History of Worship Generation (2005-2010)
In April 2005, after five fruitful years of ministry at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, serving primarily as an outreach ministry to college age youth, Worship Generation under the leadership of Pastor Joey Buran, moved to become an independent church congregation. The transition at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa went smoothly as Pastor Joey turned over the Monday night college ministry to good friend, Pastor Garid Beeler. Following this transition, Pastor Joey started afresh with new vision and purpose. With the blessing and support of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Worship Generation relocated to the city of Fountain Valley.
During the month of May Pastor Joey began to build a team of leaders who would help co-labor in this new venture of faith. Through weekly prayer and planning meetings a small group of people from the old Monday night ministry team began to come together as one for the unique calling of establishing a new church. Among those in this original group were Bryan Jameson and Jeremy Foster, two individuals whose help would be invaluable, and whom went on to become Worship Generation Pastors.
After seeking a facility for a weekly service throughout the month of May, the Lord opened the door of opportunity at Shoreline Baptist Church. By late June, the Pastoral staff at Shoreline had welcomed Worship Generation with open arms allowing the new church to use the sanctuary for three months of services on Saturday nights. At the same time, Worship Generation opened an administrative office on the Newport Peninsula. This was a very special season for Worship Generation as it transitioned from being a college age outreach ministry, to becoming an all-encompassing local church family made up of people of all ages. By the end of 2005 it became clear that Worship Generation would be welcome by Shoreline to maintain their Saturday weekly service indefinitely. With a sense of location stability now in place, 2006 would become the year of foundation.
In January of 2006, Pastor Joey began to teach through the Gospel of Matthew on Saturday nights. During this time Matt Erickson began writing a curriculum for the children’s ministry which was also taken from the Gospel of Matthew. Thus, the adults in the sanctuary and the children in the children’s ministry were going through the gospel together at their own levels. This proved to be very fruitful and Worship Generation continues to follow this pattern on Saturday nights for its older aged children’s ministry classes and its youth group.
During 2006, the church continued to grow spiritually and numerically and began to expand into different areas of ministry. A men’s ministry developed under the leadership of Pastor Jeremy Foster, a youth ministry led by Pastor Bryan Jameson, and a women’s ministry led by Jennifer Buran, Heidi Jameson, and Cheryl Foster. All of these new ministries proved fruitful and provided opportunities for the congregants of the church to come together, grow together, and serve together! By the middle of 2006, a church family was emerging, a group of people unified in faith and purpose. After teaching a 10-week series on Tuesday nights specifically geared toward equipping for ministry service, Pastor Joey along with Bryan and Jeremy agreed it was time to appoint deacons in the church.
After a season of fasting and prayer, Matt Erickson, Ross Erskine, Garett Frisby, Scott Harper, Kevin Huang, Patrick Wilkerson, and Peter Wright became the first deacons of Worship Generation in late June of 2006. The appointment of deacons was an important step forward for the church, as it allowed for expansion and delegation of ministry.
Another significant event in the summer of 2006 was the relocation of the Worship Generation offices to the Shoreline premises. The offices and weekly church service being located at the same place created a final sense of stability. The remainder of the year was steady and sure as the church family continued to grow and come together as one in Christ.
In early 2007 Jason Wright joined the pastoral staff of Worship Generation. Jason was involved as a teenager with Worship Generation at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa going all the way back to the summer of 2000. Jason would go on to serve faithfully as a youth Pastor and worship leader at Worship Generation through 2009.
Also, in 2007 a midweek service was added to Worship Generation’s weekly schedule of events. It has gone on to become a night of worship, Bible study, and Church fellowship. The emphasis of Bible teaching on Tuesday nights shifted towards the Old Testament in the beginning of 2008. Since that time Pastor Joey has taught through a majority of the “historical books” of the Old Testament.
Over the next two years 2008-2009, Worship Generation continued to move forward as a Church family based out of the Shoreline facility with its primary services continuing to be on Saturday and Tuesday nights. In 2008 the opportunity was presented to Pastor Joey to become the head coach of the Pac Sun USA surf team. This position involved working with some of the top junior surfers (under 18), as well as some of the top pros of American surfing. A number of congregants from Worship Generation helped out and served in this endeavor through administration, finances, training camps and travel. In June of 2009 Joey resigned this position in order to focus on new ministry opportunities through the completion of his biographical movie “Beyond the Dream.”
In 2009 Worship Generation saw the emergence of three new Pastors. Garett Frisby, Hector Mora and Alex Lopez. Since that time these three have been a cornerstone in the WG youth ministries. Garett Frisby became the Jr high Pastor and continued to serve in that capacity with his wife Jacqueline through December 2010. Hector Mora became the new high school Pastor in December of 2009. His wife Carol assists him in this ministry as she serves and leads the high school girls. Pastor Alex Lopez and his wife Kaleigh have faithfully served in oversight of the 4th and 5th graders through December 2010. While the development of these Pastors has flourished in the youth ministry, it has not been limited to the youth as they have also served and grown in numerous other pastoral capacities and experiences.
June of 2010 saw Worship Generation reach its 5 year anniversary as a local Church! Shortly thereafter Pastor Joey Buran and Jeremy Foster went to England in August 2010 on a three week mission trip doing outreaches to the surf community with the movie Beyond the Dream. Later in the year, October, Pastor Joey went to South Africa and taught at the Calvary Chapel Pastor’s Conference in Cape Town while also doing outreaches with Beyond the Dream. During this time God gave the leadership of Worship Generation the vision to plant a new church in the northern region of Orange County. In January of 2011 Worship Generation planted this new church in the city of Orange, CA under the leadership of Pastor Bryan Jameson. Orange County Christian Fellowship (www.occf.cc) presently meets at Orange High School on Sunday Mornings at 10am.
As Worship Generation began 2011, it did so with excitement, vision, and new faces in new ministries. Pastor Jeremy Foster became the new Associate Pastor with Bryan Jameson stepping out to pastor OCCF full-time. Pastor Garett Frisby moved on from the Junior High Ministry to serve the adult congregation in the sanctuary while also overseeing the Men’s Ministry. Pastor Alex Lopez stepped up to become the overseer of the Junior High Ministry, while Pastor Hector Mora continued to oversee the High School Ministry and stepped into a new role as a Pastoral Administrative Assistant to Senior Pastor Joey Buran. Worship Generation also added a new pastor, Robert Lewellen, who serves the adult congregation in the sanctuary as well as overseeing Community Outreach Ministries.
Over the years it has become clear that the strength of Worship Generation is the love of Jesus Christ demonstrated in its Church family. The impact of this ministry has been fruitful in the lives of people here in Orange County and has extended, by God’s grace, throughout the world for the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.