By Shana LiVIGNI

“Our mission statement is to know God and make Him known. The Bible says that God is trying to conform us to the image of Christ, and if that’s true, what does that look like?” asked Reverend Bryan Griem, senior pastor of Montrose Community Church. “One of the things about our church is that we believe the Bible and we try to take Christ’s word seriously and do them. I’m always the conservative one because I always take it from a biblical perspective and my people appreciate that because they come here and want to know what Jesus said, not whatever I happen to think of off the top of my head.”

Griem sometimes will preach a certain book of the Bible, what it means and how to apply it in life. At times, he’ll address certain situations that come up in the neighborhood or the news and big issues. Some of these topics are discussed in bible classes, which are more casual and discussion-oriented.

“My service usually opens up with a bit of humor and then I’ll just jump right into the sermon. I want them [the congregation] to understand some piece of scripture that they didn’t before, maybe better, or maybe they’re looking at it from another angle. And they get up and walk out of this room thinking, ‘Okay, this week I’m going to live my life maybe with this in mind, what I learned this morning.’”

The benediction at the end of the sermon wraps up with a song that relates to Pastor Bryan’s topic of the week. It involves the congregation rising and singing to the music, both hymns and contemporary music, of the church’s band with Pastor Bryan on guitar.

“Thanksgiving is coming up pretty soon and we are going to have a Thanksgiving dinner here at the church. Afterwards we are going to have a Christmas decorating time. We’ll make the place look really festive and as soon as Advent begins, every Sunday we’re going to have a really great ‘Christmas-y’ feel here,” Pastor Bryan said. “There’s going to be a big focus on the Christmas story leading all the way up until the birth of Christ. I think if people really want that holiday feeling [they should come to the church]. We’re working on a Christmas Carol Day in December when people can come and we’ll all sit together and sing old Christmas carols.” Everyone is welcome.

The church is a long time fixture in the Montrose community and is a church of the people. Its goal is to grow the congregation and positively impact the area for Jesus Christ. Sharing the Gospel message of God’s salvation, and making fast friends along the way, is important. An invitation is extended to join the congregation and help to become a faithful witness. The church’s desire is to grow each other up spiritually “until that glad day when Christ returns for his bride [us].”

MCC is a member of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference denomination and believes that the local church is fully a church, and that all its members share in the responsibility of making it the best it can be for those inside as well as out. This local ministry holds the Bible to be the final authority in all matters of faith and practice, and they are committed to glorifying God in all ways. All are welcome to attend the 10 a.m. Sunday services and visit their two Bible study groups and the Men’s Fellowship meetings.

Montrose Community Church is located at 2416 Montrose Ave. For more information, call (818) 249-0483 or go to their website www.montrosecommunitychurch.org.