About Us
Who we are...
Woodland Hills Community Church is a medium-sized, family-oriented church nestled in the heart of Woodland Hills. We are big enough to offer the programs that you need yet not so big that you will feel "lost in the crowd." If you are interested in growing spiritually and being meaningfully engaged in the life of your family, community, nation and world you will find partnership with WHCC to be exciting and rewarding. We see life as an exciting journey into awareness and goodness.
Through worship, reflection, spiritual devotions and social engagement we discover what it is to be really alive. It is so important to forge partnerships and friendships on this journey because sometime the "going gets tough" and we can feel alone and isolated. Being part of a faith community can be so helpful during these times. Please explore this website as it will give you a sense of who we are. Please visit us in person as soon as you can. Introduce yourself to us so that we can partner with you on this amazing journey into life!
Our Pastor...
We are blessed to have Reverend Stephen Amsden leading our spiritual journey. Pastor Stephen answered the unanimous call of the church in August 2004 after we experienced his passion and inner enthusiasm for the faith. With a student's outlook on life, he promotes an atmosphere that welcomes questions, explores ideas, and addresses life's divine mysteries. Pastor Stephen has more than 30 years of ministerial experience and came to us from the Church of Universal Fellowship in Orono, Maine. He served as senior pastor for 18 years at the United Church of Hayward, while serving as a member of the adjunct humanities faculty at Chabot College and board member of the Youth Coalition. For six years he served as Senior Pastor at two UCC churches in Honolulu. Pastor Stephen particularly enjoys hiking, beachcombing, amusement parks, history, museums, philosophy, visual arts, jazz, and conversation. And he would love to begin a conversation with YOU.
Click here to view an article recently published by Pastor Stephen.
What we believe...
Many people are interested in what "this church believes." While no one can speak for the whole church this statement is an attempt to outline our basic beliefs about God, Jesus, the Spirit, the Bible, the Church, and our Mission.
God
The word that we use to talk about that which is beyond words. This is the paradox of all theological discussion. The mystery of "God" can never be captured fully in words, names or images. God may be unchanging and eternal, but our comprehension of the Mystery is ever expanding. Here are some of the other words we have used in referring to this Mystery. Creator, Universal Force, Creative Spirit, Loving Spirit, Father, Mother, the Essential Unity of Being, the Ultimate Value, and the Inner Voice.
Jesus
The first century Palestinian who traveled about as an itinerant preacher, teacher, healer. It seems that he believed so strongly that God was in him and one with him that he considered himself to be God's son. He did not think of this as an exclusive title - rather he invited others to also think of themselves as God's children. Religious and political leaders misunderstood his claims to "divinity" and were threatened by his popularity. They conspired against him and killed him. They discovered that it is much easier to kill a body than to kill an idea. The essence of Jesus and the power of his teachings could not be kept in a tomb. They reached from beyond death to stir the hearts of the disciples, awakening them to the reality that God's spirit was in them just as it had been in Jesus. It reaches to us with the same message. The spark of God is in us waiting to be fanned to a burning flame of awareness that we, too, are the children of God.
The Bible
The Bible contains the scriptures of the Jewish and Christian traditions. Scripture literally means "That which is written." The scriptures are the written records, stories, worship materials and faith reflections of the Hebrew people and, later, the early Christian church. It describes in their words what happened to them and reflects the assumptions and the world views in their day. In reading the scriptures, we feel that it is important to remember that we are reaching across several languages, many layers of interpretation, and several thousand years. We also reach across major cultural barriers and have vastly different world view assumptions than the writers and the original audiences. To understand the Bible, we must be aware that the Bible was not written to us living in the twenty first century. We must do the work of translating its truths to our context. Improperly read, it can be divisive, harsh, sometimes incomprehensible, and tend to promote self-righteousness. Properly read, the Bible is a deep well of wisdom that can inspire new insights, bring us to greater levels of compassion and lead us to abundant, joy-filled living.
Church
The gathered worshipping and working community that has covenanted together to support and nurture each other, so that we might be awakened, fulfill our mission and live in Joy!
Mission
We are called to a personal Spiritual awakening that empowers us to express the love of God in our values, choices and priorities. We are called to share the good news of our "awakening" with others so that they too may be empowered to express the love of God in their living. We are called to care for those caught in dehumanizing situations such as poverty, political oppression, racism, or sexism. We are called to support societal structures that will promote dignity and well being for all God's people. Our purpose is to help people achieve abundant life, welcome them into our family of faith, and to help people to discover and express their unique purpose in the world.
Click here to view our church bylaws