It was soon decided that to be faithful to God meant to spread the Gospel as far and as fast as possible and so we became very missionary conscious. Our first missionaries were Claude and Vivian Malcom as they went to Alaska. Our list of Missionaries soon grew as we enlarged our concern for others.
Like most natural families, this family enjoyed being together and so in the summer of 1948 we held our first family camp in the mountains. It was in a small rented camp called Pacific Pines at Crestline but the Spirit of God was there in a mighty way and each summer for seven years we wended our way to this rustic camp for a week of playing, praying and studying God’s Word together with many inconveniences physically but with the Glory of God present.
Pacific Pines Camp - You will have had to be there to truly appreciate Sa-Ha-Le which we now have. There were tents for the girls and tents for the boys all of which had to be swept and “de-spidered” before being usable. The adults slept in a long bunk house with many holes in the partial partitions and floors, and curtains for doors to the outside. The wash room was outside at the end of the bunk house, which gave additional time of “Fellowship” what with the brushing of teeth, etc. Many a good laugh was had at the pranks played on one another, much like a family with mom and dad and the kids out on a camping holiday. Dishwashing was done in old-fashioned wash tubs outside the kitchen. To add to the camp problems there was a shortage of water in the well and it had to be checked every night to find if we had enough. Many, many truckloads of water were brought up the mountain so we would even have enough to drink and cook with.
There was a time for fun and a time to worship, each had its place and it seemed that God was especially wonderful as we worshipped Him, perhaps because of the inconveniences and sacrifices made. There was the night the light shone on the whole mountain and the folks in camp came running and fell on their faces worshipping God. The papers stated next day that there was a special unexplainable light in the sky that night. God showed Himself in visions to individuals, there were messages and interpretations and many were filled with the Spirit. We outgrew the small Chapel and had to put up a tent for services. One of the highlights of the tent services was the night with the Glory of God filling the place when the Lord gave a message with interpretation saying that He would take the worm to thrash a mountain and make the tail the head. We could not understand it then but God has done wondrous things since that we could not even have imagined at that time.
Spring of 1948 saw the birth of Mobile Chapel which proved a most effective way of bringing the Good News of the Gospel to the neighborhood children all over Glendale. It was conceived in a morning prayer meeting when the Lord showed Brother Ray the answer to the cry of our hearts that there were so many children we were not reaching for God as we couldn’t get them to come to Sunday School. The answer? Bring church to them of course just like the ice cream truck brought them their ice cream. Within a few days the trailer was bought, again through a miracle, and the ever faithful men folks were busy installing pews (room for 32 children although many times there were 40 in at one time), air conditioning, pulpit, a miniature piano, a bell tower and a bell to call the children. There was a blackboard, a flannel board, equipment for showing Gospel slides and film, a means for playing Gospel records, and Sunday school teachers just waiting for the time they could increase their ministry through this new means. Beginning May 27th the Chapel was on the move. A class was held in a different neighborhood each day for five days each week and then used as a classroom for Sunday school on Sunday. More than 2000 neighborhood children attended services during the first six months and many, many saved. Children whose parents would not permit them to come inside would line up outside and listen to everything said. We received pictures and write-ups on this unique ministry from our own local papers as well as papers in New York and as far away as Australia, inspiring many more people to get involved in reaching the younger generation. The first of the Child Evangelism Mobile Chapels was copied from our Mobile Chapel and purchased by the Glendale C.B.M.C. for the Glendale Child Evangelism work. Where all of the children are now we do not know, but we do know the seed was sown and that was our ministry.
FAITH CENTER
(Formerly called Maple Chapel)
by
Agnes Skeans, church member
January, 1970
Psalms 1:1-3 (From “Living Psalms”)
“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God: But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on His laws and thinking about ways to follow Him more closely. They are like trees along a river bank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves will never wither, and all they do will prosper.”
Every tree has to have a beginning and so our Faith Center Family Tree had its beginning. As we reflect on the years which have gone by let us look at the present and to the future and make sure our tree is good in His sight.
In April of 1947 a new family tree was planted and began to grow in Glendale at the corner of Maple and Adams. It was named Maple Chapel, now known as Faith Center.
The home was very humble and the family was very small, only 35 in number. A young couple ordained of God and directed by Him became head of the family, They became lovingly called Brother Ray and Sister Ruth and still are today by their much larger family - although to be really proper one should say “Pastor Schoch.” Brother Ray accepted his parental responsibilities as God would have him and began to lead, push, prod where necessary, and help his family to grow, not only in numbers but in the love of God and a sense of responsibility to themselves as a family and to others.
The little church home was a small frame house which had been converted into a meeting
place. The platform was makeshift and the lights hung at eye level of the Pastor
because of the low ceiling. Old wooden folding chairs were the comfort of the day
and an old upright piano gave of its best for the glory of God. The baptistery was
a hole cut in the floor of the platform and lined with tin, with a trap door to cover
it when not in use.
Things began to buzz as the family learned the secret of working together with much sacrifice of time and money and before long the home was enlarged and shining with a brand new addition consisting of a basement fellowship hall and a choir loft and platform with a lovely new baptistery. The men also literally “raised the roof” and put in indirect lighting so the pastor wouldn’t be blinded when he spoke. Some old padded opera chairs were purchased and an upholstery shop was set up in the fellowship hall. The church family (men, women, boys and girls) worked together refinishing the wood and reupholstering the chairs. With fresh paint inside and out, carpeting, the “new” chairs, a new organ, and many other nice little things added the church home soon looked like a real chapel for worship.
Advertising was expensive so our station was not too well known until suddenly one morning in October of 1958 we awoke to find our station on all the major Radio networks, in the newspapers and on Television. Again God had used the folly of man to promote His works. Some man, unknown to us, had climbed to the top of our Radio tower during the night and announced that he was going to stay there until he got what he wanted which had nothing whatsoever to do with us.
He sat there for 12 hours while we received thousands of dollars worth of advertising and then climbed down. A week later he was up there again and we got the advertising all over again. Following is a portion of a poem printed in the Los Angeles Examiner at that time along with a large write up.
Once upon a midnight dreary,
Hubert Wilson, weak and weary,
Perched upon a Radio Tower
Perched and sat and nothing more.
Firemen, Officers and Sheriffs
All took turns with their persuasion
And the Radio Director
Sent this message with a roar;
“Leave no grocery sack as token
Of the words that you have spoken
Get your form from off my tower
You’ve become an awful bore!”
In 1955 we had outgrown Pacific Pines Camp and were able to purchase Sa-Ha-Le Camp at Big Bear sharing ownership with our good friends Emanuel Christian Assembly in Los Angeles. Here again the miracles God has wrought would be too numerous to mention. Impossible…But God! God is still honoring the times of retreat from the cares below by being present Himself in a wonderful way and the family still joins together for a week each summer drawing closer to God and enjoying Christian fellowship.
1951 found us busily involved in “Wings over Alaska” purchasing a plane for the Malcom’s as so many places could not be reached except by plane. While Brother Malcom took lessons in flying and all the technical things connected with it, each of our services saw planes zooming across the church as we all lustily sang:
“Give wings to the Gospel
Give wings to the Word
Wings over Alaska
By Faith in the Lord” …and then we gave.
Soon the plane was purchased and again God’s Word was being spread further and further away.
1949 in September saw lots of excitement and a vision come to life as Kahnack Christian
Academy (now known as Faith Center Christian School) came into existence. Again a
miracle! The Sunday school rooms at the church were the classrooms until the purchase
in 1951 of new property on which to move the school. The old adage of “Where there
is heart room there is house room” surely must have some merit because the house
room was anything but adequate but the hearts involved in the teaching were certainly
full of love of God and the desire to not only teach the ABC’s but to instill a love
and respect for God in all of the new little shoots on the family tree The miracles
God performed in the progress of the school could not be covered in this story. Property
was first purchased on North Central Avenue in Glendale, but not being able to get
a variance to put the school there the same property was sold to a builder who not
only bought the property, but gave us the existing building and later a gift of $10,000
for the Lord’s work. Other property was found on the hill at the end of Windsor and
Garfield on which stood an old two story house which became offices and a haven for
missionaries. The building on Central Avenue was moved to the new property about
3 AM one morning. It was remodeled and became the classrooms along with another new
building or two for restrooms, etc. Again what seemed to be a tragedy at the time
had become a part of God’s plan for our future.
1956, November 15th, to be exact, KHOF-FM “Radio the Christian Way” went on the air. Starting with 16,500 Watts it was increased in 1958 to 100,000 Watts. Here again many fascinating stories could be told but a couple will have to suffice for now. We needed a place to put the Radio Tower and after finding the right spot (about 5 acres we needed), approached the owner about purchasing it and found that he would sell it but only if we bought the whole mountain instead of only the part we needed. Impossible again…But God! He worked it out and again it was for the glory of God for it was that extra property plus the adjoining school property plus the old Maple Chapel property which enabled us to purchase our present location. God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.
Jean Carpenter holding meter for engineer Howard Bollenbach
Front: Jim Taylor, Pastor Ray Schoch
Rear: Dick Albetren, Jean & Mona Carpenter
The whole organization is a bee hive of activity, each in its own area of service in spreading the Gospel, yet one family in working for God. Many activities have not even been mentioned so far, such as the Evening Bible School taught and directed by Dr. Willard Peirce and the extensive Music Department directed by Reverend James Boersma which includes choirs, orchestra, and bell choirs for both children and adults, Men’s Fellowship, Youth groups, etc. In mans’ values the original plant was worth $12,000, today’s plant has a market value of about $5,000,000! And, God’s value? Only eternity will tell.
And so our church was born and has grown, the tree rooted solidly in the Lord Jesus Christ and reaching toward Heaven, cared for still by the leader God put in charge in the beginning. The body stands firm, drawing strength from its Faith in God, and the branches full of leaves and fruit spread in all directions over the earth giving forth the perfume of His blessings and the Fruit of the Gospel that all who will taste may know that He saves, He keeps, and He satisfies. The story is not finished, nor will it be until either Jesus comes or He has other plans. He has promised to always be with His people who abide by His Word.
Our whole reason for existence can be summed up in the words of the following song:
We’ve a story to tell to the nations
That shall turn their hearts to the right
A story of truth and sweetness
A story of peace and light
We’ve a message to give to the nations
That the Lord who reigneth above
Hath sent us His son to save us,
And show us that God is love
We’ve a Savior to show to the nations
Who the path of sorrow has trod
That all of the world’s great people
Might come to the truth of God
May we always be faithful in spreading the Word in every way available to us.
Used by permission
KHOF-TV: Another big step for God, dedication day Sunday, October 12, 1969. The Los Angeles Times paper announced it this way: “The first television station to be owned and operated by a single church will begin telecasting Sunday in Southern California. The station is KHOF, channel 30. It will beam its UHF programs from a transmitter atop Sunset Ridge near Mt. Baldy. The one million dollar station is the project of Faith Center, 1615 S Glendale Avenue in Glendale. The church -interdenominational but Pentecostal in tradition— will carry nearly all religious programs except for news….”
The steps required in getting a license and putting this Television Station on the air, plus the cost, would be unbelievable except for God. It would be impossible to list all the miracles God has performed. It is a story in itself.
Telegram from FCC granting Maple Chapel authority to construct KHOF-TV
Without a vision the people perish and so does God’s work, but with a vision there is no stopping progress and so the little humble home was soon outgrown and it became necessary to hold the Sunday services in a rented building called the “Epicurean Towers.” At best it was none too good and certainly an interval which involved much patience, but the attendance grew and God had plans of His own. It was now 1962.
After much prayer and waiting on God for the right answer to fill our need and patiently holding our Sunday Services in the rented building and other services and activities in the little church at Maple and Adams, the answer came as a miracle again. The building which Brother Ray saw a “For Sale” sign on was absolutely impossible for us to obtain and utterly foolish for us to even think of…But God! These are the things of which miracles are made…impossibilities! As far as the world is concerned it was simply a business matter as stated in the Glendale Independent Paper dated Wednesday, August 5, 1964: “The three-story modern building and 7,000 square-foot site on the northwest corner of South Glendale Avenue and Eulalia Street have been acquired from Forest Lawn Memorial Park by Maple Chapel and will be developed for one of the city’s largest church plants.” It was a glorious feeling. We immediately started holding services on the middle floor and filled all the other areas with offices, Sunday school rooms, Christian day school, KHOF-FM and plans in the making for KHOF-TV. After much consideration we finally changed the name to Faith Center which seemed much more appropriate for the present plant than Maple Chapel. There is a small young people’s Chapel in this building, however, which is called Maple Chapel as a reminder of what God has done.
God will fill any room you give Him and it wasn’t long until the auditorium in this building was too small and we needed it for other activities. Plans were made for the building of an “all purpose” structure north of the original building, in which we could also hold services. An article in the Glendale Independent Paper dated November 17, 1965 read like this in part: “Latest step in development of the church-school-radio—television plant of Maple Chapel at 1615 S. Glendale Ave. (corner of Eulalia Street) was ground breaking last week for a 19,000 square-foot, two-story,modern building adjacent to the three-story building the church purchased from Forest Lawn Memorial Park in l964.”
Dedication services for this new building were held on December 4, 1966. It has an auditorium which is used for services, TV productions, and fellowship gatherings, a prayer room, kitchen, school rooms, etc. We still do not have a Sanctuary in the true sense of the word but this will come in time.
The Station is on the air 24 hours a day now and the outreach is tremendous, with its many types of programs for all kinds of needs. The seed is sown although we may never see all the results until we get to heaven. KHOF-FM also has a sister station in Mexico City now — XHMM which is being managed by Dale Smith.
Tapes are shared all over the world from KHOF-FM as well as sermons and programs from Faith Center church itself. Reach out and touch the world for God is the thread running like a bloodline all through the family tree.
KHOF-FM Tower
KHOF-FM Transmitter building
Frank Milam at the control console
