About Us
Started in 1896, Redwoods Presbyterian has been a fixture for the community for 125 years and we are just getting started.
OUR STAFF
Our community is built through connections with one another. Here at Redwoods we are blessed to have some of the most incredible people helping us further the message of God.
Rev. Stephanie Ryder, MA, MDiv, is the pastor at Redwoods Presbyterian Church, where she first served as intern and music director while a student at San Francisco Theological Seminary. She was ordained in 2014 as pastoral associate for community formation and family ministry at Redwoods. Prior to ordination, she taught piano, guitar and band groups from her home, and spent many years as a drama therapist working in various schools, hospitals and treatment centers in the Bay Area. Raised in Wilton, Connecticut, she moved to San Francisco after college and was a member at St. Andrew Presbyterian in Marin City for 15 years. She currently lives in Mill Valley with her husband, Bill, where they enjoy hiking, Bikram yoga, and visits from their two adult sons. EMAIL: stephryder1@gmail.com
OUR VISION
Redwoods Presbyterian Church is our spiritual community where we nurture personal faith and passionate spirituality for our mission in the world: Working for justice and peace among all people, bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his brothers and sisters.
We envision vitality and growth of our membership and we see Redwoods as a viable force in the local and global community.
OUR MISSION
The mission of Redwoods Presbyterian Church is to worship God, to love one another and to serve God by ministering to others locally and throughout the world.
Through vital ministries of the church we seek to develop the gifts of our members and nourish heart, mind, body, and soul. We cannot do this alone and so we seek God’s guidance, Jesus Christ’s example, and the Holy Spirit’s inspiration.
We strive to make known to all people the transforming love and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, including all, excluding none.
OUR LOCATION
We have been at our location for over 100 years (see below). Nestled in a beautiful small grove of Redwoods, this is a place where you can connect with God on a deeper level.
Please visit us and experience it for yourself. We are located at 110 Magnolia Avenue in Larkspur, California.
OUR HISTORY
Our church was born in the quiet, serene, pastoral setting of Corte Madera-Larkspur in October 6, 1896. After meeting in a school, in 1918 the church purchased the current site of the property at Magnolia and Alexander in Larkspur. The building was shared with a social services sewing club (The Thimble Club). After the Golden Gate bridge was spanned, Marin grew rapidly.
In 1950, the church was incorporated as Redwoods Presbyterian Church because the site had a grove of redwood trees. A new sanctuary, Sunday school and social hall was built in 1959.
After more than 125 years of faithful service, we have confidence that our church will continue on for many, many more years.
GOVERNANCE (The Session & The Elders)
Elders at Redwood Presbyterian Church chair the committees that keep the ship of faith moving strongly along. Members-at-large participate in the committees and their ministry and actions are brought to the session for information or discussion, affirmation, and action. The committees are Worship-Christian Education, Membership-Fellowship, Mission-Outreach, Personnel, Nominating, Facilities, Finance, and Special Needs Fund and Endowment. The church’s treasurer makes a monthly report to the Session. A clerk maintains the records. A member of the Session attends the Deacons meetings and acts as a liaison between the two groups.
The Session at RPC is faithful and committed to this special task. The church’s health is strong because of this special group that God has called to leadership at this time.
The Session is the governing body of the church. Decisions for the well-being and welfare of the church are made by this elected body. They consist of 12 members of the church elected and ordained to the position. The denomination calls these members “elders.”
spir·it·u·al·i·ty
\ ˌspir-i-chə-ˈwa-lə-tē \
noun: the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.
AN INTRODUCTION TO SPIRITUALITY
After a period of neglect there is resurgence in the cultivation of the inner spiritual life. The “how to do it” of the personal devotional life has been called the best-kept secret in the contemporary church. These practices are designed to share some of the riches of this “secret.”
The gifts of spiritual growth or enlarging devotional experience liberate the full potentialities of life, increase joy, peace, power and love. The returns are greater than our involvement in other activities. Our fragmentation can be expanded to wholeness and our immediacies to eternity. “Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.” (Revelation 3:8).
Devotional practices are a normal, necessary part of a healthy, more fully actualized person, seeking to relate the whole of individual life in its full depth to the totality of reality in its entire range. We will be fully liberated…through a relationship to God so vital as to transform total life.
We encourage you to develop your spiritual life using the practices in the sections identified below. All of these spiritual practices have been adapted from Harvey Seifert, “Explorations in Meditation and Contemplation,” The Upper Room: Nashville, 1981, except where noted.
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
- Luke 6:38 (NIV)
The mission of Redwoods Presbyterian Church is to worship God, to love one another and to serve God by ministering to others locally and throughout the world. We cannot do it without the support of the community. Thank you.