Halogen is a family of imperfect people, united in Christ Jesus to courageously love a broken world

-Ephesians 4:11-13

Our service exists to educate and equip Christ’s followers with an understanding of the Word of God, the power of prayer, and a lifestyle of worship.  We understand ourselves to be participants in the Kingdom of God, growing in faith and on a trajectory towards fullness in Christ Jesus.

What can you expect?

A family atmosphere with a creative and warm ambiance where you can feel noticed, accepted, and loved without feeling smothered.  You can expect to experience a time to worship God in song, prayer, different special elements, and an in-depth Bible message.

Equipping disciples in the Word, Worship, and Prayer within an atmosphere of authentic fellowship that we may edify the church, exemplify holiness, and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ unto the world

5 Core Values

Word – We understand the Bible to be God’s Word and witness to God’s interaction with humankind.  The Bible, composed of the Old and New Testaments (the accepted canon of Holy Scripture) is God’s eternal, inspired, infallible message in its entirety; and is the supreme standard and final authority for all conduct, faith, and doctrine.

Worship – Worship involves both physical and spiritual participation of God’s people.  To worship God means offering our lives as living sacrifices to God and offering our heart as God’s home.   We must have a genuine attitude that produces genuine works of love.  Without an attitude of worship, our physical actions are meaningless, and without our physical actions, our attitude is limited to mere feelings.

Prayer – Prayer is a conversation within the context of a relationship between God and us.  God knows us intimately and we are invited to know God intimately through Christ.  As a result, we are invited to pray and daily converse with God.  Prayer includes supplication, intercession, confession, lamentation, praise, adoration, thanksgiving, and listening.   

Fellowship – For Christians to live in authentic fellowship, they must live like brothers and sisters who actively take part in one another’s lives.  Fellowship includes teaching and learning from one another, admonishing and encouraging one another, and serving one another through our gifts for the glory of God.  We spend quality time loving one another and building one another up to be more like Christ.

Evangelism – Jesus did not stay on a hill for people to come to him.  He was responsive to the needs of people.  Furthermore, Jesus was active and present in the lives of people.  Jesus was sent from the high position of heaven to live a poor life on earth and proclaim the Good News of salvation.  In the same way, our Halogen church family understands our call to go unto the world and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.  

Someone once said, “You may never be famous, but you can shine like the stars.”  Just as the stars pierce through the darkness of night, followers of Jesus Christ shine the light of God in the darkness of this fallen world.

Halogen began as a third service of Light and Life Christian Fellowship in north Long Beach, led by the lead pastor, Larry Walkemeyer.  A group of people met together once a week at Pastor Larry's house for a laid back time of hanging out and having fun.  In doing so, they enjoyed playing games, eating with one another, praying together, worshiping God in song, and having a time for Bible study.  

As this group began to meet on a regular basis, a few asked to have a more intentional time of in-depth Bible study mixed with solid fellowship.  The group began to implement one another’s creative side as people’s gifts and talents were being explored.  They moved from Pastor Larry's house to Light and Life Christian Fellowship to begin a new service, a Sunday evening "church within a church."  They decided to create an environment in which people could express their talents and passions,  worship together, and learn more about the Bible.  One of the founders, Greg Negrete (now the associate pastor), suggested the name “Halogen” referring to a light bulb in his house (clever).  The name has become part of our mission as we seek the Lord to shine God’s light in and through our hearts that we may reflect the grace of God by our lives in the world.

The first official Halogen service took place in April, 2004.  With a hybrid of an energetic contemporary worship team led by Devin DeLozier, a creative atmosphere led by Deb Walkemeyer and the Look team, a sketch done by the drama team, and a Bible teaching by Pastor Larry Walkemeyer, Halogen hit the ground running.  For 5 years, Halogen has continued to progress and evolve to becoming the church it is today.

A unique paradigm shift took place in 2007 when Halogen became more of a unique  service under the leadership of Pastor Izzy Matos.  Pastor Izzy, who had been the youth pastor for Light and Life Christian Fellowship since 2003, was given the responsibility to oversee the Halogen service, which was still integrated as a 3rd service of Light and Life Christian Fellowship, and shepherd the people therein.  In 2008, Halogen picked up a new worship leader, Pastor Carlos Cueva, and an administrative assistant, Leanne Clements.  For the first time, Halogen had a 'staff', while still operating as a 3rd service of Light and Life Christian Fellowship.

In 2009, Halogen added an associate pastor, Greg Negrete, to assist in shepherding the Halogen family while also being trained to become the executive pastor and budget overseer.  The leadership prayed for direction in building a more solid foundation for the effectiveness of our church's mission to do Kingdom work.  As a person with a B.S. in Business Management, and also moving forward in ordination, we figured Pastor Greg was the perfect person to add on the Halogen team.  

After several years of being mentored by Pastor Larry Walkemeyer, being supported in providing leadership and oversight to Halogen, and being given the responsibility to take Halogen under his wing, Pastor Izzy Matos felt it was time to move forward in planting Halogen off of the Light and Life Christian Fellowship campus, on onto its own as an individual church.  Pastor Larry and the leadership at Light and Life Christian Fellowship supported this decision and encouraged the giant step forward.  In addition, the Free Methodist Conference, the denomination family of which Halogen is a part, has expressed support and encouragement in this new endeavor.

In 2010, Halogen has moved forward to becoming a full church plant, dedicated to equipping Christians with Bible teaching that they may go out into the community and unto the world to share the message of salvation through Christ.  In addition, a group of people has been established to be a light in the darkness with accountability, a solid understanding of God’s Word and the protection of prayer.  These people have become the Halogen Alliance.  Our church leadership desires that people innovatively use their gifts and talents to edify one another and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  We exhort people to grow in community with one another.  We also encourage people to share their faith story and the love of God through Jesus Christ with people outside of our church community.  Finally, we live each day praising God for saving us and asking how we may be used for work in God’s Kingdom.

We are in an exciting time of looking for and buying a church building, raising money to support our ministry, and being used to do Kingdom work in a new area, which we trust God to reveal to us.  We trust the next time we update our story, we will be able to share the amazing miracle God did to open the doors for Halogen to have its own church building and begin doing ministry as a unique church.  Of course, the story will not stop with the building or ability to support our ministry.  On the contrary, our story will truly begin...

Halogen is a part of the conservative Free Methodist family of churches, a church family of 1000 churches across the USA and 10,000 churches globally.  Specifically, Halogen is a part of the Free Methodist Conference of Southern California.  The Free Methodist church family gives us local freedom to pursue ministry in the manner God leads us, but also gives us the accountability and resources necessary to maximize our ministry.  The Free Methodist denomination is quite different than the more liberal United Methodist denomination.

Halogen is a church plant, birthed from Light and Life Christian Fellowship - a Free Methodist church, and adheres to the Word of God as the final standard of authority.  We are a part of a family of churches in our area including Light and Life Downey, Light and Life West, The River Church, Living Springs, and Luz Y Vida Norte - all who were in some part furthered by the sending and support of Light and Life Christian Fellowship. 

Halogen is against denominationalism, that is, the improper emphasis on denominations that sets up one denomination as being superior to others or that emphasizes denominations in a way that divides the body of Christ.

Halogen is also against the prideful independence in the body of Christ in which churches want to work without the safety of accountability and the healthiness of belonging to a broader segment of the Body of Christ.

To find out more about the Free Methodist Family please visit the Free Methodist website at fmcna.org

Essential Doctrine

God, through grace and love, sent Jesus Christ as the means of reconciliation between humankind and God.  Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary and was God incarnate – truly God and truly human.  Jesus Christ suffered, was crucified, died and was buried, and was raised on the third day.  After the ascension of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit was sent to Christ’s followers who live in order to carry out God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, as participants in the Kingdom of God, until Jesus Christ returns at a time known only to God the Father.

What does Halogen have to say about doctrine?

“In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity (love)” – Saint Augustine

• Doctrinal differences divide the church.  Doctrinal statements unite the church.
• Problems with doctrine arise out of a misled understanding of the Word.  Many doctrinal disputes arise when people treat non-essential doctrine as essential.
• The church wastes too much time arguing over non-essentials.

How do we decide essential truth?

Our beliefs are based on one primary source – the Bible – and three resources:

• Reason:  rational thinking
• Tradition:  the two thousand year history of the Church
• Experience:  one's personal journey in Christ

The Bible is our foundation and final authority.  Often though there are others who also claim a teaching to be "biblical."  To understand the heart and mind of God as we look at Scripture and seek its truth we ask:  Does this follow solid reasoning?  What has been the teaching of the historic church?  How is this experienced in the life of the believer?

Click on a link below to read more about a given topic

Baptism

Child Dedication