At 600 South Ham Lane in Lodi, California, Ham Lane Church of Christ is known for Scripture-centered teaching, a cappella worship, and a consistent emphasis on life together. The congregation meets for Bible study before its 10:00 a.m. Sunday worship, welcomes adults and children to classes, studies Scripture again on Wednesday evening, and extends fellowship through gatherings for men, women, teens, and families. Its mission reaches from neighborhood service in Lodi to clean-water work and support for children in other countries.
Your First Sunday on Ham Lane
Sunday begins at 9:00 a.m. with Bible study for adults and children. The all-ages classes invite participants to open Scripture, explore the depths of faith, ask questions, and grow together. The class is scheduled from 9:00 to 9:45. Worship follows at 10:00 a.m. and includes congregational singing without instruments, prayer, the Lord's Supper, and a Bible-centered sermon. The gathered worship period runs through 11:30 a.m.
Guests do not need to reserve a place. They can choose any seat and let the church team know if they need help finding a class or answering a question. A visitor card is optional, and there is no dress code. People may come as they are and bring a Bible and any questions they have. Guests are also welcome at the Lord's Supper, and there is no obligation to contribute to the offering.
Finding Ham Lane
Ham Lane Church of Christ is at 600 South Ham Lane, Lodi, California 95242. The office phone is 209-369-2817, and the church email is hamlane@sbcglobal.net. The building hosts Sunday classes, worship, midweek study, teen gatherings, family activities, and community meals. Its regular rhythm makes room both for quiet concentration on the Bible and for the lively conversation that follows around the church family.
Cappella Praise, Prayer, and the Lord's Supper
Ham Lane's worship centers on what the congregation does together: joining voices without instruments, praying, remembering Jesus in the Lord's Supper, and hearing a sermon grounded in Scripture. Congregational singing carries songs old and new through the year, while prayer remains a regular part of the service rather than a separate add-on. The order of worship places the meal after prayer and before the sermon, giving the Lord's Supper a central place in the Sunday gathering.
Guests are welcome throughout the service, and the church makes clear that there is no obligation to contribute to the offering. This openness reflects a worship experience designed around participation rather than performance. People are invited to sing, listen, pray, receive teaching, and share the meal without needing to have every question answered before they arrive.
Ham Lane seeks to follow the teachings of the New Testament with love, compassion, and integrity. Across the church's messages, Jesus Christ is central: his death and resurrection, forgiveness, grace, restoration, obedience, and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit recur as themes. Faith is not presented as a way to earn God's favor. Salvation is received through grace, and the response is a life shaped by love and faithful action.
Chad Donley has put the church's heart this way: “God is glorified, Jesus is Lord, His Word is preached, and people matter.” The same teaching calls people to a genuine relationship with God through prayer, service, and worship. The goal is not merely attendance but a family formed around Jesus, where people are known, encouraged, and sent to love God, love one another, love others, and make disciples.
The GOOD Mission at the Center of Ham Lane
Ham Lane uses the acronym GOOD to name its shared mission. It expands it in four connected parts:
- Love God - Glorify God and walk with Jesus through worship, prayer, Scripture, and obedience.
- Love One Another - Encourage, serve, forgive, welcome, pray for, and bear with one another.
- Love Others - Share the love of Christ with neighbors and people beyond the congregation through practical service.
- Make Disciples - Teach the Word, share faith, and help people grow as followers of Jesus.
Chad Donley explains, “The church was created for the mission; the mission wasn't created for the church.” That conviction shapes the church's schedule and the way it uses the gifts within its congregation. Scripture classes prepare people to understand and live the gospel. Worship brings the church together around Jesus. Fellowship makes room for encouragement, care, and shared service. Mission then carries that love from the congregation into homes, workplaces, schools, streets, and the wider world.
The mission becomes visible whenever love becomes action. The church has served food, supported schoolchildren, helped with local projects, funded clean water, and cared for children in other nations. In the church's teaching, no one has to be impressive or perfect to participate in service. Every person can use something God has given, and that gift may take the form of time, ability, resources, encouragement, or simply showing up.
Making disciples is not a program added beside love. It means opening the Bible, teaching what Jesus taught, sharing faith in ordinary conversations, welcoming people into the church family, and helping new believers mature. The invitation “Come and see” captures the approach: Ham Lane does not claim to have all the answers, but it invites people to encounter Jesus for themselves and offers a community in which faith can be lived out together.
Bible Study in the Morning, Midweek, and Around the Week
The clearest rhythm at Ham Lane is the meeting of the congregation for Bible study. Sunday's 9:00 a.m. class welcomes adults and children and places the church family around the same central text. The classes invite people to dive into Scripture, explore faith, ask questions, and grow together. Children are not treated as an afterthought in the schedule; they have their own place in the same morning study.
Midweek Bible study continues the pattern on Wednesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. It is a “deep dive” into the Bible, a time to reflect, learn, talk, and be together. Scripture remains central, and conversation is part of learning. This smaller midweek gathering offers another rhythm for people who want to dig into the message, ask questions, and share the week with other believers.
Men's and Ladies' Gatherings
Men meet Tuesday mornings from 6:30 to 7:30 for coffee, conversation, and early-riser Bible study. A separate monthly men's breakfast includes a large breakfast, fellowship, and Bible study. Women meet on Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for “Bibles & Bags,” bringing a Bible and a bagged lunch for a study of God's Word. A ladies' luncheon provides another gathering centered on fellowship and time together.
The Hangout and Family Night
The Hangout is the main teen gathering, meeting Friday evenings from 6 to 8 for Bible lessons, games, food, and fellowship. It gives teenagers a regular place to learn about Jesus, be expected, and enjoy time with the church family. Family Night brings together games, activities, movies, and competitions for all ages. These gatherings give younger people and whole households recurring times to learn, laugh, eat, and spend time together rather than making every part of church life strictly a formal class or service.
Prayer and Community Meals
Thursday's “Sweet Hour of Prayer” runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The congregation also participates in serving lunch at Lodi Access Center, providing food for people in the community. These smaller gatherings show how the church's schedule makes room not only for teaching and worship, but also for prayer, shared food, and service to people beyond the church room.
Children, Teens, and the Next Generation
Children have a place in the life of Ham Lane from the beginning of the Sunday schedule. The 9:00 a.m. class includes adults and children, and Vacation Bible School gives children a concentrated week of Bible lessons, songs, prayer, and fun. Volunteers who teach and support the children are recognized as important servants. Chad Donley has connected this work to a shared responsibility: “We will tell the next generation,” and every lesson, song, prayer, and encouraging word can help place faith in a child's heart.
For teenagers, The Hangout combines biblical teaching with games, food, and fellowship. Its Friday-evening schedule gives teens a regular place to belong, learn about Jesus, and enjoy time with the church family. The approach reflects the wider conviction that teenagers should not be spectators in church life but participants in learning, fellowship, and service.
Family Night extends that same welcome to households with games, activities, movies, and competitions. It also illustrates that the adults who teach, organize, serve, sing, host, and welcome children are part of one shared ministry. At Ham Lane, forming the next generation is not delegated to a children's program alone. It is described as the responsibility of the whole church.
Walk4Water, Backpacks, and Neighbors in Lodi
One of the clearest expressions of Ham Lane's mission is its annual Lodi Walk4Water, held in partnership with Healing Hands International. The event pairs a local walk with a global need: for many families, four miles represents the daily journey to collect water, often from an unsafe source. Walkers raise awareness and funds so communities can gain lasting access to clean water. Contributions support wells, well repairs, filtration systems, and water-catchment solutions.
The route leaves the church, heads north on Ham Lane, turns west on Turner Road, continues by Laurel Avenue to the Lodi Lake Wilderness Area, and returns along the same path. The route is described as a four-mile walk to Lodi Lake and back. Families and all ability levels are welcome, and participants may walk the distance that is comfortable for them or simply attend to encourage the walkers. Registration is free. The emphasis is participation at a distance that works for each person rather than a single required standard.
Community service also takes the form of practical work close to home. Ham Lane has partnered with Love Lodi and other local churches for service projects across Lodi. Volunteers have painted, cleaned, helped neighbors, and joined a shared lunch while learning about the nonprofit organizations active in the community. This work reflects the church's emphasis on loving where one lives. The call to love neighbors becomes visible acts: showing up, doing needed work, and staying connected to the needs of the place where people live.
During the back-to-school season, the church has collected backpacks or funds for children and joined community meals with other local congregations. Ham Lane has also served lunch at Lodi Access Center. These efforts connect the congregation's hospitality with practical needs, showing generosity through the distribution of food and school supplies rather than treating mission as a distant idea.
The mission reaches farther afield as well. For many years, Ham Lane has supported an orphanage in Russia through Orphans Lifeline International, sharing stories of vulnerable children and the work made possible through collective compassion. Its clean-water partnership with Healing Hands International and support for orphan care show two recurring forms of missions: meeting physical needs through water and caring for children in other nations.
Matthew 25 supplies a persistent measure for this work: whatever is done for the least of these brothers and sisters is done to Jesus. The local lunch, the backpack, the walk, the labor, and the gift each embody the church's conviction that mission is love in action. Ham Lane does not present these activities as isolated kindnesses. They belong to the same purpose that shapes worship and teaching, the call to love God, love others, and make disciples.
Study, Pray, and Listen Between Sundays
Ham Lane makes room for continued Bible engagement throughout the week. Its sermons are available online, with additional teaching, short reflections, and worship recordings through the church's YouTube channel. Livestreams and recordings make it possible to follow the same preaching and singing from home or return to a message for further study.
For personal preparation or group conversation, sermon study guides offer structured material tied to biblical texts. Longer reflections by Chad Donley explore worship, courage, gratitude, the Psalms, and the Christian life. A Bible search tool allows a person to look up a passage, keyword, or topic, while an audio Bible presents Scripture in the New International Version and begins with Genesis 1. These tools make it easier to move from hearing a message to reading, listening, and discussing it.
Church updates and family-life notes help people stay connected to Bible study, ministry, and congregational life. The church's broader set of Bible study resources also includes tools for personal reflection and discussion. Together, these resources keep Scripture at the center of the church's worship and teaching, whether someone is beginning a new study or returning to a familiar passage with deeper questions.
Elders, Deacons, and Shared Ministry
Ham Lane's leadership is shared across spiritual oversight, preaching, family life, and practical service. The church names four elders, four deacons, an evangelist, and a family life minister:
- Chad E Donley - Evangelist
- Greg Himes - Family Life Minister
- Bob Oates - Elder
- Kevin Percival - Elder
- Randy Renfro - Elder
- Ernie Yoshino - Elder
- Don Barnes - Deacon
- James Dozier - Deacon
- Scott Kemper - Deacon
- Randy Olson - Deacon
Chad Donley serves as the church's evangelist and preacher, while Greg Himes leads in family life and also carries biblical messages and leadership responsibilities. The elders and deacons work alongside a wider body of teachers, musicians, volunteers, and families whose gifts make worship, children's ministry, hospitality, outreach, and missions possible. Ham Lane emphasizes that ministry does not rise or fall on one person. The church continues to worship, serve, and grow through shared responsibility.
Chad Donley has described the church's approach to service in a simple sentence: “Everybody can do something.” That conviction shapes a congregation where people can contribute according to their abilities and opportunities. Some teach, some sing, some prepare food, some help with children, some serve at tables or in the community, and some provide the steady support that allows ministries to continue. Every role is treated as part of the church's response to the gospel.
Leadership at Ham Lane is therefore understood as service shaped around the mission. The aim is to steward what God has entrusted to the church, teach the Word faithfully, encourage unity, and strengthen the church's capacity to love its neighbors. The church belongs to Christ, and its leaders speak of faithful stewardship rather than relying on programs or personalities to define the work.
A Church Family Following Jesus Together
Ham Lane does not present itself as a congregation of finished people. Its welcome extends to those new to Lodi, returning to church, or exploring faith, and the language of church family is deliberate: people worship together, study together, serve together, share meals, encourage one another, and make room for children and teens. Visitors can choose a seat, while those in the congregation are encouraged to use their gifts in the life of the church.
The teaching is equally personal and communal. Chad Donley has described Ham Lane as “a family of imperfect people who have encountered Jesus and believe He is worth knowing.” The church's identity is found in following Jesus, opening the Bible, worshiping without instruments, observing the Lord's Supper each Sunday, and caring enough to invite people toward a living faith. Its motto, “Following Jesus. Growing together. Serving Lodi,” captures the same movement: encounter Jesus, become stronger in faith and love, and carry that faith into the life of the community.
At Ham Lane Church of Christ, belonging is not offered as a separate benefit from worship. It is formed through a cappella praise, prayer, biblical teaching, shared food, practical service, family fellowship, and a mission that reaches from Lodi to communities needing clean water and care. This is a church family centered on Jesus Christ, grounded in Scripture, and marked by the conviction that love is something people do.