Religion

Police released two images from surveillance video appearing to show a Citrus Heights church being burglarized. // Images courtesy, CHPD

CHPD seeks to identify church burglary suspect who brought kids along

At first glance, surveillance images released this week by Citrus Heights police appear to show a group of kids in a Sunday school room with a teacher. But with the church reporting stolen property and a time stamp on one image showing 1:50 a.m., Citrus Heights police confirmed the images show the burglary of a local church on Old Auburn Road — involving an adult suspect and what appears to be several young children.

“This burglary in particular is concerning to us because it looks like the suspect brought several juveniles with him, which put them in harms way,” Lt. David Gutierrez told The Sentinel on Friday. “At least a couple of those children appear really young and likely weren’t there for the purpose of burglarizing.”

by · July 28, 2017 · Police, Religion
Two eyesores in Citrus Heights finally being fixed up after local church buys property

Two eyesores in Citrus Heights finally being fixed up after local church buys property

A pair of vacant homes with boarded up windows, peeling exterior paint, and an overgrown yard. The sight has plagued a heavily-trafficked section of Old Auburn Road near Sylvan Corners for too long, but things are changing since a local church purchased the homes in October of last year.

“We’re fixing things up,” said Angel Nolasco, pastor of a Spanish-speaking Pentecostal church tucked behind the two homes, with access from Auburn Boulevard behind Gilberto’s Tacos. Nolasco said his congregation has about 100 attendees on Sundays and members have been helping fix up the property for the past few months — slowly hacking away overgrown vegetation and recently slapping a new coat of paint on one of the houses…

by · June 17, 2017 · Community, Religion
Volunteers serve homeless guests a hot meal at a local church as part of a local winter shelter program. // CH Sentinel

Winter Shelter: churches, volunteers help homeless off Citrus Heights streets

With rain drops falling on a stormy February afternoon, about two dozen homeless men and women began arriving at a temporary “intake center” set up at Messiah Lutheran Church in Citrus Heights.

Familiar “guests” were checked in using simple paper identification cards with a photo, and newcomers were screened for alcohol and drugs before having a picture taken and an ID created…

by · February 22, 2017 · Community, Religion
Pioneer Baptist Church on Old Auburn Road in Citrus Heights has been hit with multiple vandalism attacks in recent weeks, the pastor says. // CH Sentinel

Historic Citrus Heights church hit with multiple vandalism attacks

Pioneer Baptist Church on Old Auburn Road, a congregation located in the first church building ever built in the Citrus Heights area, has reported a rash of vandalism incidents in recent weeks.

Pastor Kyle Conley told The Sentinel the first incident occurred about five weeks ago, when someone fired a pellet gun or threw a handful of rocks into the stained glass windows of the sanctuary during a morning church service…

by · December 3, 2016 · Police, Religion
Tony Baron, Ph.D. Photo courtsey, DrTonyBaron.com

Citrus Heights Church hosts ‘servant leadership’ author, speaker

Southern California-based leadership consultant and author Tony Baron, Ph.D., is scheduled to give a public lecture on “servant leadership” at Messiah Lutheran Church in Citrus Heights, Friday evening.

by · November 6, 2015 · Religion
Benefit for war-torn Ukraine held in Citrus Heights

Benefit for war-torn Ukraine held in Citrus Heights

The Citrus Heights Community Center was filled with Ukrainian orchestra music, prayers and presentations Thursday night, as churches, business owners and political leaders joined together to support the relief effort for those caught in war-torn Ukraine.

“We are Christian people, and our faith must be shown by acts of love,” said organizer Stephan Skots, of the Citrus Heights-based Ukraine Relief group who put on the event. “We live in America, and we have learned from our American brothers and sisters to help others.”

Showing the mixed heritage of many of the participants, the evening began with the national anthems of both America and Ukraine, before progressing somewhat like a church service, with opening and closing prayers, scripture references peppering speeches, and a call for donations…

by · October 19, 2014 · Community, Religion
The first container full of Ukrainian relief supplies headed out from Citrus Heights, Thursday.

Citrus Heights Charity Sends ‘Truckload’ of Relief

With a live orchestra loudly playing in the background, an 18-wheeler full of supplies headed out of the parking lot of a Citrus Heights-based charity Thursday, as local pastors and community leaders joined to celebrate the shipment of their first container of relief supplies to Ukraine.

“We are motivated by the amount of people who have reached out and offered emotional or material support,” Ukraine Relief said in a statement, promising to supply those in Ukraine with clothes, food, medical aid and shelter. “Ukraine Relief would like to thank every person involved in relief efforts.”

Mostly made up of the area’s large Ukrainian immigrant population, organizers say the newly formed volunteer organization was created “to connect and unite people, businesses, organizations, and religious communities together” to provide aid to those caught in the current turmoil in Ukraine.

by · September 12, 2014 · Community, Religion
Roman and Krystyna Kravchuk with their two adopted children from Ukraine, Katya and Andrey. // Courtesy of Kravchuk blog.

Ukrainian Couple Shares Adoption Story at Citrus Heights Church

In what sounded like a script for a suspense-filled, emotional film, a young Ukrainian-American couple shared their recent story of adopting two children from tumultuous Ukraine, during a speaking engagement at Reality Church in Citrus Heights last week.

by · July 5, 2014 · Religion

20th Anniversary of Rwandan Genocide: Local Church has Ties to Country

20 years after a horrific genocide wiped through Rwanda, the country has made ties with churches worldwide, including a church nearly 10,000 miles away in Citrus Heights.

Advent Lutheran Church of Citrus Heights is the sister congregation of the Matimba Parish, a small church founded in 2007 in eastern Rwanda. The local congregation aids its Rwandese partners through prayer and monetary support — and even soccer balls.

by · April 8, 2014 · Religion
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