Pastor Loren Kelly and wife Laurie at his ordination ceremony
DOWNIEVILLE — The ordination ceremony for Downieville Assembly of God (AOG) Pastor Loren Kelly and more than twenty ministers from other locations was held on April 23rd at the Trinity Life Center in Sacramento. Pastor Loren (as he is commonly referred to), who turned 70 on May 9th, became a licensed minister in 2022, and this was simply the “next step” in which the church’s Northern California/Nevada District Council formally recognized his calling to ministry.
Kelly moved with his wife Laurie and daughter Katie to Downieville in 2016 to help care for his aging father-in-law, John Funk. John attended the Downieville AOG, and it wasn’t long after arriving that Loren and Laurie began to accompany John to church. After John died in 2021, he and his wife of almost 44 years bought the family home and have resided in our mountain town since. Sierra County is a perfect fit as the newly ordained preacher grew up camping, hunting, and fishing. He wishes to take his last breath as a minister in this town.
Interestingly, Kelly’s former employers had nothing to do with ministry. Two stints include working alongside the FBI for a couple of years and as a vocational teacher at the Folsom Prison for twenty-three years. Some retirement money from past careers helps offset the cost of living since the church is not financially supported by a district and uses money built up in a reserve fund to help pay his salary. This reserve fund will be almost depleted by this time next year. It is evident Kelly has little time to worry about money or salary and leans on his faith to solve the looming financial challenges. Whether grocery shopping for a local who cannot get out of town, visiting folks in the hospital, or conducting memorial services, Kelly stays busy trying to “show God’s love to the community around him.” The Downieville Volunteer Fire Department instituted Kelly as their chaplain last May, and he has helped out the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office on one occasion.
The last official Sierra County Sheriff’s Office Chaplain was Rev. Bernie Stringer, who died in 2021. Reviving the chaplaincy program at the Sheriff’s Office “is important” to Sheriff Fisher, but his office, like many others across the state and nation, has been plagued with staffing issues. The infrastructure must be in place to get the chaplain program up and running again. While it is on the Sheriff’s list of things to do, ministers in Sierra and neighboring counties step up and assist when needs arise.
As Christianity is often divided into Protestants and Catholics, Kelly clarified the most significant difference between the Assembly of God denomination and others in the Protestant group. He explained that the AOG community believes in the “full gospel” specifically — all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible are still functioning and available for believers. According to Kelly, his church believes spiritual gifts were not intended only for the first apostles and disciples of Christianity, nor did spiritual gifting cease when those pioneers left the earth.
When asked about the history of the Downieville AOG church, Kelly provided The Mess with a timeline the following day. After reading that the first preacher was Reverend Gabriel Abdelaziz, between 1978 and 1979, the ransacking of dusty archive boxes commenced at the newspaper office. Fingertips quickly blackened as a search began sifting through all of the 1978 editions, and soon, more boxes were pulled. It appears the first record of a Downieville AOG church service was listed in the March 8th, 1979 edition. After Abdelaziz, six pastors shepherded the congregation before Kelly picked up the staff: Rev. Buckley Dikes, Rev. Doyle De Graw, Rev. J. Scott Downing, Rev. E. Ward Willoughby, Rev. Ernest Amersfoort Jr (a contributor to The Mountain Messenger), and Rev. Stringer.
Downieville’s AOG involvement at community functions is one of Kelly’s top priorities. Events a church might be involved in often surround Easter or Christmas, but Kelly broke the mold when he ran a food booth at a past Downieville Brewfest. Kelly explained, “There was a need for food vendors, and the church stepped up to help the community.” Stepping up was a win-win for everyone, as some of the folks visiting Downieville to attend the Brewfest later donated to the church.
On the low church attendance which appears to plague the Downieville AOG as well as many churches in America, Kelly offered three reasons:
The Covid pandemic and lingering effects of the public attending events.
From the viewpoint of non-churchgoers, the church is filled with “hypocrites.” Kelly acknowledged that the church certainly has some imperfect people, and that’s why it is needed.
A prevailing misconception among non-churchgoers is that one has to spiritually “clean themselves up” before attending. Kelly welcomes everyone to come and bring all their mess, dysfunction, grief, and challenges to be loved and find healing.
Kelly further expanded, saying that coming to know and follow Jesus is about a “relationship” and not “religion.” He also pointed out that “Jesus had the greatest problem with the religious leaders of His time and, “if God can forgive my imperfect life, make it better as He has, I have a responsibility to let everyone know He is not dead. He is alive and available to all who call on His name. My life was shaped to be here in a town of wonderful people and to be a part of this community.”
Sunday services at the Downieville AOG are held at the Downieville School cafeteria. Doors open at 10:00. “Dress is casual. Jeans, shorts, flip-flops, whatever. Just come as you are.” Pastor Loren Kelly may be reached at 530-289-3417 or pastorlorenkelly@gmail.com.