July 1, 2009 is our one year anniversary with Bishop Creek Community Church, so I thought we’d give you an overview of some of what’s happened during that time!On July 1, 2008, we moved to Bishop, California. Kelly was the new pastor at Bishop Creek Community Church, an Evangelical Free Church. We went up to Bishop for the first time in January and had been voted on in February, but between Kelly’s finishing school and Suzanne’s finishing teaching, we couldn’t move up until July.
Bishop Creek Community Church is made up of an amazing group of people! They had been without a pastor for 16 months (when they voted us in), but they had held together… because they felt the Lord had told them to! We are SO thrilled and blessed to be a part of this family!
We spent the first few months getting settled and getting to know people in the church.
In August we had two major celebrations! The first was Kelly’s installation service… Steve Elliott (who had been working with Bishop Creek Community Church since the pastor left and had even helped get the church started several years ago) and Wally Norling (Kelly’s mentor, and previous EFCA Superintendent) were able to come up and be a part of the service and celebration. It was great (you can see it online… there are links on our website)! Afterwards we all went over to David & Sherrin Pratt’s home for a BBQ. A great time was had by all!
A few weeks later the whole community was celebrating! Kayla Talbot, a 19 year old member of our church, had gotten sick in April… which had caused her whole body to go septic, and she ended up in a comma for 10 weeks, and in the hospital for several months. She was well enough to leave the hospital and come home! We literally lined the street she lives on with people, posters, balloons,… and it was a BIG deal for our community! So many, from so many churches, had been praying for her! We enjoyed the anticipation… the phone calls seeing how far out they were, the excitement of seeing the car turn onto the street… and even how excited her dog was to see her after so many months! This was a real, live miracle… and we were ALL witnesses to it! PTL! (You may have been one of the many who were praying… if so… THANK YOU!)
In September Kelly started writing a weekly article for the Inyo Register, the local paper here in Bishop… it’s called “By the Creek.” Kelly writes the articles every week or two… others from the church (mostly) submit them the weeks Kelly doesn’t. (These are posted on our website)
Later on that month we had our first child dedication... it was such a blessing when Kelly brought Anthony down the middle of the aisle and the whole church gathered around and prayed for his life!
In October we had a baptism... Kelly was able to baptize 7 of our youth! It was a great time of witnessing what the Lord was doing in each of their young lives, and listening to their testimonies! We followed it up with a potluck... something we always love to do... food and fellowship!!
The Southern Baptist pastor and his wife (Chuck & Terri Stone) moved up to Bishop a couple months before we did. We became good friends and do stuff together often. In October or November of 2009 we started leading worship at their church (as they had no one to do it and it was a serious need).
In November, we started “The Truth Project” (put out by Focus on the Family) for our midweek service. It met in our living room (starting the week we moved in to the house we’re renting), and had up to 29 adults each week (and up to 10 kids!). It was sure a full house (literally)! We had chairs everywhere! We had no idea it would be so well attended! If you have not had an opportunity to view “The Truth Project,” we would encourage you to do so! It’s very well done, and those we’ve spoken to have really enjoyed it (including us!).
We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Bodes down in Huntington Beach at George & Peggy Tous’ house… it was fun to hang out with everyone and catch up! The next day we celebrated it with the Larsons in Fullerton at Mike & Kirsten Derischweiler’s house… more fun and catching up! After family time, we drove up to Green Valley Lake to spend the rest of the weekend up there. We were able to catch up with friends there and attend the annual GVL Tree Lighting party. This was the first time we’d been to Green Valley Lake for a LONG time!
Christmas was spent in Bishop… Christmas Eve dinner at Tom & Laura Talbot’s, followed by a late evening visit to Craig & Robin Barrett’s. Christmas afternoon at Robyn Wisdom’s, and Christmas evening with the Krugers and the three generations of Pratts at David & Sherrin Pratt’s. We were truly made to feel like family at each place!
After Christmas Chuck & Terri (Southern Baptist church) approached us about having our church move in to their building. They average 5-10 people, so they called us the “mega church.” (Our church was averaging 40-45… including kids.)
There is a group of pastors that meet once a month… the Bishop Ministerial Association… in January Kelly became the secretary. Some of them also meet weekly to pray together. One of the pastors… of a Lutheran church, has a local radio show on Sunday mornings that Kelly has been invited to occasionally help with. It’s called “The Pastor’s Round Table.” Recently, Kelly was asked to be a part of the show about every other week! (Sierra Wave 8:00-8:30am on Sunday mornings).
The last week of February the Women’s Ministry of Bishop Creek officially started up again… with Beth Moore’s “The Patriarchs” study. There were two groups… Tuesday evening and Thursday morning. Suzanne attended both, and facilitated the Thursday morning study. This is a great study, if you haven’t done it!
In February, Suzanne also tried to start up a ministry to Ministry Wives in Bishop… but after two months of meeting, it seemed like the timing was not right, and this idea is on hold… for the moment…
In March Bishop Creek Community Church had its annual meeting. Steve & Elaine Elliott were there to celebrate our one year anniversary as an official EFCA (Evangelical Free Church of America) church. We were voting in new bylaws to our constitution (which included the updated EFCA Statement of Faith), elders, budget, partnership (their term for membership… we were starting fresh, so everyone was becoming a partner/member that wanted to, even if they had been before… there were 30 in all… including us), and whether or not to move to a new building (at the Southern Baptist church our sign could be up all week long and we could have midweek meetings, and the Seventh Day Adventist church only allowed us to be there on Sunday afternoons and was raising the rent). Each item passed unanimously. Praise the Lord!
Our elders are Ed Kruger (who is 91 years old, but full of ideas and love for the Lord and our church… his family is well represented in our church… four generations!) and Craig Barrett (who is in his 50s and is a businessman… he and his wife have two adopted daughters in 4th grade). Both are godly men who are a blessing to our church!
We “tried out the potential new church building” the last week of February and the first week of March, and then voted on it the second week of March. This building is the home of the Southern Baptist Church in Bishop. The Southern Baptist church meets in the morning, and ours meets at 4pm in the afternoon, so there was no conflict in schedule. We were also excited about being able to use the church for mid-week studies!
The week after the vote Suzanne’s parents came up for a visit (and to celebrate her birthday). It was a busy few days, but very enjoyable! Kelly & Suzanne drove her parents home (they had flown up… to Mammoth). They were heading south to LAX to fly out to Kauai… so the timing worked out perfect!
After a year and 3 months without Kauai, Kelly and Suzanne were excited to get there and see everyone! (They had been going three times a year for several years, so this was culture shock!) It was wonderful to be able to see old friends and catch up with everyone! We spent LOTS of time with John & Vera Blalock… mmm, good cooking and good fellowship! Kelly preached the first Sunday for Matt… and we got to spend some time with Matt & Ruth Victor, Nate & Leah Aiwohi, Cliff & Patty Furtado, Mike & Sarah Lagana, and Robert & Amy Cremer. Yeah! Not too much down time… but lots of good catching up time! ☺ It was so good to share with everyone what was going on in Bishop, and all the Lord had done since we last saw them! (Three days after we were last in Kauai we visited Bishop for the first time.)
The Sunday that we got home was Palm Sunday. The next week was Easter… and we had a joint service with the Southern Baptist church. We had several visitors from down south on Easter… Chuck Van Allen was up with Kelly’s brother, Scott, doing floors for one of the church families. Chuck’s wife, Debbie, came up with the kids and her mother for the week and to celebrate Easter. And, Floyd & Libby Spangler (and son, Chris) showed up too! It was fun introducing our “Generations” friends to our Bishop Creek friends!
The week after Easter, Kelly started a sermon series in Acts. (Perfect timing for right after Easter!) Did you know that all of Kelly’s sermons are posted on Bishop Creek’s website? You can also get them off iTunes (“Creekside Sermons,” Kelly Larson, Bishop Creek Community Church… there’s no logo yet… still working on that). Check them out!
In May we were able to go down to Don & Marcia Bode’s house in Lake Arrowhead to a Bode family party for Paul & Dimmy Bulthuis, Suzanne’s dad’s cousin and his wife… who were visiting from Holland. It was great to meet them, and to hang out with all the family! Dick and Barb Bode came in from Texas just to join the party!
May is a big month in Bishop… Mule Days is the biggest event of the year! It is the week before Memorial Day… so we celebrated Kelly’s birthday (a small surprise party over at David & Sherrin Pratt’s house) and Mule Days in the same week! This year was our first time to be a part of the Mule Days festivities… and we did enjoy them (much to our surprise). We teamed with the Southern Baptist church to pass out hot dogs/cookies/cupcakes/water to those on the Mule Days parade route! That was a fun outreach to our community! We also helped the Southern Baptist church with their “Block Party” the following week… which was supposed to be an outreach to those in the neighborhood, but turned out to be a party for believers from other churches in the community… not what we expected, but still good. ☺
In June, Suzanne invited several women to be a part of the Women’s Minsitries Leadership Team… and they met for the first time. It was a good meeting, and they plan to start a Book Club in August, and decided on Bible studies for the fall and January! (“The Way of Agape” by Chuck & Nancy Missler in the fall, and “Don’t Waste Your Life” by John Piper in January.) We’ll meet again in July to contemplate other ideas and get organized for the fall.
Kelly started a men’s breakfast in June as well… a monthly meeting… several showed up, and they all stayed at least an hour longer than planned. Yeah!
A few days ago we found out that Chuck & Terri Stone (Southern Baptist), will be moving back to the Victorville area to be on staff at their home church in Hesperia. They will be in Bishop until September. We do not know what will happen from there… both churches need wisdom and direction, please join us in praying for this new chapter. We know God is in control… and that he has a plan… and we want to be a part of His plan!
Right now we are in Minneapolis… just finished at the annual EFCA (Evangelical Free Church of America) National Leadership Conference. The conference started Tuesday… and we really enjoyed it... good teaching and fellowship! Kelly met with Paul Schleip to talk about the process of getting licensed or ordained through the EFCA… please pray that this process will go smoothly… that he will have wisdom and favor!
Friday (June 26) we will celebrate our 10th anniversary. This weekend we will go to Wisconsin to see Kelly’s uncles and attend Kelly’s parents’ high school reunion. We are excited to get to see the family… Suzanne had never been to Minneapolis or Wisconsin… What a great opportunity!
We are loving being involved in Bishop! Thank you for your continued support… whether it be financial or prayer! If you would like to partner with us financially, please contact us. The support (tax deductable) allows Suzanne to continue working with the church… doing the website, administrative support, women’s ministries, and coming alongside Kelly to visit people and set up the church schedule/activities... The financial support has allowed Suzanne to join Kelly in investing time and energy in the church during this first year in ministry… it has been a blessing!
All of your prayers have been invaluable to us! Through them the Lord has protected us and provided for us. He has opened and closed doors. He has drawn us nearer to Himself, and used us to touch others for His glory! Please continue to lift us, and our church, up to our Heavenly Father! Pray for us to be able to clearly hear what the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts, and for the boldness to step forth in that. Please pray for growth in our church… growth in the depth of relationship with the Lord and then growth in the number of people we are able to minister to and with!
We are so excited to be able to share with you the things the Lord is doing, and are thrilled to have you partner with us in this amazing journey we’re on… serving our Lord!!!
Hope to hear from you!
Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement!
Kelly & Suzanne Larson ☺
church website… www.BishopCreekCommunity.org
church email… BishopCreek@mac.com
Larsons4Jesus@gmail.com
P.O. Box 1271
Bishop, CA 93515
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