First Congregational Church Welcomes Pastor

Steven Davis, newly hired as the senior pastor at the First Congregational Church of Redlands, delivered his first sermon last Sunday. “I’m delighted about pastoral ministry and excited about Christian service in the Redlands community,” Davis wrote in an email while vacationing recently in Europe. “I look forward to getting to know the church members, the community and the ministries of the church.” Davis, and his wife, Cindy, arrived in Redlands this month. He has served for nine years as the senior pastor and head of staff for a church in Manasquan, New Jersey, outside New York City. They have four adult boys all living in Southern California. Davis is a graduate of Columbia University, Fuller Theological Seminary and Seattle Pacific University. He earned his doctorate from San Francisco Theological Seminary. Davis succeeds Lowell Linden, who retired last year after serving as a First Congregational Church pastor since 1976. Linden was one of the most prominent and longest-serving pastors in Redlands. “I am very excited to be following the long, productive ministry of Dr. Linden and will seek to build on his legacy,” Davis wrote.