People have walked into our building for a
number of reasons.
-
Some people check us out because a friend invited
them to. (Most of the people who are now part of our group first
came in with a friend.)
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Some parents want their kids to learn the Bible
stories that they learned growing up – like Noah’s ark, Egypt’s
dark, Jonah’s shark, Jesus’ picnic in the park (for 5000)!
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Some people have been dealing with an addiction
and they want to see if there’s really something to this “Higher
Power”.
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Some people have just been driving by and stopped
in, wanting to see who would build a church building with a
green roof!
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Some have had marriages falling apart and they
were willing to try anything – even church – if it might help.
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Some people didn’t like the fact that the church
they were hanging out with doesn’t seem to think the Bible
should be taken seriously anymore.
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Some people have had children participating in
our youth events and they came in to see what kind of church it
would be that could make kids want to be part.
Willowbrook Christian Church is made up of a bunch of people who all
walked in looking for something. A family. Love. Acceptance. A
friend. Truth. A support group. Guidance. Forgiveness. Maybe just a
reason to go on. Each person here is welcome and valued.
But
we’re most proud of one particular person who hangs out here. When
you meet him, you can’t help but like him. If you listen to what he
says, it’ll change the way you think. You’ve never met a guy who is
so healthy. And I’ll bet that once you’re around him for a while,
you’ll find yourself living differently. He is the guy who makes our
church go!
Lots of
people have walked in looking for stuff. And many have found what
they’ve come looking for. But the coolest thing we offer here is a
chance to spend some time with this guy. And when you do, all that
other stuff seems to work out. Check Him out. (He goes by his first
name.) Jesus.
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History!
Over
our shoulder, a backward glance. In 1959, some Christians in this
part of the world talked about the possibility of following Jesus in
a way that was not predetermined by any denominational headquarters
somewhere else. They just wanted to do what they saw in the Bible.
So they began meeting for worship in each other's homes. Thus began
a church of Christ, meeting in East Rochester.
In a very short time, they could no longer gather comfortably in
living rooms so the group began to rent the Grange Hall in Egypt,
New York. For the next few years, this congregation continued to
study the Bible and live by what they found there. They were a
church of Christ, meeting in Egypt.
In
1965, the year this congregation was recognized by New York State as
an official church, they outgrew their meeting space. So they began
to search for a new one and they found a little country church
building in the village of Victor. Some of the families in the
congregation put their own houses up as collateral and thus our
growing group was able to relocate again. The Andrews Street
building became their central meeting place for the next three
decades. They were a church of Christ, meeting in Victor.
And,
as is our wont, we overflowed. We did what we could to maximize that
building (renovations, purchasing surrounding land, adding second
and third assemblies), but it eventually became clear that if we
were to continue to help more people, we needed more room. So we
decided to build a brand new building in a much more visible
location. And, so, due to the kindness of God, the genius of the
Sear Brown Building Design Group, and the financial sacrifice of a
bunch of ordinary people who think that they're extraordinarily
lucky to know Jesus, there's now a white building with the green
roof on High Street, directly opposite Willowbrook Lane. And on
Halloween of 1999 (October 31), we moved in.
It all began with a small group who thought that people who follow
Jesus could probably live together. So they tried, dedicated to
simply studying the Bible and doing what it says. That was the
original purpose of this group and even though we've grown
considerably in size, and moved through a bunch of buildings, that
continues to be at the heart of
what is known as the Willowbrook Christian Church.
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What
We
Believe
About God.
We believe that God is, and that His name is Jehovah.
We believe that He is a real person, and therefore has certain
characteristics in His personality. We believe that He is a giving
person. We believe that He is an eternal person. We believe that He
is a person Who transcends physical existence. We believe that He
exists in a way that is more complex than we can fathom. We believe
that He is a communicative person.
About God’s Creative Side.
We believe that one of God’s personality traits is
creativity. We believe that God created everything else. And that
when He created it all, it was masterfully engineered. And, since He
created it all, it all rightfully belongs to Him. Including people.
We believe that men and women are creations of God, the pinnacle of
His creativity, made to live in partnership with Him.
About Men and Women.
We believe that we are created by God, and thus are
not, nor ever will be God. We believe that each person created
resembles God, and thus each person has incredible potential. We
believe that God so respects us that He has willingly surrendered to
us some control of how things go in the universe.
About What’s Gone Wrong.
We believe that God has created men and women to be
in a terrific relationship with Him and each other. We believe that
that’s the result as we choose to think and act like He does – based
on the good of others. We believe that acting selfishly (doing
what’s best for one’s self, to the disregard of how that will affect
others) is the opposite of how God created this universe to work,
and brings devastation. We believe that we live in a very
self-centered and devastated world.
About The Solution.
We believe that our selfish choices had fatally
separated us from God’s desire and design. We believe that God longs
for our good, both individually and as a species, and that because
of His love for us, He voluntarily took on a physical body, came and
lived with us on this planet, and then on the cross, used His life
to fix what had been broken. We believe that Jesus’ resurrection
from the dead proves that life is again available – and that anyone
can get back to God’s intention for life by connecting with Jesus.
About How Life Should Be Lived.
We believe that life is meant to be lived “coram deo”
(in the presence of God). We believe that He knows best, and wants
what is best for us, and has communicated best to us through His
“Emmanuel” (God with us) time on earth. We believe that the Bible is
a trust-worthy document which reveals God’s heart and mind to every
generation after Jesus’. We believe that God’s Spirit lives in us
and helps us do the things that He created us to do, both
individually and as the “church” (the group of people who have asked
God to make them whole through Jesus’ death, burial, and
resurrection). We believe that life with God is hard and good. We
believe that there’s hope for us and hope for the world. We believe
that doing life together as restored men and women will lead to a
time where we will live in a perfectly renewed world in partnership
with God. And we believe that that will be great!
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Worship!
Our church is built on the idea
that Jesus is the greatest man who ever lived on earth. We think
that He is worthy of our most careful study and imitation. We
believe that if the world was full of people who thought, acted, and
loved like Jesus did, then we would live in a pretty nice world. We
consider Him to be so special that we meet weekly in His honor. And
our assemblies are purposely designed to focus the attention of
everyone who is there on Jesus, period. Each 60 minute assembly
(9-10 and then 11:15-12:15) includes the following:
We sing. A lot. Music was
created by God to help us express ourselves to Him – and we do. We
use many instruments (piano, guitar, bass, brass, drums, rain stick,
synthesizer, bagpipes – never banjo, but only because we haven’t
found anyone in our congregation yet who admits to playing the
banjo). We know that no one worship style will help everyone to
connect meaningfully with God, so we’ve chosen a style that we think
can help a majority of the people in this part of the world. We
have music that is contemporary, uplifting, and energetic! We do
music!
From the Biblical records, we
see that early Christians remembered Jesus’ death and resurrection
every week (at first -- every day!) in the Lord’s Supper. So each
week we invite those who want to to participate in this mini-drama.
It is also obvious that the reading and applying of Scripture was a
regular part of life for those first Jesus followers. So, yes, we
have sermons. The good news is that we do ours in English, with
humor (at least we aim that way), sermons here are designed to help
you enjoy life more than you already are, and if you fall asleep,
the preacher thinks it’s his fault. Each week we spend some of our
time talking with God together. We pray, just because we can! And
we weekly pool our resources through a time of offering in order to
continue our congregation’s work for Jesus.
We know that
there are many different styles of honoring Jesus in a group
setting. And some people think the way we do it is too restrained.
When we get together, it’s not a riot (we don’t dance or speak in
tongues). And some think we are not nearly serious enough when it
comes to our church assemblies because our worship times include
lots of emotion (we laugh a lot and sometimes there are tears). But
if you want to express admiration for Jesus in ways that are natural
for people who live in America in this generation, we think that
you’ll be comfortable with Willowbrook.
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Who’s In Charge?
Jesus. What He says, we try to do. What He wants,
we try to make happen. What He likes, we promote.
What He hates, we try to end. Who He gifts, we try
to empower. This is clearly His show.
And He has arranged it so that the leaders in any
church are the people who think like Him most and act like Him best
(which is seen in their ability to care for other people). So, like
in the New Testament, this congregation is served by a group of guys
who look a lot like Jesus because they serve so well. In the Bible,
guys who did this work were called pastors, shepherds, overseers,
bishops, presbyters, and elders. Our church choose the term elder
to describe them and we presently have chosen these guys to lead us: Bob Double,
Jim Thomas, Scott
Sprague, and Jon Walker. They are the guys who are ultimately
responsible for helping this group stay on track.
If you like Willowbrook, thank the elders (past and
present). If you like the worldview that is preached each Sunday,
that’s the elders’ worldview. If you like the style of worship that
Willowbrook offers, that’s the style the elders have chosen to
offer. If you enjoy the youth stuff that happens each week, that’s
the elders’ plan for serving our community in a way that will help
make the world better. Our church’s staff (ministerial and
administrative) function as implementers of the elders’ vision of
what this group can be. Every group of people is led by somebody –
Willowbrook is led by elders who are trying to do what they
understand would please Jesus most.
And, Scripture also shows that each person in a
congregation is given special abilities to help the whole group.
So, while elders lead by serving, Willowbrook thrives only when each
person does what God made him or her to do. So, we have Directors –
people who lead large areas of service – and their job is to engage
talented, passionate people in the work they’ve been assigned. We
have Directors, or sub-directors, in the following areas of doing
life together: Assimilation, Benevolence, Business Administration,
Celebration Arts, Children’s Ministry, Cleaning, Facilities,
Kitchen, Missions, Nursery/Toddler, Stewardship, Student Ministries,
and Youth Funding. If you’d like to be part of the good Willowbrook
is doing, check in with the director of the area of service you’re
most passionate about and volunteer. We’ll all be better for it!
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Staff
Directory
Jon
Walker -- Senior Minister
Jon
Walker is not a country music fan, but he has many friends who are.
Growing up in a minister’s family, he was always in the middle of
congregational life -- which explains why he is not so hot on
potluck suppers (again though, surrounded by people who are!). He
did his seminary training in Cincinnati (which accounts for his love
of Skyline Chili!) and began his ministry with a small group of
believers who met in a "Little House on the Prairie" church building
in Victor (over on Andrews Street) in 1982. He has been married to
Linda for 25 years, and they have two children, Karis and Jesse,
both of whom bring him huge joy! Preaching and teaching is what he
think he’s been made to do, and he feels ultimately significant in
life when able to help people see how much Jesus loves them and how
unbelievably good the offer of grace really is. On the side, he
loves to drive fast, he thinks Waimoku Falls is the most amazing
landscapery God ever thought up, and he appreciates getting sent
good jokes via email (jonwalker@frontiernet.net,
if you have any).
Bob
Double -- Children's Minister
Bob
Double is the husband of Linda (ask him sometime about the job he
had that led him to meet his future wife), the father of Bobby,
Katie, and Alex (ask Linda to show you clippings about their kids'
hockey careers), and the leader of Kidz Zone (our congregation's
Children's Ministry). Mr. Double also has been gifted by God to
serve as an accountant - and was doing so to provide for his family
until the summer of 2000 when he sensed God calling him into
ministry (ask him sometime about a pivotal event at Mountainview
Christian Camp and he'll probably break into a story of some of the
most amazing coincidences and open doors that you've heard in a
while!). He then got his Master of Divinity degree from Northeastern
Seminary and has been serving the families in our congregation ever
since. Bob loves fishing and telling really bad jokes. He is a
skillful administrator of parents and young adults who share his
desire to create a great experience for the young people in our
church. We are fortunate to have him as part of our team!
Bob Brown – Pastoral Care Minister
Bob Brown is the husband of Marilyn, the father of Kristin
Sumarsono (ask him sometime about the beginning of his daughter’s
wedding ceremony!), the grandfather of Kyle, Ryan, Elyse, and Timmy,
and he’s still got way too much energy! Having grown up in Philly,
he’s an Eastener by birth, but having spent a large portion of his
adult life in California, he likes mountains and beaches, and roads
that don’t have 8 lanes each way! Bob was managing projects for
ARCO for a long time, but his commitment to Jesus eventually led him
to managing Kingdom projects and helping people who were hurting,
and he decided to study for the ministry at Hope College. He worked
with a couple of congregations on the West Coast before moving to
Victor to be close to his grandchildren, and that’s when our church
found him retired, passionate, and ready to go – so we asked Bob to
come on staff and lead our church’s efforts to provide good care.
He agreed, and now we are! (If you’d like to be part of the team of
people that Bob leads providing that care, please contact him at
rcblyn@aol.com.)
Merrissa
Peralta – Youth Minister
There was a certain young lady who grew up with a group of
Christians. She studied in the Bible School, she participated in
her youth group, she set the record for eating monster cookies at
camp, she loved Jesus and people – a lot! She was a great kid!
Then she went to Keuka College (where she became a teacher!) and she
went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic (where she became
married!). Eventually, that same group of Christians that she had
grown up with asked her if she would now teach a Bible School class,
lead the youth group, and cook us all an unlimited supply of monster
cookies! She said “Yes!” (Except for the cookies!) And that is
how Merrissa Peralta came to be Willowbrook’s Youth Minister. With
the help of her husband (Starling), her sister and brother-in-law
(Felicia and Chris), and a whole bunch of adults who love Jesus and
kids, Merrissa is now leading our church’s ministry to teenagers and
their families – and the Kingdom is better for that! (And if you
would like in on helping that go, please contact Mrs. Peralta at
rissak21@aol.com.)
Jane Montgomery --
Office Administrator
Jane
Montgomery has served for the past five years as our Office
Administrator. Jane subsidizes her work with us
by also serving as a Clinical Secretary for a local health clinic. She has worked in the
past as a wedding coordinator for Sonnenberg Gardens, and has been a
paralegal for several local Attorneys. She is wildly crafty (she
loves all things having to do with crafts), she owns more Christmas
decorations than FOA Schwartz, and she was made by God to organize. If you call our office (585-924-5550), the first
voice you’ll hear is hers, and she will (almost always) be able to
help you with whatever you need – whether that’s a phone number, a
building reservation, a Scripture verse, or getting an announcement
in next week’s bulletin! She’s great!
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