In the Spirit

CHURCH NAME: Fountain Spring Church

ADDRESS: 6462 Industrial Way, Suite B (at Edwards and Industrial Way)

TELEPHONE: 1-866-3SPRING

DENOMINATION: Assemblies of God

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1997

SERVICE TIMES: Worship is at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday. Bible study

for adults meets at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Spring Kids, for elementary school

children, meets concurrently with the 10 a.m. worship service. Midweek

Refresher groups for adults meet at the church and at private homes at 7

p.m. Wednesdays.

SENIOR PASTOR: Bill Crouch

PASTORAL STAFF: Farrell Henderson, associate pastor; James Stevenson,

minister of worship; Marcel and Kathy Hurt, youth pastors.

SIZE OF CONGREGATION: 100

MAKEUP OF CONGREGATION: A thorough mixture of ages, ethnicities and

cultures.

CHILD CARE: Bubbling Brooks nursery is available for infants and

toddlers at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

TYPE OF WORSHIP: Very fresh and contemporary blend of Hillsong

music-style praise and worship and traditional hymns is lead by James

Stevenson, the church’s minister of worship. The praise songs and hymns

are accompanied by a diversity of instruments, including drums, sax,

harmonica and even the didgeridoo, which is played by pastor Bill Crouch.

TYPE OF SERMON: A look at biblical truths in a way that aims to answer

the questions, “So what? What good is this to me? How can it change my

life in a positive way?” The sermons are not meant to dispense knowledge

so much as to offer tools for living.

RECENT SERMON: A series on Psalm 23, for which Crouch drew from his

own experiences as an Australian sheep farmer.

UPCOMING SERMON: A series based on the book of Matthew, looking at the

inception of Jesus Christ’s ministry.

DRESS: Informal to business attire.

VISITOR INFORMATION/HOSPITALITY: Members aim to make visitors feel at

home and Crouch feels they do that very naturally.

CHURCH PROGRAMS: Spring Kids, Fountain of Youth and the church’s

Midweek Refreshers for adults are all very active and provide many

opportunities for study, growth and fellowship for all the church’s

members.

OUTREACH PROGRAMS: The congregation provides for community service and

missions in a way disproportionate for its 100-member size. A food

ministry, directed by Rosemary Hollowell, prepares and delivers as many

as 700 meals each month to the homeless in parks and the underemployed

living hand-to-mouth in motels. The congregation also supports the Second

Harvest Food Bank and the Orange County Food Bank. Youth ministers,

Marcel and Kathy Hurt lead a worship service at the Orange County Rescue

Mission each third Sunday of the month. Last year the congregation

attended the Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade and distributed more

than 700 free bottles of water to the hot and thirsty crowd there.

Another $10,000 goes to support missionaries in the Philippines, France,

Japan, New Guinea and Zimbabwe.

CHURCH BUILDING: A 3000-square-foot converted storefront, which the

congregation, its activities and community service has already outgrown.

There are plans to expand by another 3000 square feet.

MISSION STATEMENT: The theme of the church is “refreshing.” The

church’s mission is “to establish, enlarge and enjoy the presence of God

in our lives and in our community” and to share the “provision, or power,

purpose and privilege of being a child of God.”

INTERESTING NOTE: The church is currently celebrating its four-year

anniversary. Each year the church publishes a yearbook, very much like a

high school year book, but soft-cover bound. It gives the members a way

to remember a multitude of yearly events, members who may move away and

the children of the church as they grow up in life and in Christ.