G reen gold surrounds the town of Watsonville, Calif., situated in the heart of fertile Pajaro valley in Santa Cruz county. The people of this multi-million dollar agricultural belt love their brown earth and their apple orchards and the vast stretches of neatly cultivated lettuce. And they are a people of deep spiritual values. This is reflected in the many churches and one of the most active churches is the First Baptist, pastored by Ralph Kraft ( B io l a ’38). The story of this church starts in 1909 when a fellowship of Baptist be lievers banded together for worship services. Soon a tent was erected and gradually interest grew, so in 1914 the church obtained a building and was organized with 25 charter mem bers. The church continued to grow under able leaders and in 1945 Rev. Kraft became pastor of the church. Since his coming the Sunday school has increased from 145 to 662, the church membership from 315 to 466 active members and the chmch bud get from $6,000 to $40,000. For five years they have owned • and operated two Sunday school buses within the city and surround ing country providing free transpor tation for both children and adults. There is a strong interest in the youth of the area and each Monday evening a large high school group meets for prayer and Bible study un der youth director, June Stowell. Then during the summer the group attends youth camps at Mount Her- mon and Hume Lake. Last year a new church and edu cational building was dedicated. The entire plant is valued at over $200,- 000.
Church of the Month
First Baptist Watsonville
In Watsonville, Calif, this $200,000 church was completed last year. Below, pastor Ralph Kraft is pictured with his wife.
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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