Public Events Mark Church's Half Century in Calimesa

After 50 years at Myrtlewood and Fourth Street, the Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church is celebrating its half-centennial with a series of special August events and concerts for members and visitors. The programs are all free and open to anyone in the local community and the surrounding region, according to an announcement from the 1,250-member congregation. The anniversary events coincide with a series of “camp meeting” Saturday services in which the Calimesa congregation adopts casual attire and enjoys a somewhat revival-style worship format, recreating in the church sanctuary a feeling remembered by some as typical of old-fashioned tent meetings. For years the Calimesa church has scheduled these camp-meeting services each August, with members regarding those weeks as high points of the local church calendar. The camp-meeting services this August are at 8:30 and 11:15 a.m. each Saturday, Aug. 2 through 30. Each week will feature a morning guest speaker and musicians, and a series of Saturday afternoon and evening concerts and events are also planned for members and visitors. The church is at 391 Myrtlewood Drive in Calimesa, at the corner of Fourth Street. Four of the Calimesa church’s senior pastors in former years will return to preach in the morning camp-meeting services. Chris Oberg, now senior pastor at La Sierra University Church in Riverside (at Calimesa 2005-2009), will speak on Aug. 2; Clarence Schilt (at Calimesa 1993-2005) on Aug. 9; Mic Thurber (at Calimesa 1991-1993) on Aug. 16; and Art Earll, now director of adult services at Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center (at Calimesa 1986-1993), on Aug. 23. The church’s current senior pastor, Jon Ciccarelli, will be the series’s final speaker on Aug. 30. He and his family are residents of Beaumont since moving from Escondido in 2009. Guest musical artists are scheduled to enrich the morning worship services throughout the month-long anniversary celebration and at free 4 p.m. concerts in the church on Aug. 2 and 16. Participants include the William Chunestudy Men’s Chorus (morning services and afternoon concert on Aug. 2) and the Johnson Family Quartet (morning services and afternoon concert on Aug. 16). Keyboard players Gerald Penick, Donna Klein, Gerald and Dorothy Wareham, Donald Tohm, Michael Fillman and Gary Donesky will also be featured during the anniversary series. So will violinists Miclen LaiPang, Noemy Wheeler, the Pacific Coast Brass Quintet conducted by Chris Watts, and the Kim Family Strings. Vocal soloists and ensembles include Mike and Sharon Hanson, Kellie Brown, Shannon Barnes, Desmond Clark, Conner Smith, Cameron De Cou, Mark Ruybalid, the praise group “Grace” from California Baptist University, and others. The 4 p.m. Heritage Celebration and Rededication program on Aug. 30 will feature a review of the church’s history since it moved to the present site from a temporary storefront location nearby in 1964. Area pastors and civic leaders have been invited to this special occasion, to which all community residents, past members and friends are especially welcome, according to Dr. Bob Soderblom, primary coordinator for the anniversary program series. Information about the church and the August anniversary events is available by calling the office at (909)795-9741. Members and friends are also encouraged to donate to the community blood drive scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day (Aug. 30) in the church parking lot.