On a leafy stretch of Arroyo Road on Santa Barbara's upper east side, the Santa Barbara Seventh-Day Adventist Church opens its doors to neighbors who think of Saturday, not Sunday, as the holy day of the week. A member of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church and a congregation of the Southern California Conference of Adventists, the church describes itself as part of a global family of more than eighteen million members in countries around the world. Locally, it is best known for three rhythms that run side by side: a full Saturday Sabbath built around worship in song, Sabbath School, and a Divine Worship service; a Tuesday cycle of morning prayer, an afternoon community pantry, and a women's Bible study; and a steady stream of Pathfinder and Adventurer Club activities that keep the building busy with children and youth.
Sabbath Begins at 9:15 on Arroyo Road
The Sabbath, observed from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, is the cornerstone of life at 425 Arroyo Road. On Sabbath mornings, the church gathers in three sequential blocks:
- 9:15 AM - Worship in Song, the opening music of the morning.
- 9:45 AM - Sabbath School, the church's hour of Bible study organized by age.
- 11:00 AM - Divine Worship Service, the main preaching hour.
The order follows the classic Adventist pattern of praise, study, and proclamation. Music is led by both an instrumental ensemble, which plays during the Praise in Music portion of Sabbath School and at multiple points within the worship service, and a choir that sings during the Divine Worship hour on a monthly basis. Both groups are open to anyone who wants to worship in song.
Live stream is available each Sabbath on the church's YouTube channel, and a sermon archive holds videos from January 2026 onward. A weekly bulletin is published online each Friday for the following Sabbath. After the service, most weeks the congregation gathers in the gymnasium for the Fellowship Dinner, a vegetarian potluck at 12:30 PM, before Pathfinder Club members head into their weekly Check-In Club Meeting at 1:30 PM. On many Sabbaths the choir rehearses at 2:00 PM and the music team travels to a local care facility for Music for the Soul, a nursing home song service held at Channel Islands Post Acute on Via Lucero.
Pastor Robinson and the Robinsons
The church has been pastored since February 2015 by Riva Fidel Robinson Jr., who holds a Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University Theological Seminary (the Adventist seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan) and has served in the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for more than fifteen years. Pastor Robinson grew up in Columbia, South America, in a missionary family with a long record of soul-winning service to the Adventist Church, and he and his wife, Luz, share a passion for teaching and mentoring young people and children. They are the parents of three grown children, Erika, Ryan, and Andrew, and in their spare time the Robinsons enjoy culture, music, travel, the humanities, architecture, decorating, and playing musical instruments.
Pastor Robinson leads the congregation through preaching on Sabbaths and teaches two of the church's three weekly adult Bible studies. He also heads up a Wednesday evening ZOOM Prayer Meeting and a ZOOM and in-person Bible Prophecy Study Class on Wednesdays at 6:00 PM.
Know Jesus Fully, Reflect His Character, Share His Message
Three short lines shape everything the church does. Its mission statement reads:
- To Know Jesus Fully
- To Reflect His Character Clearly
- To Share His Message Joyfully
That mission runs through the prayer ministry on Tuesdays, the Pathfinder and Adventurer clubs, the choir's visits to nursing homes, and the church's participation in evangelistic efforts overseas. The church frames evangelism as a daily lifestyle, describing personal Bible studies in the local community, house-building trips to Indonesia, and evangelistic meetings in the Philippines as normal expressions of its life together. Visitors who want to walk through what that means in practice can access a sermon archive, a daily devotional page, an online prayer wall where requests can be posted, and a list of recommended resources including the writings of Ellen G. White, the Blue Letter Bible, the Hope Channel, 3ABN, Audioverse, ASI, and ADRA.
Tuesday Mornings on a Phone Line, Tuesday Afternoons in the Pantry
Tuesday is the day the church reaches beyond its walls. The week begins on the phone at 9:30 AM, when members and friends dial in to a Morning Prayer (Phone) Ministry that runs to 10:30 AM. The dial-in number is 718-362-6520 with PIN 772 2276, and the call is open to anyone who wants to start the day in prayer.
From 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Adventist Community Services opens in the Community Services room behind the main church building. The pantry stocks dry and canned grocery items along with linens for bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens. Donations of non-expired canned and dry goods, gently used household linens, craft supplies, and money keep the shelves supplied. A separate craft circle meets in the same room to make quilts, blankets, and baby items from donated quilting cotton and yarn. Everything - food, linens, and hand-crafted goods - is given free to the public. The community services team frames the work with Acts 9:36: "At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did." In addition, a Nedley Depression and Anxiety Recovery Community Program is offered as part of the church's health outreach.
Tuesday evenings at 7:00 PM belong to the Women's Ministry Bible Study, a weekly gathering for women in the congregation and community.
Wednesday and Friday Bible Studies
The two weekly adult Bible studies anchor the church's teaching ministry outside of Sabbath School:
- Wednesday at 6:00 PM, Pastor Robinson leads the Bible Prophecy Study Class, offered both in person and on Zoom, with prayer and study together until 8:00 PM.
- Wednesday at 7:00 PM, the ZOOM Prayer Meeting meets for prayer and Bible study on Zoom (Meeting ID 898 6154 5109, Passcode: Prayer).
- Friday at 7:00 PM, Pastor Robinson leads the New Testament Bible Study Class, also available on Zoom and in person.
A series of Bible Studies in Spanish is offered as part of the church's outreach to Spanish-speaking neighbors. The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Pathfinders and Adventurers
The Pathfinder and Adventurer Clubs are the heartbeat of the church's ministry to children and youth. Quoting Proverbs 22:6 - "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" - the church encourages every child age four and up to join.
The Adventurer Club is geared to younger children, while Pathfinders is the teen program. Together they fill the calendar with honors and activities: baking, quilting, drone handling, disc golf, emergency preparedness, and fitness. Most Sabbaths, the Pathfinder Club meets for a Check-In Club Meeting at 1:30 PM in the afternoon, following the fellowship potluck. The Pathfinders also participate in conference-wide events, including the 2026 Southern California Conference Pathfinder Camporee, which marks the eightieth anniversary of Pathfinder ministry in Southern California.
Two e-mail addresses are listed for these programs: sbadventurerclub@gmail.com for the Adventurers and santabarbarapathfinderclub@gmail.com for Pathfinders.
The Ensemble, the Choir, and Music for the Soul
Music is woven through almost every gathering at 425 Arroyo Road. The music ministry page invites instrumentalists and singers to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord." An ensemble of musicians plays during the Praise in Music segment of Sabbath School and at multiple points during the worship service. A choir sings during the worship service on a rotating monthly schedule, and most Sabbath afternoons finds the choir rehearsing together in the sanctuary after the fellowship potluck.
The music ministry also reaches beyond the church walls. Music for the Soul is a monthly Nursing Home Song Service held at Channel Islands Post Acute, 3880 Via Lucero, Santa Barbara. A small team from the church visits residents to sing, worship, and spend time together. The Sunday afternoon visits are scheduled roughly twice a month and are open to anyone who wants to sing with the team.
Women on Tuesdays, Men on Tuesdays, Young Adults Among Them
The church organizes its adult small-group life around three growing ministries:
- Women's Ministry. Every Tuesday at 7:00 PM, women gather for Bible study, prayer, and fellowship. The Women's Ministry also co-sponsors events such as the ElevateHER Students College Prep Academy, a thirteen-month program designed to help motivated high school seniors apply to college, secure financial aid, prepare for campus life, and thrive in their freshman year.
- Men's Ministry. The men's group meets on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 PM, sharing the hour with the women's Bible study, and centers its work around the Nedley Depression and Anxiety Recovery Program. The ministry describes its purpose as "empowering men of all ages to connect to God's healing and transforming love, so they can be mission-focused men enabled to create and sustain healthy, loving relationships with God and others that will reflect the extravagant love Christ displays to His church."
- Youth/Young Adult. The youth and young adult ministry overlaps heavily with the Pathfinder Club and the church's calendar of intergenerational events, including the Family Togetherness Week of Prayer and the annual GLOW retreat for young ladies ages nine to seventeen held at White Memorial SDA Church in Los Angeles.
Health, Family, and the 28 Beliefs
The Santa Barbara SDA Health Ministry plans a variety of events to improve the health of the congregation and the wider community. Open to anyone interested, the ministry draws on the Adventist health message and the well-known "eight natural remedies" - pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, and trust in divine power - quoting Ellen G. White's Ministry of Healing on its page. Events are designed to raise health awareness, encourage healthful living, and point participants toward restoration in Christ for body, mind, and soul.
Twice a year the church joins with other Adventist congregations for a Family Togetherness Week of Prayer, a conference-wide week of devotions focused on family life and faith in a digital age.
The What We Believe page presents the full text of the 28 Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They cover the Holy Scriptures, the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, the Holy Spirit, Creation, the nature of man, the great controversy, the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, the experience of salvation, growing in Christ, the church, the remnant and its mission, unity in the body of Christ, baptism by immersion, the Lord's Supper with foot washing, spiritual gifts and ministries, the gift of prophecy (including the ministry of Ellen G. White), the law of God, the seventh-day Sabbath, stewardship, Christian behavior (including healthful living and abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and harmful drugs), marriage and the family, Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, the Second Coming, death and resurrection, the millennium and the end of sin, and the new earth.
Reaching Out Locally and Around the World
Outreach is woven into the weekly schedule rather than reserved for a single program. The Tuesday pantry, the monthly nursing home song services, and the Nedley Depression and Anxiety Recovery Community Program all serve the local Santa Barbara community. Beyond the city, the church supports international missions, sending teams to build homes in Indonesia and holding evangelistic meetings in the Philippines. The Pathfinder Club is part of the Southern California Conference of Adventists' wider Pathfinder ministry, and the church participates in conference events such as the SCC Pathfinder Camporee.
Resources include the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Adventist-Laymen's Services and Industries (ASI), Generation Youth for Christ (GYC), Audioverse, Hope Channel, Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN), the official Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, the 2025 Church Manual, the Discipleship Handbook, and the Southern California Conference of Adventists.
Giving, Livestreaming, and Staying Connected
Tithes and offerings can be given online through Adventist Giving at adventistgiving.org. Sabbath services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, with a video archive of past services kept on the same page. A weekly bulletin is published online before each Sabbath. Visitors who want to follow along can subscribe to the church's calendar in Google Calendar or Outlook, with options to download an .ics file for either platform.
The church office at 425 Arroyo Road is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, with phone (805-967-9615) and email (sbsdachurch1844@gmail.com) available for inquiries. The congregation gathers at the same address on Sabbath mornings and through the week for prayer, study, music, and service to the surrounding neighborhoods of Santa Barbara.