AT1 Speaker Chris Oberg Answers the Question, “How Does Christ Challenge Culture?”

We can’t wait to hear from Chris Oberg, Lead Pastor at La Sierra University Church, who will be speaking for our October 4-6 AT1 gathering taking place in Portland, Oregon.

We asked Chris, along with the rest of our presenters, to answer the question “How Does Christ Challenge Culture?” in 80 words or less. Here are her thoughts:

I’m a girl raised in the Church. Sabbath School, church, potluck or meals with Adventist family and friends and Saturday night socials were for the implied purpose of escaping culture. Adventism created a sub-culture that encouraged us to stand strong against worldly winds. Grateful for my upbringing, I am still recovering from the instinct to escape the world and hunker down for the next one. When I watch Jesus standing inside his culture for the sake of loving God’s world, I see my/our assignment.

An Interview with Chris Oberg, Pastor of the LaSierra University Church

By Lindsey Painter | 28 February, 2018 |

Eight years ago Chris Oberg made Adventist history by becoming the first woman to hold the position of lead pastor of a University Church. She has been faithfully serving her church and her community since that time as lead pastor of the La Sierra University Church. “The church is holy and sinful and in a constant state of renewal.” Pastor Oberg says. A beautiful and accurate portrayal.

La Sierra University Church is “the church on the corner in the 92505 between two campuses.” Pastor Oberg stated that this identity helps their church and community understand their role. They are in a prominent place, in a specific zip code which reminds them they are responsible to their local community, not just the church building itself. And they are located between La Sierra University and La Sierra Academy, which reminds them that they are responsible for being church and showing the next generation what church is like.

One thing the church is really focusing on right now is attending to “friends without homes.” Pastor Oberg and her church are partnering with the city and local governments to work to better understand and assist in this complex area. The church is being very intentional about getting educated as they work. “Riverside is a huge city. But we are doing our part to attend to our friends without homes. We have a lot of wandering friends without homes here on our street. They also belong to us. No one else has to come to my zip code and take care of our friends without homes. We are taking part in the mayor’s initiative. We want to do it well, rather than doing damage to the system and to our friends without homes. We are looking at housing options. We would take responsibility for that and nurture it. Riverside has made this an initiative and we are regularly in meetings trying to work on that.”

700 Pastors Study Together

« October 2011 « Union News

700 Pastors Study Together

By Gerry Chudleigh

Photo by Gerry Chudleigh

Chris Oberg, senior pastor of the La Sierra University church, speaks at the closing session of the 2011 Pacific Union Ministerial Council.

Dan Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, speaks at the Pacific Union Ministerial Council.

Preachers aren’t noted for traveling long distances to listen to other preachers preach, but in August, nearly 700 Seventh-day Adventist pastors from Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah met in Ontario, Calif., for two days of studying, singing, praying — and listening enthusiastically to other preachers preach.

The Pacific Union Conference Ministerial Council, held every five years in conjunction with the union constituency session, featured five general presentations and 14 seminars.

In his keynote address Monday evening, Dan Jackson, North American Division president, urged pastors to rediscover their passion for ministry and evangelism. Tuesday morning and evening, Rogelio Paquini and Carlton Byrd (respectively) urged pastors to “Reach Out” and “Do Something.”

Tuesday noon, Jon Paulien, dean of the School of Religion at Loma Linda University, presented a scholarly study on the meaning of “Remnant” in the Bible. Paulien discussed the historical remnant, the faithful remnant and the eschatological (end-time) remnant, pointing out that in the Bible, the final remnant (which is still in the future) is “bigger and more international and unpredictable” than the other biblical remnants.

The workshops were held Tuesday morning and repeated in the afternoon. The largest number of pastors attended the seminars on “Words of Delight: The Blessing of Biblical Preaching” by John Brunt, Kendra Haloviak Valentine, Leo Ranzolin and John Webster; “Is It All Righteousness by Faith” by Young-Chun Kim; “Contemporary Evangelism for the 21st Century” by Carylton Byrd; and "The Power of Willpower," by Arlene Taylor.

In the final presentation Wednesday morning, La Sierra University senior pastor Chris Oberg spoke on Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares (“Who Needs to Hear This Parable?”). “The church urgently needs pastors and leaders and congregations who hear the words of Jesus: the wheat and tares grow together until harvest. Yes, there is contamination in the field. But ours in not to purify the neighborhood. Attempting to purify will make matter worse. In the end, God will handle the contamination in the field, a field which belongs to God. Until then, ours is to point people to Jesus.”

As the result of generous donations, every local church pastor in the union was presented a free copy of the Andrews University Study Bible. "Wow! This is great," said one pastor, with his new Bible in hand. "I have been given a lot of little things at church events, but never something this useful."

The event closed with the Pacific Union Prayer Team asking God's blessing on every pastor, their families and their congregations.

Source

Only the Church?

by La Sierra University Church
7 months ago: Sun, Feb 27, 2011 10:32am EST (Eastern Standard Time)

Only the Church? from La Sierra University Church on Vimeo.

Pastor Chris Oberg preaches during Church@9:30, February 26, 2011, "Only the Church?" 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

Chris Oberg, speaks Sunday morning June 27, 2010

Christy Oberg, senior pastor of the La Sierra University church speaks Sunday morning at the General Conference Session in Atlanta. [Photo: Gerry Chudleigh]

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.http://www.flickr.com/photos/adventistnewsnetwork/page97/

West Coast Worship Conference

Chris Oberg is the Senior Pastor at Calimesa Seventh-Day Adventist Church, just east of Loma Linda, Ca. Chris describes her assignment at Calimesa one of life’s grandest blessings, “to be among people for whom Church, and worship, matters. Chris is a double-alumnus of La Sierra University, School of Religion, completing both a BA and an MA in Religion, with an emphasis in New Testament Studies and Ethics. Chris, and her husband Kerby, have two college age daughters.

.Read more @ http://www.westcoastworshipconference.com/speakers

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Interview - Pastor Chris Oberg

Friends and Brethren,

I am providing this information for the many that are out of the information loop; Those that don't know the real condition of the SDA Church. As quiet as it's kept there are plenty of ordained Women pastors, Celebration worship services, New Theology proponents, and numerous other innovations. This is just the tip of the glacier.

Here let it be known that many will defend a church in a Laodicean state to the point of violence; "No, not my church". They may utter.

I choose to defend the faith once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3). My allegiances are with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in whose mouth was found no guile.

If you are living in a conservative pocket (a bubble) of the SDA spectrum?
Here's proof of the modern changes... Yet, they still call it Seventh Day Adventism?

Arsenio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU0kJiaAt0khttp://


jaredwrightus
September 08, 2008

I interview Chris Oberg, senior pastor of the Calimesa SDA Church. Pastor Oberg shares her response to a presentation by Dr. Desmond Ford at the Campus Hill Church in Loma Linda.

Related:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5zFwOJ_5o8http://

pastorikim

March 19, 2009


This is the farewell rap that was performed by the young families group.

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Chris Oberg to Become First Female Senior Pastor of University Church

Chris Oberg to Become First Female
Senior Pastor of University Church

CALIMESA, California – Pastor Chris Oberg of the Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church announced today that she will accept a call to serve as senior pastor of the La Sierra University Church in Riverside, California. Oberg will be the first woman to serve as senior pastor of an Adventist university church.

The announcement came at the end of the Sabbath worship hour. After delivering the sermon to a packed church, Oberg revealed that she had received and accepted an invitation to return to La Sierra where she served as associate pastor before coming to Calimesa. With tears, she acknowledged that her positive reception at Calimesa, a church of 1,200 members near Loma Linda, played a role in her historic appointment to the La Sierra University Church. She thanked the church for embracing her ministry over the past four years. She cited the openness of a college church to hire a female senior pastor and the opportunity to serve in an academic environment as two factors that led to her acceptance of the call.

Oberg received a standing ovation as she left the platform.

Oberg will succeed pastor Dan Smith, who resigned as senior pastor of the La Sierra University Church to become Southeastern California Conference’s Specialist in Creative Evangelism. In addition to his focus on evangelism for the SECC, Smith also joined with The Quiet Hour, an Adventist evangelistic broadcast media and publishing organization based in Southern California.

Trained in dietetics, Oberg sensed God’s calling to ministry and left her career as a maternal and infant nutritionist to pursue a BA degree in religion from La Sierra University. While studying at La Sierra, she served on the pastoral staff of the university church. Oberg subsequently competed a master's of arts degree in religious studies in 2005. After completing her master’s degree at La Sierra, Oberg received a call to Calimesa to replace Derek Morris, who transferred to the Forest Lake Church in Apopka, Florida.

Oberg was honored by the La Sierra University Alumni Association during the 2007 alumni weekend (along with Spectrum editor Bonnie Dwyer and five others).

Oberg’s appointment as senior pastor of the La Sierra University Church is an historic step forward for advocates of full equality for women ministers.

On March 16, 2000, the Southeast California Conference Executive Committee voted to give male and female pastors equal credentials. During the Southeast California Conference Quadrennial Session in October of this year, a report revealed that women currently comprise 8.5% of all pastors in SECC (down from a peak of 12%). Of the 19 women pastors that serve in SECC, only two are senior pastors--Chris Oberg, and Hyveth Williams of the Campus Hill Church in Loma Linda.

Chris Oberg is married to Kerby Oberg who teaches pathology and anatomy at Loma Linda University. They have two daughters who attend La Sierra University.

As published on the Spectrum blog...

Source: http://www.sdakinship.net/sdakinship/nl/newsnotes2009-/chrisobergpastor.html

P.S. Bolds and highlights added.

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