History is a symphony of echoes heard and unheard. It is a poem with events as verses.
~Charles Angoff
Our story is not unlike the story of many young churches. A seemingly infinite number of details converged and ta-dah! Here we are! Happy to be called Sovereign Grace Church.
As you learn more about us, we hope you don’t miss the “echoes unheard” that run throughout our history. Our story really is God’s story. He is the main character. He is the surprise ending. And ultimately, He is our audience. We exist because God planted us…for His glory and for His good pleasure. We share our story so that you might grow more impressed with Him!
The Bible Study
The home in Tustin where it all began.
In 2001, God began His work here (as he often does) through a series of relationships. The Moore family (from Irvine, CA) had begun visiting Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena, which was a long drive and a world away. They liked what they saw and shared their experiences with friends throughout Orange County.
By the summer of 2005, interest in establishing a new church (in partnership with Sovereign Grace Ministries) had grown and a small group of people began meeting in the Macadam’s home on Wednesday nights to study Age of Opportunity by Paul Tripp. The Moores were there, along with the Macadam family, Susie Macgregor, Lauren Canty, Jon Benzinger and Kathleen Torres.
The Extension
A not-so-subtle request spotted at a regional Sovereign Grace Ministries conference in the Summer of 2007.
Faith and momentum continued to grow and in the Fall of 2006, Mike Davis (a staff pastor in Pasadena) relocated his family to Orange County with an eye towards participating in whatever God was doing here. He took a new job with UCI and began meeting with the group that later formed a core church planting team.
February 2007 marks the start of the group’s weekly Saturday night services. We were officially an “extension” of Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena, with the pastors there assisting Mike Davis here in further developing a local church presence.
Most every weekend, a pastor and worship leader would travel to Orange County to help lead the service while everyone here was busy setting up equipment, greeting guests, or serving in the children’s ministry. Small groups continued to meet during the week and eventually a Youth Ministry was formed as well. Everyone was growing eager to take the next step.
The Plant
Sovereign Grace Church of Orange County - August 8, 2009
What we needed now was a Senior Pastor. Mike Davis didn’t sense a calling to be that guy and the other leaders agreed. So we began praying. Partner churches began praying. Leaders from Sovereign Grace Ministries began to pray. If we were going to break out on our own as a local church, we would need a man to lead and pastor us.
In the summer of 2009, everything came together and Eric Turbedsky was called to lead the church. Our sister church in San Diego, CA graciously released him to come and Sovereign Grace Ministries officially recognized us as a member church.
The rest of the story is being written as you read this page…
