A local church, The Sanctuary, recently celebrated its 75^th anniversary in the Santa Clarita Valley.  City and state officials joined the church’s congregation on March 4 to recognize the milestone.

“The theme of the night was a mosaic of our life together.  A mosaic is a picture put together using fragmented parts and that mosaic picture was significant to us because 1) it was the collective involvement of many people through the 75 years and 2) the motto of our church is a safe place to grow,” said Pastor Jonathan Edwards, commenting on the imagery of broken lives growing together.

Glenn Burris, President of the Foursquare denomination of which The Sanctuary is a member, was present to give an address to the congregation.  A representative from Assemblyman Cameron Smyth’s office, a letter from Congressman Buck McKeon, and recognition from City Council Member, Bob Kellar, rounded out the acknowledgements from officials.

Edwards said that The Sanctuary puts heavy emphasis on reaching out to the community: “One of the things we are big on is meeting felt needs for people in the deepest and darkest places.”

The Sanctuary has partnered with local organizations including the homeless shelter, Zoe International, and the Crisis Pregnancy Center.  It gives its support to local schools, families in need, and other projects to help the hungry in the SCV and around the world.

“Our main thing is that we are about reaching people through people.  And that’s not just in a ‘religious’ fashion; it’s about helping people.  We’re not an institution, not a place; we’re a community, we’re a people,” said Edwards.

Edwards said that the celebration event was planned to reflect that when the church members gathered together they could “draw strength from one another and there is a beauty that comes with that.”

The event included a collection of photographs of current members mingled with archived photographs from the church’s history.  Congregants donated fruit for impressive decorations as an image of the fruit of their labors, according to Edwards.

The Sanctuary is located at 26444 Friendly Valley Parkway, Santa Clarita.  To find out more about the church, visit their website by clicking here.