Charismatic Service
Faith Community Church
1211 East Badillo St
West Covina, CA 91790
626.858.8400
http://www.fccwc.org
Senior pastor: James H. Reeve
Serves 4000-5000.
Sunday service 9am, 11am
Saturday service 7pm
Moderately charismatic
Huge church campus with ample parking. Innovative. Outreach oriented. Holy Spirit oriented. Radio and TV ministries. Strongly multiethnic (Anglos, Asians, Hispanics, African-Americans). Pastor Reeves is a graduate of Fuller Seminary and his sermons are interactive. He frequently invites the congregation to repeat phrases back to him or to the person seated next to you.
Contemporary worship choruses are used almost exclusively (Hillsong, Integrity); hymns are very rare. Much repetition. The professional-level worship band has several studio musicians, including Rique Pantoja (amazing Brazilian pianist/composer). Once I heard the band playing (impromptuely and by memory) Chick Corea, modern Jazz composer/pianist, between services! The volunteer choir (about 80) appears to be modeled after the Brooklyn Tabernacle. The worship leader strides back and forth across the platform while leading, sometimes jumping and leaping in rhythm to the music. There is a lot of enthusiasm in this church worship.
Covina Assembly of God
250 E. San Bernardino Road
Covina, CA 91723
(626) 966-4488 FAX (818) 966-6831
Senior Pastor: Ron Stevens
Music: Tony Carpenter
Serves 1200+ people
Large, attractive facility. Electronic rather than acoustic percussion is employed. A predominantly white church with an unusually good choir of 100+ that sings black gospel music convincingly. Excellent choral direction and gospel music arrangements. Prominent use of brass. Computer projected worship lyrics.
Anaheim Vineyard Christian Fellowship
5340 E. La Palma Ave
Anaheim, CA 92807
Senior Pastor: Lance Pittluck
(714) 777-4777 FAX (714) 777-5423
Sunday services at 10am and 6pm.
Spacious, attractive facility. Influential. This is the parent church that spawned the Vineyard international church movement. About 500 churches starts over a 20 year period. John Wimber, their founder, recently passed away. You'll experience guitar-led, uninterrupted, free-flowing worship for 30-50 minutes, plus liturgical dance, prophetic utterance, and what they call “ministry time.”
Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Claremont-Pomona
2801 N. Towne
Pomona, CA 91767
(909) 621-6837
Worship Leader: Terry Butler
Terry is a gifted worship leader and keyboardist. He's active in the LA Vineyard Movement in the area of worship.
Harvest Rock Church
1539 E Howard St.
Pasadena, CA 91104
626.794.1199
FAX 626.398.2489
Senior Pastor: Che Ahn (Korean American)
Serves 800-1000.
Sunday services at 10am and 6pm.
Affiliated with Harvest International Ministries. 80% of church consists of Gen-Xers. "Seeker-friendly", "Spirit friendly." Charismatic: sign gifts and words of prophecy. Multiethnic. Cell-based church. Evangelistic. Global/world missions
oriented. Web broadcast. 24 hour prayer ministry. Fasting. Unique to the LA area.
Women lead some of the worship teams. The people are allowed to dance, jump, wave banners, raise their hands, or fall down on their knees. Dancers are restricted to the side of the front platform. The worship is strongly participative and personal (choruses with first person
pronouns --"I am desperate for you"). The lyrics are repetitive, and the harmonies simple. Generally guitar-driven worship.