Let’s get to know each other.

Our house is your house

It is our privilege and joy to share our building with the Esparto community. At the moment we welcome two other churches, Calvary Baptist and Los Pentecostales, and community groups, Head Start, RISE weekday food distribution, as well as AA and Al Anon.

Our church and social hall are available for use by community groups, families and individuals; ie. for classes or meetings, book clubs or art classes, concerts or plays, music groups or lessons, as well as weddings or meditations.

1. To help people experience God’s love for them and feel him working in their lives.
2. To help people find ways to express the kindness of God in the lives of those around them.
3. To be a spiritual home in Esparto where the hospitality and caring community, and peace of God are available to all.
We believe in God who gave us the earth and all its creatures to live in harmony.
We believe in Jesus who lived among us and draws us into a deeper relationship with God.
We believe in the Spirit who is as near as our breath and who turns strangers into family.
We believe in Jesus’ Table, where there is always room for everyone. Gathered by God we worship, learn, share, and celebrate together.
Our ministry is constantly evolving but the one constant is sitting around the table together. We learn where to go by saying “yes” when the Spirit calls.
We read the Bible to understand what it meant when it was written and what God might be saying to each of us in our own lives now.
Everybody has a story to share and wisdom to impart. We are enriched by one another because of our differing beliefs and points of view. We explore the journey of life and faith together.
We encourage you to bring your talents and resources to join with ours as we work for the common good of our community. We hope you will join us.
In the middle of this beautiful and productive organic farming region, many people in the Esparto area don't have access to healthy food. So we decided to focus our ministry around food. We welcome you and your friends and neighbors to join us.
Through Sunday's Table, we provide fresh meats, eggs, bread, and produce to everyone who wants it. The people who come to volunteer and to set up as well as the people who come through the line are all understood to be part of our church family. As we chat and share coffee and sometimes prayers and songs, we know the Spirit is present. The children of volunteers and guests are always welcome to join in Sunday School stories, crafts, games, and snacks.
The friendships that have grown around Sunday’s Table have led to more plans for community activities.
One of these activities is growing vegetables in our raised garden beds and sharing them with Sunday’s Table, including adding fresh herbs.
Several times during the summer, members and friends gather to cook and can our locally grown produce. See our calendar of events for these special days if you would like to participate.
We welcome everyone to join us in any or all of these joy-filled activities.
Presbyterians affirm that God comes to us with grace and love in the person of Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and rose for us so that we might have eternal and abundant life in him. As Christ's disciples are called to ministry in his name, we seek to continue his mission of teaching the truth, feeding the hungry, healing the broken, and welcoming strangers.
God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, giving us the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love to be Christ's faithful disciples in the world. Within this framework, we encourage members to think for themselves and we believe God calls each of us to use our variety of gifts for God's purpose and love.
America's government was patterned after the structure of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland in the 1700s, with elected leaders governing and representing each congregation, larger geographical collections of churches called presbyteries, and even larger regions called synods. All are part of the Presbyterian Church USA. We are independent but we are also sister churches that help and support one another.
You can learn more about our history, theology, and mission works that spread the Gospel throughout the USA and around the world at www.pcusa.org.

Our church heritage.

In October 1922 a group of local Christians started a Children's Sunday School in Esparto, and in March of 1923, they formed the Countryside Community Church as a Presbyterian church with the help of Rev. N.M. Fisk of Davis Community Church. In May of 1923 the first pastor, Rev. Samuel Holsinger, began leading worship at the Esparto High School, and by October of 1924, they had built and moved into their new church, the beautiful pink brick building on the corner of Fremont and Grafton. All in 2 years!

Over the years this church has housed boy scouts and campfire girls, AA, NA, and Al Anon, book clubs and quilting clubs, Bible studies, movies and games, art shows, concerts, teas, and jitney dinners*. The church ladies also served big breakfasts on tables at the high school entrance to celebrate the students' victories in sports or academics. All over the Capay Valley, there are adults with fond memories of attending Vacation Bible School at Countryside Church every summer when they were children.
*(In the early part of the 20th century, jitney was a little bus, with cheap fares of a nickel. A jitney dinner then was a little buffet dinner which served hearty food, one big scoop for a nickel.)

About our Leaders

Rev. Dr. Kathy was the pastor at Countryside in the 1990s and came back to serve as pastor again in the fall of 2016. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1977, Kathy has been serving in pastoral leadership with inner-city congregations in Chicago and Detroit, in suburban congregations in Illinois and California, and here in Esparto. She has loved each church.

Kathy has a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry degree (focusing on the faith experiences of children). She is married to Tom Smith, and they have a young adult son, Ben.

One of the marvelous things about Presbyterian churches is that we are democracies. Our members elect their own church leaders (called elders) who plan, organize, nurture and lead the congregation along with the partnership of the pastor.

Meet our Elders