Malibu Presbyterian ‘Returns Home’ with Bonds Made Stronger after Trial by Fire

• Church Community Celebrates Services on Nov. 8

Members of the Malibu Presbyterian Church say they always celebrated the specialness of their communal bonds, but they could never have envisioned understanding the precept that “a church is not a building” as clearly as they would when their church was reduced to rubble and ashes after the Malibu Canyon wildfire in 2007.
Without an edifice, church members looked to one another for a sense of identity not only as a church community but in the Malibu community at large and learned that “being a church without a home” can be as strong if not stronger as any church can be.
This Sunday, Malibu Presbyterian Church returns home, rising from the ashes in an action that is celebrated by all who acknowledge the role of faith in their lives. The first services will be held at 9:30 a.m. and 11:11.a.m.
While the church prepares to return to the white tent on the hill, it announced that “it will celebrate 60 years of service and life with new-found insight into what it means to be a people of God. As anyone who has been touched by adversity knows, the church is not the same as it was two years ago.”
“We all experience pain, hardship and loss in this life,” says Senior Pastor Greg Hughes. “But in every trial there is an opportunity, a blessing to seize. Just as fire refines gold and strengthens metal, so too has our church family been enriched by the loss of our buildings. Athletes are heard to say, ‘No pain, no gain.’ I’d like to say it a little differently for Malibu Pres, ‘Burned down, but fired up!’”
Hughes adds, “We could have fractured under the strain and stress of our loss, but it brought our congregation together with greater purpose and resolve. Our love for one another has increased and our commitment has grown to leave a lasting legacy, as the Christmas carol goes, of ‘peace on earth and good will towards men.’ We are a resurrection people, like Christ, we can’t stay down.”
Hughes says that rather than focusing on its own loss, the church focused on the needs of others. Three weeks after losing their own building, members built homes in Baja, Mexico for impoverished families. Two months after the fire, members of Malibu Pres came alongside devastated home-owners in the second 2007 fire in Latigo and Corral Canyons, praying with them as they measured the extent of their own loss to fire.
The church, Hughes says, not only embraced the community, but the community embraced the church.
“For the last two years, Malibu Presbyterian became more integrated into the community. They held weekly services at Webster Elementary, fathers danced with their daughters at the annual Father-Daughter Valentine Dance at the Malibu Inn and Bible studies met in private homes. The Malibu Pres Preschool was graciously offered a home at the Malibu Jewish Center for eight months until a temporary preschool was built.”
“Now that we are ‘going home,’ the real challenge begins,” member Michael Guillen said. “We must not become comfortable and grow apathetic; not allow materialism to pass for meaning; but instead, we must always remember that the focus of the Gospel is on people, not on bricks and mortar.”
Pastor Hughes adds, “We have a new base camp. And we pray it will not only glorify God but will continue to serve our families and our wonderful community. It’s only a means to an end. We are a blessed people. We are a thankful people. And we couldn’t be more excited.”

MALIBU PRESBYTERIAN SERVICE INFORMATION
Weekly Services:
9:30 a.m. & 11:11 a.m.
University Ministry Service:
8:30 p.m. Tuesdays
3324 Malibu Canyon Road
Other activities and information can be found at www.malibupres.org.