writes, “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?” (James 2:5). Amen. I have never met a people of such faith and joy. God’s work is evident in their lives because they realize that they need Him and are willing to depend on His provision. The memories, stories and lessons I brought home with me are virtually endless, but hopefully I’ve given you a glimpse of it all. It is my prayer that the children we worked with were as blessed by us and we were by them. And, as they love to say: God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good!

Chris Taylor's Story

2007-07-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

I was in a dark world before accepting Christ into my life. As I stood in the back row at the worship center for the first time, tears streaming down my face, I wondered how my life would be forever changed. My answer would come in the form of the community that is PCC. I have felt God lead me into many relationships with my brothers and sisters of the church, and I am grateful that I have found a family. This sense of community and family is particularly important to me. I grew up never having known my father, my mother is schizophrenic and my older brother died when I was 19. My grandmother raised my brother and I, and she prayed for me every night to desire to know Christ. Since coming to PCC on that first tear filled 11am service, I have found a mentor, found healthy friendships, have pastors who are friends, and now have the ultimate father, God. In the past 5 months I have learned what a church is intended to be, taken that church to the homeless, strengthened my relationships with loved ones, been baptized, and have finally stepped into the light that is Christ. To all who read this let me say this, my story of loneliness is not unique in our community, many of the younger followers are longing for a connection, help water the seeds to produce the fruit that will nourish our family.

Jeff Murphy's Story

2006-05-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

Growing up in with a semi-religious Church upbringing, I was exposed to biblical stories, but never understood my personal relationship with the Lord. It wasn’t until after high school did I begin to question my faith. Those next few years after high school challenged my faith and commitment as Christian. Through those experiences my passion and commitment to follow the Lord was reborn.

As a Christian, I’m enthused to give back to my community! I regularly attend Sunday service and actively participate in leadership with the young adult ministry.

Being able to share my testimony and fellowship with others has transformed my life. I believe when I truly accepted Christ in my life I began to understand my purpose and the gifts God gave me, which I’m blessed to share with others. As a graphic designer I’m living out my dream as an artist, which is giving me the chance to build personal relationships with customers to transform their words and ideas into a graphical reality.

As I begin a new chapter in life, please keep me in your prayers when I venture off to Africa in June on a three week dental ministry with Footstep Missions.

All this being said I would not be the man I am without the loving support of my family and friends. Just to name a few, thank you Mom, Dad, Joe, Aftan, Tony, Glenn, Derek, Vic, Frankie and Wayne for always encouraging me and for your everlasting love!