About Sojourners
I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
1 Corinthians 3:6 NLT
Sojourners Church is a church plant of the Assemblies of God, Northern California / Nevada District. The plant project was approved Nov. 21, 2003 and first met Nov. 27. We became a district-affiliated church on Jan. 27, 2004.
The church was founded by pastors Dr. Brian Kelly, Dr. Willy Snow, Joseph Childs, and Dr. Chris Smith. They recognized the need for an Assemblies church in Scotts Valley, California—particularly since Bethany University, an Assemblies-affiliated college, is in the area, and since Scotts Valley used to be the location of the Northern California/Nevada District headquarters. Scotts Valley is also a largely unchurched area, with currently only nine churches within a population of 11,385 (as of the 2000 census).
We of Sojourners Church wish to attract, develop, and empower a congregation to reach out to the residents of Scotts Valley and Santa Cruz county with a clear and accurate vision of God’s nature and love, as expressed by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and confirmed by the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives. As strangers and aliens in this world (1 Peter 1:17, 2:11)—or sojourners, as we put it—we travel through this life eagerly anticipating the next. Yet while here on earth, we want to partner with God in grace-filled ways to extend His family in our communities. We embrace an adventurous journey, in which we will discover God’s presence already at work in us, and in others.
Our leadership team
Roger Young is the lead pastor of Sojourners Church. His wife Sandy Young is a kindergarten teacher and women’s mentor.
Roger succeeded founding pastor Dr. Brian Kelly, who stepped down in January 2007. He has extensive ministry experience as a lead pastor, youth pastor, and children’s pastor; a minister of Christian education, and gospel singer. He served as an adjunct professor at Bethany University.
The Youngs feel a particular call to the Scotts Valley area and Bethany University. “We’ve always had a heartfelt love for them,” Roger said. “We believe God has a special plan for this community: to rekindle revival fire within the Christian community and win people to Christ. The message of salvation and healing is still relevant today, and needed now more than ever.”
William Snow, Ph.D., is a graduate of the University of Washington, a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God, a colonel in the California National Guard, and a professor of psychology at Bethany. He is married to Debi Snow and has three adult children, Jared, Tarah and Shelly.
His current emphasis is on personality and spiritual gift assessment, minstry placement, coaching and mentoring.
Jo Romaniello, MS, LMFT, and Charles Sawabini, MSEE, co-lead the worship team at Sojourners.
Jo is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and creative visual artist as well as a vocalist. She is also the Director of Clinical Training and adjunct professor for the Master’s in Psychology program at Bethany University. Chuck is a Senior Systems Engineer for Marvell Semiconductor in Santa Clara. They have one daughter, Lark, who is completing her undergraduate work in sociology at Sonoma State University.
The musical partnership of this husband-and-wife team began about 25 years ago in a secular jazz band, and today they bring their love of music to serve the Lord in encouraging worship evangelism at Sojourners. The spirit of the Sojourners Worship Team is one of inclusion and we encourage and invite musicians to pray and play with us in the Spirit, as He leads.
Jo’s worship team responsibilities include logistical organization and leading our worship services. Chuck’s team responsibilities include playing bass, support and coordination of instrumentalists, equipment setup/teardown, as well as providing technical oversight. Primarily he plays bass but has been known to dabble in a variety of instruments in the rhythm section.