The apostle Paul wrote, “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you” (Romans 15:7). Some of us were born into Christian families and were raised to follow Jesus and the Bible. As we got older our understanding of Jesus and our confidence in him grew (even though some of us for a time rejected Jesus, or had serious doubts and questions about him that were not settled until later). Others of us growing up were not taught about Jesus much, if at all. Still others of us used to follow competing religions and philosophies. But here we are today, no matter how we got here, committed loyalists to Jesus, still learning from him. He welcomed us.
Even though visiting a new church can bring on anxiety, we offer you our respect and friendship. Come and work through your questions and convictions about life and God. Or come and sharpen your Christian life and doctrine. There were originally nine of us living out here who at one time or another (before we moved up here) were part of our “mother church” in Pasadena. In April 2021, that church sent a pastor and his family from our broader federation of churches to live here in Ventura and lead us in a slow and steady effort to start a new church. We live in and welcome folks from all over Ventura County- including Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Carpinteria, and Ojai.
Worship with us Sundays at 9:30am and 10:30am.
Find us in mid-town Ventura at 78 Chrisman Ave.
Email or call/text Pastor Adam at adam.kaloostian@venturareformed.org or (805) 535-5502.
All ages are welcome and encouraged to bewith you in both services, including younger children and infants; but a nursery is also available for children up to age three.
Teaching Service (“Catechism Service”) with Questions & Answers (~ 40 minutes)
Coffee Break
Worship Service (~ 75 minutes)
Fellowship and Snacks, Occasional Lunches
There were originally nine of us who at one time or another (before we moved up here) were part of our “mother church” in Pasadena. In April 2021, that Pasadena church called and sent a pastor and his family from our broader federation of churches to live here in Ventura and lead us in a slow and steady effort to start a new church. We were meeting regularly and growing our interest list, hosting some Bible studies and informational meetings. About a year in, in Spring 2022, we began worship services. There are (almost!) 40 of us now of all ages, hoping, working, praying to slowly but steadily grow. We think that a good goal for us is to grow to about 80 or 100, and to stay active in regional Reformed church planting.
For about the first six months of our worship services in Ventura, we leased our current church building in the afternoons. It’s a lovely, historic church in mid-town. Then the congregation from whom we were leasing drew its ministry to a close. We continued leasing here and moved our services to the morning; then eventually, we were thrilled to be able to purchase this facility and make it our official home. Since then, we have been busy in ministry and busy working on this place! We first completed a major renovation of the bathrooms and courtyard while solidifying and upgrading the infrastructure, and more recently, we replaced all the roofing, and have completed other smaller repair and renovation projects.
We have enjoyed some ministry milestones along the way- including the ordination of our first local deacon and elder in Spring of 2026. We ask the Lord to make and keep us faithful in the work he has entrusted to us. We are honored to worship him and to share his truth and love with others he sends our way. We hope to be able to look back one day and see his favor upon this church across generations, all for his glory.
We are in mid-town Ventura just below Main Street on Chrisman Ave. We’re a couple doors down on Chrisman from Ventura Ranch Market. Our address is 78 Chrisman Ave., Ventura, California, 93001.
We welcome your questions and contact. Email our pastor at adam. kaloostian@venturareformed.org Call/text us at (805) 535-5502 Send us mail at 78 Chrisman Ave., Ventura, CA 93001
Joyful and serious. The worship building has a neighborhood, traditional 'sacred' look and feel. When you come in, you'll be greeted, and handed a bulletin that has the order of the service, so you can participate or just follow along. The basic intermingled parts of the service are: we all sing out loud together (or try to), we pray (either out loud together or we listen to the pastor pray out loud for us), we listen to passages from the Bible read and preached by the pastor, and in the second service we participate in the religious ceremonies of the Lord's Supper (weekly) and baptism (occasionally). You may participate as much as you like, or just sit and watch.
Wear whatever you like. Most people come dressed in their normal, everyday 'Ventura/Oxnard clothes'. Some people wear a little more formal clothing as is typical for a traditional-type church and building. The pastor usually wears a plain black clerical robe, a kind of uniform for his role in leading the worship services, which are special weekly meetings between God and his people.
One short answer would be, Reformed churches are one of the 'old-school, Protestant and Evangelical Christian churches'. You could think of four main groups of Christian churches historically- the 'Orthodox' groups of churches, Roman Catholic churches, historic Protestant churches, and 'community/broader-evangelical/non-denominational churches'- Reformed churches are one of the main two branches of historic Protestants (along with Lutherans). For a longer answer, go here (hyperlink to What We Believe section of the Explore page). Or if you have a specific question about what Reformed churches believe and why, feel free email, call, or text us.
We hope you'll find us friendly and welcoming, but, giving you the space you need- our feeling is that visiting a new church is nerve-wracking enough, we don't want to make it harder. If you want, before you decide to visit, you can always email our pastor or arrange to meet him for coffee [hyperlink this to the contact page]. We are a wide variety of ages and stages in life, and personalities, and places in our Chrsitian lives. Youth, singles, young married, young kids, older folks, newer Christians, and lifers. The goal for our church is to grow to be no more than about 100 people (and then stay active in regional Reformed church planting). We have a smaller-church advantage of all knowing each other in friendship and community- and the benefit of the pastor (along with our elders and deacons) knowing us well.
Our high-school and junior-high students get together once a month for a combined youth group with those from our mother church in Pasadena and from our sister church plant in Santa Clarita. They also attend regional winter camp retreats and the high-schoolers attend a national summer convention with about a thousand other kids from all over the US. They have some other activities throughout the year. As for the younger kids, we emphasize the togetherness of parents and their kids and everyone of all ages in the life of the church. Your kids are welcomed and encouraged to be with you in both services, including younger children and infants (but a nursery is also available for children up to age three, if you like). One special thing we enjoy is that during our 9:30am teaching service, even the youngest kids have an opportunity to join in and ask the pastor a question during the discussion time. Maybe not surprisingly, we are often the most enriched by their questions and thoughts, and by those of the elementary-age, junior high, and high school youth. One more thing- those of us who are parents here- we try to help each other stay spiritually connected or get reconnected with our own kids. We encourage every household to start or rebuild a habit of sitting around the household table daily for a few minutes for spiritual conversation, prayer or song, maybe a short Bible reading. If that sounds like a pipe dream for your family, no judgments here. If there is trouble or tension at home, you're not alone, we offer our friendship and counsel (if you want it).
No. Our church plant is funded by the voluntary offerings of our committed church family
(and by our mother church in Pasadena, and by our sister URCNA churches, and other
friends, while we continue to progress toward financial self-sufficiency). We take an
"offering" during our services by sending a bag around and we expect that visitors will
just pass the bag along.
