Hallwood church to celebrate 100th anniversary

Apr. 30—A pastor for Hallwood Community Church of the Nazarene in Yuba County, Stacey Hanson, said that one woman, 98, has been a part of the church's community her whole life. Her sister, 95, has also been with the church her whole life.

Fittingly, Hallwood Community Church will celebrate its 100th anniversary this weekend to recognize its long-standing. On Saturday, the church will host a free BBQ dinner and softball game open to the public. The Saturday celebration will be from 2-8 p.m.

"This community is full of people who have helped this church out in lots of different ways when it was in need and supported it in lots of different ways. So we wanted to honor that, and we wanted to say, come hang out with us and celebrate," Hanson said. "And we are also going to have a couple of bands come out and play some music, and we just want it to be a celebration with the community."

On Sunday, a church service will be held at 10 a.m., during which a slideshow about the church's history will be shown. The church will have a big lunch afterward, and there will also be a few baptisms that day.

The Hallwood Community Church started after a local bible study group gained popularity, and then in 1924, the group decided that maybe they needed to start a church.

Hanson said that people are welcome to attend the church even if they are not regular churchgoers.

"What drives me is to help people know God like I know God and to see them discover what plans and purpose He has for their lives," Hanson said.

Hanson said that his younger self would have been surprised that he became a pastor.

"He would have been like — no way," Hanson said. "But now that I look back on it, though, there are so many ways that I can see that God was calling me into this, and I wasn't listening for a long time. And it took some hard knocks on the head to get me to understand that that's where I needed to be."

He has been a pastor with the Hallwood Community Church for 10 years.

One powerful memory that stands out to him from his time with the church, involves a Loma Rica fire that happened years ago. He said that for a week or more people who had lost their homes stayed in the church.

"We opened up our gymnasium, so people could sleep in there. And what was really cool about that is that all of these people in the community all of a sudden started bringing in supplies. They brought food, they brought meals, they brought clothes, they brought cots for the people to sleep on," Hanson said. "The community just day after day took care of them."

Community is important.

Hason said that a sense of community and family outside of a person's immediate family is often lacking these days. He hopes that the church can be a third space for people.

A member of the Hallwood Community Church, Tracy Vigen has been a part of the church for about 23 years. She said that going to church gets her pumped up. She said that her pitch for the church is that it is an opportunity to learn about God and follow Him.

"But what gets people there is just the friendships: the relationships that you build, the community. We have potlucks, and we have the Kids for Christ party on Halloween night," Vigen said. "A lot of the community, I think, considers us their church even though they may not come regularly, just because we are so community-oriented."

Local sports teams even use the church's fields to practice, and a local elementary school uses their gym for concerts.

Going deeper, Vigen said that her faith changes her thought process.

"Your days can be much more positive knowing that there's hope and more to this," Vigen said. "It makes it easier to get through your daily life and your troubles and tribulations because you have hope."