College Avenue United Church of Christ has lived in the heart of Modesto since 1948, when a dozen dreamers bought a three-acre vineyard on College Avenue and called a young minister named Elmo Wolf. Three-quarters of a century later, the congregation is now located at 2301 Woodland Avenue, sharing space with the Modesto Church of the Brethren, but its identity has stayed remarkably consistent. The church is a progressive, Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ, well known across the conservative Central Valley for its welcome of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning people into the full life of the church.
From a Vineyard to a Sanctuary on College Avenue
The story of College Avenue begins in 1948, when a small group in Modesto decided they wanted a liberal church in the Central Valley. They bought a three-acre vineyard on College Avenue and called Rev. Elmo Wolf. Over the first decades the vineyard gave way to a sanctuary, a church school building, and a Fellowship Hall. In more recent years a youth building was added, complete with Café Esperanza, where the students themselves run a small coffee bar.
The founders' word "liberal" carried the same weight it does in the denomination today: a Gospel-inspired commitment to peacemaking, lifting up the poor, ending segregation, and standing for the rights of people who have too few rights. Over the decades that inheritance has been visible in the church's work. The congregation has advocated for farm workers, joined the Civil Rights movement, served the poor in Modesto, lent a hand to developing villages in Mexico, and spoken out against the genocide in Darfur. Perhaps the most visible expression of that lineage in the conservative Valley is the church's Open and Affirming covenant, which welcomes people who are LGBTQ into the full life of the congregation.
In 1957 the church joined four older traditions - Christian, Congregational Christian, Evangelical, and Reformed - in forming the United Church of Christ. Today it belongs to the Northern California-Nevada Conference of the UCC, a 130-congregation region that runs from Tulare to Eureka and from Monterey to Reno, and to the smaller Mountain Valley Association of six local churches that gathers annually at places like First Congregational in Murphys.
A Progressive, Open and Affirming Identity
College Avenue calls itself "a progressive, warm, friendly church that loves to build community and makes visitors feel welcome." The congregation describes itself as multi-generational: many young families with grade-school children, a growing number of junior high and high school students, young adults, middle-agers, and senior adults - including two members who were there at the founding.
The families are just as varied. The congregation includes single parents and their children, remarried couples, traditional and same-sex couples with and without children, transgender people, widows and widowers, and single people of every background. People come from Congregationalist, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Mormon, Seventh-day Adventist, Church of Christ, Pentecostal, and non-church backgrounds alike. No test of faith or proper belief is required.
Theology follows the same breadth. The church reads scripture "dynamically and in its historical and social contexts," holds that "God is still speaking" both through the Bible and in present experience, and encourages members to keep growing in their understanding of God and faith. The Open and Affirming Covenant makes the welcome of LGBTQ people explicit, and the church keeps a Radical Hospitality Covenant, a Safe Conduct Covenant, a Communications Covenant, and a Child and Youth Supervision Policy on file. The pastor is happy to officiate at weddings of LGBT members and non-members alike.
Sunday Morning at College Avenue
Sunday worship is the center of life at College Avenue. The service begins at 10:00 a.m. Through "a blending of tradition and innovation," the order includes prayers, scripture, hymns, a sermon, dramatic presentations, creative children's messages, and time for the gathered congregation to respond. Music is a particular point of pride: a Moller pipe organ installed in the 1970s still anchors the sanctuary, alongside a piano, drums, and other instruments, and the choirs, musicians, artists, and dramatists of the church have filled the room over the years.
The service is followed by coffee and fellowship in Café Esperanza and the Fellowship Hall. Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of every month, and the table is open to all, regardless of age or baptism. Recordings of the service are made onto CDs for those who are homebound, and sermons are also posted to YouTube. During the pandemic services moved to a livestream on the church's Facebook page, and that broadcast continues each Sunday at 10 a.m.
Visitors are not put on the spot for money. Instead of an envelope, the offering plate is a chance to write down something you are thankful for and place it in the plate as it passes. Greeters from the welcoming team are happy to give visitors a tour of the facilities after worship.
Taize and Candlelight
For more than twenty years the church has also kept a monthly Taize service in the sanctuary. Held the first Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m., it is a meditative prayer shaped by the ecumenical community in Taize, France. The music is guitar, flute, and cello, the candles are lit, and the chants are simple. Everyone is welcome.
From the same livestream page the church also offers an occasional "Shelter-in-Praise" service alongside the Sunday morning worship. These follow the same Facebook Live format, with the recording kept on the page for anyone who wants to watch it later.
Children and Youth
Children are central to College Avenue. The Sunday Adventure program (formerly known as College Camp Ave) gathers children from kindergarten through sixth grade on the second Sunday of each month at 10:00 a.m. The class begins with the children in the sanctuary for a brief children's time with the pastor, then walks together to the Joy and Justice room next to Café Esperanza. Parents pick up their children in the classroom at the end of worship.
The church uses the Seasons of the Spirit curriculum, walking the children through the Seasons of Creation, the Season after Pentecost, and parables from the Gospel of Luke. Childcare for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers is also available during worship, staffed by caregivers who have been screened under the church's Child and Youth Supervision Policy.
For older youth, the Student Ministries program gathers seventh through twelfth graders. The youth group meets on the first Sunday of each month at 11:30 a.m. for a justice-themed afternoon of lunch, a movie or lesson, and conversation. Topics have included homelessness and poverty, earth stewardship, and gender inequality. Once a month the group heads off campus to put feet to the theme: a migrant farm workers' camp, an ocean cleanup, or a service and learning trip to the U.S.-Mexico border at San Ysidro. Some youth also produce short documentaries of these experiences that are posted online.
The PLACE: A Home for LGBTQ Youth
For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth ages 14 to 20, College Avenue hosts The PLACE, an acronym for "People Learning Acceptance Creating Equality." The PLACE is a non-religious support group that meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
The group is led by Elizabeth Plata and Ed Plata, who were featured in the San Francisco State Family Acceptance Project documentary "Always My Son." A parent support group meets on the first Saturday of each month, and the church welcomes parents who are accepting, conflicted, or rejecting of their children.
The PLACE is one of the most visible expressions of College Avenue's Open and Affirming identity, and it has been part of the church's ministry to the wider community for years.
Growing in Faith as Adults
Adult formation at College Avenue draws on the church's progressive identity. Bible classes meet before Sunday worship and are informal and discussion-based, facilitated by the Spiritual Formation Team and the pastor. The New Revised Standard Version is provided, but everyone is welcome to bring their favorite translation. On the first Sunday of each month the class shifts to Progressive Christianity and the Basics of Faith, exploring scripture topics such as salvation, sin, the atonement, the virgin birth, the miracles, the nature of God, and the nature of Jesus. Questions are encouraged.
A second track uses the Enneagram, drawing on the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator. The church has hosted two-part introduction classes that frame the Enneagram as "a mirror of the soul as it manifests itself in nine different personality types" and "a tool that combines good psychology with good spirituality to help us find a deeper and more authentic relationship with God and ourselves." Discussion-based adult programs called Circles of Connection, movie discussions, and classes led by community experts round out the calendar.
Care, Healing, and Pastoral Support
Pastoral care is built into the church's structure. Pastor Janice Steele is available for visits in person, by phone, or by email, and is glad to visit members who are homebound, in a hospital or residential facility, or incarcerated. Prayer requests can be emailed to the pastor to be added to the prayer list in the weekly newsletter or mentioned during Sunday services.
A Lay Care Team visits members who are sick or homebound, delivers meals to those grieving or recovering, prepares meals for others in need, and provides occasional rides for members with special transportation needs. The team sends recordings of worship to those who are homebound or ill, writes to those who are incarcerated, and sends cards to members who have lost a loved one. The Lay Care Team meets the second Wednesday of each month at 11:00 a.m. in the Fireside Room.
A Healing Team has been offering mind-body-spirit healing prayer sessions at the church or in the homes of recipients for more than five years. Three trained team members lead each session - about twenty minutes long - using prayer, gentle non-invasive touch, relaxation, and above-the-body energy work. The team uses the Pilgrimage Process of Integrative Healing method developed by Florida Episcopal priest Rev. Natalie "Tanya" Beck and psychologist Dr. Marilyn Gatlin, and was trained by the Rev. Nancy McKay of Berkeley. All sessions are confidential, and the team meets monthly.
Reaching Out: Inter-Faith Ministries, Mentoring, and Love Modesto
Outreach is built around three long-running partners. The largest is Inter-Faith Ministries, a non-profit in the Airport District at 120 Kerr. On the fourth Saturday of every month, a rotating team of nine College Avenue members staffs the food pantry and clothes closet, with new volunteers welcome to train on any fourth Saturday.
The Mentoring Team sends adults to spend time with students at Modesto High School who can benefit from a mentor's wisdom and care. Four hours a month, mentor and student can share a coffee at Starbucks, a walk downtown, or a visit to the Gallo Center. The program is not tutoring - no academic skills are needed - but mentors do need to be able to transport their students.
The congregation also turns out each spring for Love Modesto, a city-wide day of service that has placed as many as 4,000 volunteers at projects ranging from neighborhood cleanups to park beautification, river work, blood drives, and pajama collections for kids in need. In recent years projects have included Tuolumne River cleanup, neighborhood sweeps in Airport, Needham, and Orchard Park, and supply drives at Downey High School, El Vista Elementary, Garrison Elementary, Hanshaw Middle School, and Johansen High School.
Outreach giving is split three ways: Inter-Faith Ministries receives half of collected outreach offerings, with Habitat for Humanity and the Modesto Peace/Life Center splitting the remainder.
The Building: Café Esperanza, the Labyrinth, and a Yard at Rest
The church has moved into a new home. After decades at 1341 College Avenue, the congregation is now located at 2301 Woodland Avenue in Modesto, sharing space with the Modesto Church of the Brethren. The transition is recent, but the welcoming feel and the program are unchanged. All buildings are wheelchair accessible, including the sanctuary and youth building, both of which have wheelchair-accessible bathrooms.
The campus carries several pieces of the church's identity. Café Esperanza, in the youth building, is staffed by the students themselves - part coffee bar, part training ground. A Labyrinth Committee has spent several years planning an urban-style labyrinth patterned on the eleven-circuit Chartres design from the gothic cathedral outside Paris. Placed near the church's cork oak tree, the labyrinth is meant to be visible from the street and open to the wider neighborhood as a tool for meditation, prayer, and release.
The grounds also reflect the church's care for the earth. During the California drought the congregation stopped watering the lawn, installed drip irrigation for the trees, and covered the open ground with free wood chips from a local tree-trimming service. The decision was framed as environmental justice, rooted in the gospel's call to love the neighbor and to practice good stewardship of the earth's resources, and in the words of Psalm 24: "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it."
College Avenue has been on this corner of Modesto for more than seventy-five years. Two of the founding members are still part of the congregation, and each year new members bring new energy. The vineyard is long gone, the address has changed, and the church has grown from twelve members to a multi-generational community. The call, though, is the same one the founders answered in 1948: to be a welcoming, nurturing community of faith, gathered to celebrate and share God's love, empowered by the Spirit to live the teachings of Jesus in a broken world, seeking joy and justice for all creation.