Taken by Aaron Salcido

Reality comes to San Francisco?!  you ask.  Why, yes--Reality is a family of churches started by Britt Merick in Carpinteria in 2003, branching out to L.A., Stockton, London, Ventura and, as of last Sunday, San Francisco.  After two years of prayer tours and preparation, Reality SF opened its doors as it will every Sunday at 11 a.m. at their Swedish American Hall location on Market Street.  The church was so full their first Sunday that some moved to worship in the basement.  On their Facebook page they left the message, "To our Reality family that drove hours to be a part of the first service only to be asked to go to the basement and pray to make room for everyone else...THANK YOU!!! WE LOVE YOU...serious love."  Brandon Cantello replied, "Nowhere else I would rather be!  If you weren't in the basement you missed out!"  Said Ruth Ahlroth, "It was amazing in the basement. We were soooo rocking. The Prayer and worship was simply God inspired."  Wow.  For those who were not in the basement, Pastor Dave Lomas taught "The Beginning" out of Mark, a sermon in defense of the credibility of the earliest written Gospel and the real Jesus.

Dave Lomas (Reality SF), Joshua Kehler (Reality Stockton),
Britt Merick (Reality Carpinteria), Tim Chaddick (Reality L.A.)
Taken by Thomas Kranzle

This first sermon lives up to the declaration on their website that, "We are mindful of the fact, that in both our large and small gatherings, there will be those who are unfamiliar with the truths of the Bible and who have not yet met Jesus. Because of this, our desire is to communicate unchanging biblical truth in ways that everyone can comprehend."

Meeting the needs of the community is a major focus of Reality's Tuesday prayer meetings in the Inner Richmond (map) from 8-9pm.  In the wake of the Haiti earthquake, their Facebook page links to Child Hope International, a charity working with orphans in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, whose boys home has been turned into a triage clinic.  EDivvy.com will match five percent of donations for earthquake relief.  

Kjaere Friestad says, "Reality is my church, my family, my friends and an expression of who Jesus is. I was saved at Reality in 2001 when it was only a college group at Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara. I've grown here and seen and been through a lot. Reality as a ministry aims to be light, truth, and love through the teaching and ministry of a Biblical Jesus Christ.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Reality @ Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market Street, SF
Taken by Google Earth

"I know many people's first response when coming to a Reality service, whether in Carpinteria, LA, Stockton, or SF, has been 'those people have genuine love'. And that's what it should be.

"I live in the Tenderloin. I see poverty, crime, and violence daily. Every morning I ask the Lord to be light and truth through me. All of who I am is because of what God has done in me. And that is a gift I have to share with others."