Granada Heights Friends Church sits on La Mirada Boulevard in La Mirada, California, a steady presence on the block since 1955. What began as a small Friends congregation under founding pastor Verl Lindley has grown into a multigenerational church that still centers on the same invitation that launched it: come to Jesus, lay your burdens down, and find rest. Three generations later, the mission statement is a single line drawn straight from Matthew 11:28-30: "To find rest for our souls in surrender to the gentle and humble heart of Jesus." The vision that follows is a community description rather than a project list: "a united, growing family that embodies the presence of Jesus to everyone we encounter."
The original sanctuary, now called Joy Hall, is still in use and gives the campus a thread of history. It hosts a monthly senior luncheon, an all-church worship night, and other gatherings. Around that hall a full Sunday program has grown up, joined by a weeknight schedule that is unusual in its breadth for a mid-sized congregation.
The Sunday Rhythm
The Sunday morning shape is simple and repeated week after week. At 9:00 am, adult fellowship groups meet across the campus for Sunday school. At the same hour, nursery through 5th grade classrooms open, and the middle school and high school ministries gather in their own rooms. At 10:15 am, the whole church moves into the sanctuary for the main worship service, which is also livestreamed on live.ghfc.org, the church Facebook page, and a YouTube channel.
During most services, elementary children sit with their families for the first part of the morning and are then dismissed mid-service to walk downstairs to Kids Church in room C-5 off the courtyard. On a handful of Sundays a year, the church holds what it calls a Family Service, when the regular children’s programs pause and every age worships together in the sanctuary. Parents with infants can use a Mothers Room off the foyer that streams the service live, and additional sleeper and nursing rooms are available in the nursery wing.
Worship itself is blended. Singing is led by a worship team and runs through psalms, hymns, and newer songs, with the church describing the gathered time as "various styles of music and expressions of the heart." The service also includes communion, with the bread and the cup, which the church teaches as a symbolic reminder of reconciliation through Jesus. Teaching follows a Bible-saturated, expositional style consistent with the church’s stated belief that Scripture is the inspired and authoritative Word of God.
Kids at Granada
Children’s ministry is run by Teri Elfelt, the Children’s Director, with Kaitlynn Eppard coordinating elementary and Allison Caldera coordinating preschool. The aim is summed up in the children’s ministry motto: to "team with families to reach kids and help them know and experience real life in Jesus."
On Sunday mornings the nursery opens at 8:55 am, and from 9:00 am parents can drop off infants through kindergarteners in the early childhood center, where the day begins on the Preschool Playground or in the playroom before moving inside for class time. Elementary children begin in the service with their families and are then dismissed to their own space for Kids Church.
Wednesday Night Life runs from 6:30 to 8:00 pm during the school year and gathers 3-year-olds through 5th graders in the children’s ministry rooms. The fall semester begins with an all-church worship night followed by a parent meeting, so families hear the vision before the first regular Wednesday. Parents can register online for the year. The church also runs a free kids’ clothes closet stocked with gently used clothing for babies through elementary kids, plus maternity wear, and offers free community dance classes called Shine for children and youth starting at age 5.
Middle School: Abide
Middle school ministry carries the name Abide, taken from John 15:1-11, where Jesus calls His followers to remain in Him. The goal is to learn love and obedience to God through worship, discipleship, service, evangelism, and fellowship, and the leaders begin every year from the premise that apart from Jesus the branch can do nothing.
Abide meets on Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 am in room D28 and again on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in Grace Hall (rooms c27/28). Wednesday nights include worship, games, a teaching message, and small groups. A new release form is required each summer for any student to participate in church activities, and adult volunteers who want to lead fill out a separate application and covenant. The Middle School Director, Devin Fieguth, organizes the team.
High School: Life Together
High school ministry, called Life Together, takes its cue from Galatians 2:20 and aims to walk with teens through the real struggles and victories of their years. On Sunday mornings the group gathers in the Upper Room (D-20) from 9:00 to 10:00 am, currently working through the book of Titus, and then joins the wider church in the sanctuary for the 10:15 service.
Wednesday nights run from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in the Upper Room and include a game, a Bible study, and small groups. The fall study is built around the theme "Kingdom (Counter) Culture." The Student Ministries Pastor, Duane Litz Jr., leads the team along with a year-round group of adult small group leaders, mentors, and chaperones. A release form is required at the start of the school year.
Wednesday Night Life for Adults
The midweek is also when the adults gather. Women of the Word, the WOW program, runs two identical studies of the same curriculum on Wednesday mornings from 9:15 to 11:30 am and Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:15 pm, running from mid-September through late April. Each year the women choose from two to four different curriculums, begin together as a large group, and then break into smaller discussion groups. Audio recordings of the studies are posted for anyone who has to miss a week.
The men’s ministry, called STORM, runs Bible studies for men on Wednesdays and on other weekdays.
Kairos Young Adults and Senior Connect
Kairos, the young adult ministry for those in their late teens and twenties, takes its name from the Greek word for an appointed or opportune season. The aim is to grow in loving the Gospel dearly, speaking it clearly, and living it sincerely. During the summer, Kairos meets in the homes of church families on Tuesday nights from 7:00 to 9:00 pm, gathering for connection, a "House of David" watch party, and discussion, and then often goes out for food or dessert afterward.
For older adults, Senior Connect meets on the third Thursday of each month, September through June, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm in Joy Hall. Open to anyone 55 and older, the gathering includes lunch, games, an engaging speaker or storyteller, and time to build friendships.
The Library
The church library is a quiet ministry in its own right. Open Sundays from 9:40 to 10:10 am and again after the morning worship service, it holds a wide range of books, audio books, DVDs, and study and reference materials. Books can be reserved through an online portal, and the library team offers to pull a book bin and arrange a pick-up day for anyone who prefers not to search in person.
Local Outreach
Granada’s local mission work starts on its own campus. A food pantry operates out of the church office Monday through Thursday: a pastor greets each guest, prays with them, provides a meal, and offers additional resources. Non-perishable donations are welcome anytime during office hours. Each November the church serves as a drop-off location for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.
The church also points its people toward a handful of partner organizations: Obria LA in Whittier, which provides compassionate reproductive healthcare and resource referrals; Child Evangelism Fellowship, which reaches boys and girls with the gospel; Inner Cities Ministries; and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which serves students through athletics. A small group from Granada partners with the Basement Church at Long Beach Friends Church on the first Sunday evening every other month, helping provide a meal and a worship team before the evening service for people who are homeless or fighting addiction or mental illness.
Faith Promise and Global Mission
Faith Promise has been a practice at Granada for more than fifty years. It is the financial engine behind the church’s global mission work. Each member is invited to pray, commit a faith-filled amount, and then give that amount through the year as God provides, above and beyond the regular tithe. The funds support a roster of cross-cultural workers that includes community development with SAFE Africa in Malawi, pastoral and community development work with River of Comfort Ministries in Kenya, and additional partnerships whose details the church keeps private for the workers’ safety.
The church also sends short-term teams. Recent trips have visited By Grace and River of Comfort ministries, with team members serving in work projects, conferences, breakout sessions, vacation Bible school, life skills training, and community outreach. A missions coordinator and team leaders walk each traveler through the application process.
Marriage, Counseling, and Becoming a Member
Twice a year Granada hosts the Heart and Soul Marriage Conference, a Friday-evening-through-Saturday-morning event led by Dr. Chris Grace and Alisa Grace of Biola University’s Center for Marriage and Relationships. The Graces teach on communication, conflict, gratitude, and sexual and spiritual intimacy. Childcare is available for nursery through 5th grade on Friday night and Saturday morning. The conference costs a small per-person fee.
The church also offers three streams of counseling and mentorship, with intake forms available for those who would like to talk with someone.
Members of the church share the same confession: the Bible as the inspired and only infallible Word of God; one God eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Jesus as fully God and fully human, born of a virgin, crucified, and physically raised from the dead; salvation by grace through faith in Jesus; the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer; baptism and communion as symbolic ordinances; marriage as a lifelong union of one man and one woman; and the resurrection of the redeemed to eternal glory. The church has also published a position paper on gender and sexuality that complements the statement of faith.
Those who know Christ and who resonate with the vision and beliefs are invited to become members. A membership brochure is available, and the church schedules a meeting with each applicant.
Worship, Giving, and Connecting
Services are livestreamed each Sunday at 10:15 am, and an archive of past audio sermons is available. The church gives through Zelle to donations@ghfc.org, through online giving via Pushpay, and through the offering plate in person. There is also a dedicated Gate Project fund for capital needs and a Faith Promise fund for missions.
The office is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, and the staff can be reached at info@ghfc.org or 562-943-7255. Visitors who want to know what to expect on a first Sunday are encouraged to arrive a few minutes before 10:15 am, look for the family-friendly greeters in the lobby, and let the children’s team help with check-in at the early childhood center. There is no dress code beyond what feels comfortable; jeans and a t-shirt are as welcome as a suit and tie.
Granada Heights Friends Church has been gathering in La Mirada for seventy years, and the heart of the place is still the same one Verl Lindley preached in 1955: a gentle and humble Savior, a yoke that is easy, and rest for the weary soul.