ABOUT PASTOR JULIUS AND SISTER CECILE HARPER
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. My wife and I would like to share a bit about ourselves, so that you can know us a little better. Thanks to the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been married for over 30 years and have two wonderful adult children. Mrs. Harper and I are both deeply involved as a couple, in the work of the ministry. Although I am bi-vocational (employed in the secular broadcast-advertising industry) we none-the less invest our time and energies together running the spiritual and ministerial aspects of the church's business.
As senior Pastor of Santa Clarita Christian Fellowship, I have been given the opportunity to have spiritual oversight over the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to function as its chief spiritual and operational officer. In order for me to do that effectively, the Lord blessed me with the perfect ministry partner, in the person of my wife Cecile Harper. As original planting members of the church, Sister Cecile and I have served in many capacities within the ministry. We started out together as members of the organizing group that founded Santa Clarita Christian Fellowship back in 1995. At that point, I was not a minister nor had I accepted my call to preach the gospel. Cecile and I were just happy to be part of a new church and to serve in any way possible, be it cleaning the church, teaching classes, working with the youth or handling the business. Shortly after we became involved with the founding Pastor, I was called to the ministry and later assumed leadership of the church with my wife as my life and ministry partner. Because of our background and experience over the ten years in ministry leadership, we have a unique set of skills that the Lord has blessed us with, which allows us to relate to and manage a number of different types of individuals from various spiritual backgrounds. Having learned from the ground up, we’ve come to understand by experience, how to shepherd (with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit) God’s people. This is no easy task, in that we deal with a multitude of complexities and factors which present an ever changing array of personal, financial, relational and spiritual challenges. We rely on each other, the Holy Spirit and the advice and council of our ministerial staff and ministry partners who have proven themselves to be committed to the plan and purpose of God. In other words, we have grown with and in this ministry and thus have a unique feel for what works and what is best for the people of God, by reason of experience.
My approach to preaching and teaching is bible based. The word of God is my guide and the Holy Spirit is my teacher. I do not posses any biblical degree, although I am a graduate of Boston College as is my Wife Cecile. We posses professional training and experience in the secular world, but count those things as rubbish, having come to know by experience, that in all things we must lean and depend totally on Jesus Christ.
Cecile and I are very committed to strong teaching and biblical instruction as well as providing practical teaching and stewardship on the operational aspects of life. We know what it takes to build a strong marriage. We know by experience how to run, manage and build a family and we are very willing and committed to sharing the truth and direction of God’s word. Young Married Couples and those seeking to be married can benefit greatly from strong mentors, which God has allowed us to be, to many couples within the church.
Sister Harper and I also focus greatly on the development of the members of Santa Clarita Christian Fellowship. Our goal is to help each person realize their appointed place of service and responsibility within the church, thus we seek to engage, allocate, administer and invest the gifts that God has placed within his people, for the purpose of bettering the church and expanding the kingdom of God.
Sincerely,
Rev. Julius A. Harper
Senior Pastor
revjharp@aol.com