Great Soul-Winning Churches - Elmer Towns

ushers, hundreds would not even attempt to get into the building because there was no space left
to stand, either in the children’s department or in the main auditorium.
The church was originally sponsored by the Central Baptist Church of* Anaheim,
California, when Dr. Robert Wells had a vision to reach Huntington Beach, where there was no
Independent Baptist church. The congregation first met in a school and was pastored by staff
members of the Anaheim church, which also paid the bills and in 1966 bought two portable
buildings and placed them on the present location at 7661 Warner Avenue.
The young congregation disassociated from their founding organization in June, 1968; in
the next few months Maynard Nutting, the first full-time pastor, resigned. The young
congregation went through financial difficulties. A friend phoned Thomas Ray, then pastor of
Crestview Baptist Church in Irving, Texas, to ask if he were interested in the church. From his
first Sunday with them, the Huntington Beach congregation has been off and growing.
Thomas Ray grew up in Dallas, Texas, and as a thirteen-year-old boy went forward in a
Southern Baptist church. He was asked the right questions about salvation, to which he gave the
right answers, but was not converted. Ray did not attend church for the next eight years. A used
car salesman, Ray was persuaded by a friend to get involved in Christian service. He attended
Miller Road Baptist Church, Garland, Texas, for about 90 days before the pastor sent him to
Tennessee Temple Schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ray had been super-active in church, but
at school he studied the Word and had no opportunity to serve. He became plagued with doubts
about his salvation. One minister told him, “The Devil’s bothering you,” and another remarked,
“You ought to be rebaptized.”
When Dr. Bob Gray of Trinity Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida, held a Bible
conference at TTS in 1961, Thomas Ray went forward on June 28, determining, “I am going to
get peace or chuck the whole thing.” Dr. Lee Roberson dealt with him at the altar and quoted a
number of familiar verses which did not affect Ray. Finally, Roberson asked, “Are you willing to
forget the past and receive Jesus Christ?” The answer was yes. They knelt together, and Thomas
Ray received Jesus Christ.
Ray shortly thereafter transferred to Garland Bible College, a new school in the Miller
Road Baptist Church, and graduated as valedictorian of its first class. He pastored the College
Avenue Baptist Church in Denison, Texas, and a year later went to Irving, Texas, to the
Crestview Baptist Church, with 25 people meeting in a home. Five years later there were 600 in
Sunday School.
Pastor Ray had no peace about staying in Irving; there were 35 Southern Baptist and 11
Independent Baptist churches in the town of 100,000. He testified, “I wanted to reach people
who needed the gospel and was burdened for Buffalo, New York.” He testified that people
moving into Irving, Texas, got 12 to 15 visits from gospel-preaching churches, and he was
concerned about communities that had no testimony. One Saturday morning in his office Ray
had just prayed, “Lord, I’ll go anywhere,” when the phone call came concerning Huntington
Beach. God had prepared his heart to take this struggling church.