Santa Ynez Valley
Presbyterian Church
About Us
SYVPC has been a vibrant part of the Santa Ynez Valley community since 1885. By God's own grace and power, we seek to follow Jesus in love, service and in the advancement of God's kingdom through passionate worship, rich discipleship, sacrificial service, authentic fellowship and respectful evangelism.
Our story is God's story.
The Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church (the Presbyterian Church or the Pres, for short) has been following Jesus and making him known in the Valley since 1885, when a small group of worshipers met for the first time in a saloon. From there, the congregation moved to the "little red school house" and then to the "little white church" in 1888, both in Ballard. This remained the center of church life until 1966 when the congregation moved into a new sanctuary, part of a much larger complex on 5 acres (that remains the hub of our current site).
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One exciting memory from that era for our church was when President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan made a surprise visit on Easter Sunday, April 3, 1983. The visit was unannounced and caught the congregation by surprise as the Reagans joined the Easter service, reflecting their personal faith and connection to the local community near their ranch.
In 2004, to accommodate continuing growing community, plans were started for a new sanctuary, and in 2008, that sanctuary was dedicated to serve the spiritual needs of the church and community.
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SYVPC joined ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians in 2014 after a prayerful two-year discernment process. ECO is a rapidly growing Presbyterian denomination committed to building flourishing churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ in today’s world. It emphasizes a covenant community of leaders, evangelical mission, and a shared Reformed theological heritage, seeking to support local churches that thrive and multiply. SYVPC’s move to ECO reflected its desire to align with a denomination focused on vibrant discipleship, collaborative leadership, and gospel-centered ministry.​
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The Pres has been blessed with dedicated pastoral leadership over the generations that has nurtured its spiritual growth and guided it through important transitions. Most recently, Pastor Glenn Beede provided leadership until his recent retirement. Looking forward, SYVPC is excited to welcome Pastor Gunnar Tesdahl as its new Senior Pastor beginning in May 2025.
What we believe.
The Gospel
It's all about Jesus.
Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all, the exact representation of God's nature, and the only way of salvation. Jesus Christ is the only path by which anyone can be forgiven their sins, be reconciled to God, and become a child of God. God is just and perfectly judges sin. Sin is disobeying God, whose nature and will is revealed in his Word. God is merciful. God extends mercy and grace and forgiveness of sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God calls everyone to believe in him and to confess and turn away (repent) from that which God names as sin. God is merciful and faithful to forgive the repentant.
The Bible
The whole Word of God is authoritative and infallible.
Holy Scripture is the Triune God's authoritative Word that reveals God's holy nature, his purposes, and his call to his people to be holy in all aspects of life. God's Word is the church's only infallible rule of faith and life.
God & His Creation
God created the world and everything in it.
God sovereignly, wonderfully, and purposefully creates each person in his image. God creates each person as male or as female. Marriage was created and is defined by God as an exclusive union of one man and one woman. God designed sexual intimacy to occur only between one man and one woman who are married to each other. He calls his people to sexual purity– fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness. God is holy and calls his people to live a holy life, in obedience to the Word of God.