Puppets, food, drama, and special guest speakers and musicians – all stirred into a mix of “old-fashioned camp meeting” worship services and concerts for the community – will be featured at the Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church beginning August 5.
The events are part of the casual format adopted by the church for one month every summer, explains senior pastor Jon Ciccarelli. The services recreate the spirit of a summer tent meeting in the past century, he says, but in a departure from total tent-meeting authenticity air conditioning will be on in the church at 391 Myrtlewood Dr., Calimesa.
Speakers on the four August Saturday mornings are each developing an aspect of the series theme “Living the Goodness of God,” based on the Bible verse found in Micah 6:8. They are Lee Venden, speaker for All About Jesus Seminars (Aug. 5); Zane G. Yi (Aug. 12); Jeffrey Gang (Aug. 15); and Zdravko Plantak (Aug. 26). Drs. Yi, Gang, and Plantak are all faculty members at the Loma Linda University School of Religion.
Adding appeal to the morning services for community families will be drama, stories,
and performances by the Calimesa Puppets, Ciccarelli notes. Worship starts at 8:30 a.m. and again at 11:15 a.m. each Saturday in the church sanctuary.
Guest musicians featured in the August services include the Christian Edition Men’s Chorus, Conner Smith Trio, Johnson Family Quartet, Kim Family Strings, Loma Linda Brass, Reunion, Gatra Suhari, and Sweet Tidings (bluegrass). Also contributing will be keyboard artists Carole Derry-Bretsch, Gary Donesky, Michael Fillman, and Dona Klein.
On each August Saturday a free potluck lunch will be provided by the church following the 11:15 service. The meal on August 5 will be a “haystack banquet” featuring a unique version of taco salad. Following lunch that day, at 2:30, will be the final presentation in a lesson series taught through the previous week by guest speaker Lee Venden.
An afternoon sacred music concert, also open free to the community, will be at the church on Aug. 26. Beginning at 2:30 p.m., it features the popular Christian Edition Men’s Chorus, directed by Calvin Knipschild. The Calimesa church is also co-sponsor that day of a ticketed concert at 7 p.m. in the Loma Linda University Church, Loma Linda. That performance is by the classical-contemporary vocal group “Veritas,” with tickets available only in advance, starting at $10 either online from the iTickets.com Web site or by phone at (800) 965-9324.
A Vespers service at 6:30 p.m. August 19 will precede the Calimesa church’s annual Social on the Lawn for members and friends, with an outdoor family film starting at nightfall.
A community blood drive and marrow screening on August 29 will feature a mobile donation site at the church parking lot from 8 a.m. to noon. Walk-ins are welcome, but those interested are encouraged to reserve an appointment time by calling the Lifestream blood bank at (800) 879-4484 or by visiting its Web site, www.Lstream.org.
Directions and information about all the special programs in August are available by calling the church office at (909) 795-9741 or visiting its Web site, www.calimesasda.com.