Get your unwanted documents shredded at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1360 East Tregallas Road, Antioch Saturday, May 2 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Donations will raise funds for scholarships and grants coordinated by the church’s Endowment Committee.
“Through its endowment, the church has given scholarships to students pursuing college degrees as well as continuing education opportunities such as gaining teacher certification. It has also given a grant to support training school tutors and a grant to purchase microphones for a middle school classroom,” said Eileen Blumhardt-Butler, chair of the Endowment Committee.
“These scholarships and grants are a way our church can share God’s love with the community,” Blumhardt-Butler added.
St. John’s Lutheran Church (stjohnsantioch.org) has Sunday School and services at 9 a.m. on Sundays. For more information, please call (925) 767-3070.
On Friday, March 27, 2026, Grace n’ Grub will host the Grand Opening of the Daily Bread Market which will include a variety of other food pop-ups. The event will be held at 2515 Somersville Road from 7:00 PM to 11:30 PM. and will include a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with Antioch Mayor Ron Bernal and other community leaders.
The market will continue each following Wednesday and Friday.
Grace n’ Grub is a youth-led food business founded by Diego Chavez Marquez when he was just 17 years old, and operated with his brothers Alfredo, 20, and German, 15, and a few of their closest friends, according to a Los Medanos College Experience report.
For more information about Grace n’ Grub visit them on Instagram.
“A complex and ambitious adventure for lovers of ancient historical romance.” — Kirkus Reviews
By Wes Seeley, PR by the Book
Valentine’s Day celebrations generally include chocolates, flowers, and perhaps a candlelit dinner. But in The Legend of Valentine, screenwriter, director, and author Sheldon Collins draws back the curtain on the world’s most romantic holiday and recreates a dark history born from rebellion, forbidden weddings and a love so fierce it defied an empire.
Set in Rome, 268 AD, in an age of tyranny and turmoil, an eternal love story ignites a revolution. Valentine, a once-fearsome warrior reborn from the brink of death, sheds his violent past for a new destiny inspired by his blind lover, Agatha. Amidst the ruthless rule of a merciless emperor, Valentine undertakes a clandestine mission: to unite lovers in secret ceremonies, defying imperial decrees that threaten to obliterate the Christian faith. As Valentine’s covert acts of defiance grow bolder, he challenges the tyrannical order, planting the seeds for a celebration of love that will echo through the ages.
The Legend of Valentine is an epic tale of love, war, faith, and rebellion. This gripping saga looks beyond the candy hearts and greeting cards to find the roots and meaning of the holiday – a world where love defies all odds, heroes rise from the shadows, and the undying spirit of hope shines through the darkest times.
Discover the man behind the myth, witness the birth of a legend, and experience a love story so profound it promises to live forever.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sheldon Collins is a distinguished storyteller whose career began in Hollywood as a screenwriter and director. His films, celebrated for their compelling narratives and rich character development, have been featured on premium television and at numerous film festivals—earning critical acclaim and a host of awards. The Legend of Valentine marks Collins’s debut novel. The multi-cast audiobook edition, which he co-directed, was the winner of two 2026 Society of Voice Arts and Sciences Voice Arts Awards.
Educated at UC Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric and holding a Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the prestigious American Film Institute, Collins brings a unique blend of narrative expertise and directorial acumen to his literary endeavors.
Join St. Ignatius Church of Antioh for a memorable organ concert featuring an evening of colorful, uplifting music with German organist, composer, and YouTuber, Paul Fey on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026.
Fey stands out for combining traditional church music with modern media, making organ music more approachable — especially to younger audiences. His performances reflect both reverence for sacred music and a fresh, engaging style that marks him as one of Germany’s most innovative young church musicians.
On his website, Fey shares, “I was born in 1998 near Leipzig and always loved playing music, especially because of the way it can connect people, and the feelings it can communicate.
“My music education started when I was in kinder garden and my parents signed me up for ‘early music education’. I really enjoyed making music, so we decided the next step would be to start me with classical guitar lessons during my first grade at primary school.
“About one year later, I’d also discovered the magic of piano music. When I was about 15 years old, I was eventually introduced to the pipe organ at our local church – which caught my attention almost immediately! I went on to practice and experiment on this instrument for several hours at a time, never once getting tired of all the possible combinations of the different timbres.
“After studying organ and sacred music full time at the specialist university in Halle (Saale) I’m now a full-time musician, composer and Youtuber.”
Will offer multiple services at former Community Outreach Center
“We’ve been working day and night to transform the place. The new sign just went up today” – Pastor Damon Owens
By Allen D. Payton
Genesis Church of Antioch leaders, Pastor Damon and his wife Shantell Owens invite you and your family to the Ribbon Cutting & Grand Opening of the Genesis Family Life Center on February 7th from 12 Noon to 3:00 pm.
“We are fully persuaded that the Genesis Family Life Center located at 525 East 18th Street in Antioch will be a place of hope and transformation where lives will be changed for the better,” they said.
The center’s slogan, Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly… is from the Bible verse Micah 6:8 which reads, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
The Owens’ shared the following “list of culturally relevant wrap around services” available at the Center:
Grocery Share Program
After School Programs for At-Risk Youth
Senior Day Programs
Trauma Informed Care
Business Incubator for Entrepreneurs
Pop-Up Commercial Kitchen
Community Youth Development
Workforce Development
Prison Re-Entry
Transitional Housing
The new Genesis Family Life Center sign was erected on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, just in time for Saturday’s Grand Opening. All photos courtesy of Damon Owens
The building was purchased from Golden Hills Community Church, which operated their Community Outreach Center there, until last year, for $800,000, according to Golden Hills’ Executive Pastor Matt LaValliere. The two churches are part of the same 170-year-old Baptist denomination known as Converge, for which Pastor Damon is a member of the Board of Overseers of the PacWest division.
The loan docs were signed by Pastor Damon and Shantell Owens on Nov. 24, 2025.
The transition from the COC to the GFLC was quick as, according to Pastor Damon, they signed the loan docs on November 24th.
“Genesis qualified for the loan and closed escrow. God did it,” he exclaimed.
Volunteers from the church then began work the day after Thanksgiving to prepare the Center for opening.
“We’ve been working day and night to transform the place,” Owens shared. “We wanted to bring an open Silicon Valley-type feel for organizations to use the space to provide the wrap-around services.”
“The new sign just went up today,” Pastor Damon added.
Construction on the Genesis Family Life Center began the day after Thanksgiving, on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.
Asked if they would be serving meals to the homeless and those in need he said, “We’re going to be providing ready to eat groceries for those people without a kitchen, like those living in the Opportunity Village (transitional housing hotel), next door.”
“This building is just a shell; it is the people who will fill it that matter most,” the Owens shared. “Seeing the G.F.L.C (Genesis Family Life Center) transition from a vision on paper to a functional space has been a journey of faith and hard work.”
