Welcome!
It is a joy to welcome you to our church online. We hope this website is a blessing to you, and we pray it sparks your curiosity to visit us in person at 14871 Bancroft Ave, San Leandro, CA 94578.
If you are joining us from Romania, or from anywhere else where a physical visit is not possible, we invite you to participate in our worship through our LIVE stream.
Above all, our prayer is that this site serves as an open door for your soul. We hope that through this platform you will encounter Christ, or if you already know Him, that you will grow deeper in your walk with Him. We greet you with these words from Scripture:
'Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship.' (Romans 12:1)
Pastor Ovidiu Rauca
Sunday School is a time of structured biblical teaching for the entire church. Through Scripture-based lessons and guided discussion, we aim to grow together in sound doctrine, spiritual maturity, and faithful Christian living.
Săptămâna de rugăciune 2026
Umblați cârmuiți de Duhul Sfânt și rugați-vă prin Duhul Sfânt!
Galateni 5:16: „Zic dar: umblați cârmuiţi de Duhul şi nu împliniţi poftele firii pământeşti.”
Iuda 1:20: „Dar voi, preaiubiţilor, zidiţi-vă sufleteşte pe credinţa voastră preasfântă, rugaţi-vă prin Duhul Sfânt...”
47 YEARS OF EXISTENCE OF THE ROMANIAN BAPTIST CHURCH OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, SAN LEANDRO
When looking at an imposing building, one’s attention is drawn to what strikes the eye, only to what can be seen. Who, for a moment, would dig into the earth to appreciate its foundation? What use would it be for someone to make such an effort? And if one were to think back to the beginning when the dimensions were set and the foundations of that building were laid, would there be any benefit?
The Christian Church, wherever it may be found, is part of the Church of the Lord Christ, fashioned through the sacrifice at Golgotha with the promise that “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Although countless factors urge us to look forward within the perspective opened by the Holy Spirit, it is also necessary to look back at our history as a church, weighing the value of the fulfilled promises of Almighty God. This is the purpose of the 35th anniversary of the Christian Baptist Church of San Leandro, which we are celebrating today. By looking not only at its beginning but also at the course of these 35 years of existence, we will remember the things that have marked our lives, God’s blessings, and our own mistakes as well as those of others, learning to be wiser and filled with love.
It is absolutely necessary and fitting to remember every intervention of God’s hand, the sacrifices that form the foundation of our existence, and those who cleared the way before us on paths drifted over by sin.
SEPTEMBER 11, 1977
A truly memorable day. The first day of the official existence of the Christian Baptist Church in San Leandro. A difficult start. Very difficult.
Pastor Avram Boţan came to New York to seek treatment for his child’s illness, which he had been unable to treat properly in Romania. He achieved this through the goodwill of an American doctor, a specialist who showed mercy, intervened, and performed the surgery. Father and son did not return to their country and instead became part of the Baptist Church in New York.
While waiting for God’s guidance regarding the future, he spoke with Pastor Petru Popovici, who proposed that he move to San Leandro and dedicate himself to the work in that place.
The brother accepted and moved to the area, working with selflessness and looking after the fate of refugees who needed sponsorship. At one point, he had sponsored five hundred people. He took care to ensure that the newcomers did not become a burden to the state by placing them in jobs immediately and, of course, inviting them to church with him.
Soon, he succeeded in bringing over his brother, Elisei Boţan, with whom he prayed and worked side by side. Before long, another young brother arrived, a faithful man full of zeal and energy, Costel Cristea, who became a deacon, thus forming a working group of three. Brother Avram Boţan fell ill and, after a period of bitter suffering, went to be with the Lord. His absence was deeply felt, and the church was reduced to a few families, approximately five, who gathered in homes.
Later, the church brought Brother Iosif Sărac from Romania, a qualified pastor with experience in the Lord’s work. The church grew impressively and reached numbers in the hundreds. After nine years of blessed ministry, due to regrettable unrest, the church was left without a pastor and was led by its committee, with Brother Costel Cristea serving as deacon. From December 1996 until January 1999, Brother Mihai Sârbu, who came from Hațeg, was employed as pastor.
Another period without a pastor followed, led by the church committee, during which the work was supported from February 2002 to February 2003 by Brother Ioan Păşcuţ, a pastor from Beclean who arrived in the area through the visa lottery.
From February 2003 until September 2005, the church continued to be led by the committee until Brother Ovidiu Rauca was hired as pastor. He came from over seven years of pastoral work at the Christian Baptist Church in Cugir. Over time, Brother Ştefan Ghinescu, pastor of the church in Haţeg who came to America for an indefinite period, also joined the pastoral board.
Through the Lord’s mercy and the help of His Spirit, from 2005 to the present, the church has experienced a state of maturity, as well as spiritual and numerical growth.
Throughout this 35-year period, the Gospel was preached in the San Leandro Church. Souls who came to faith were formed and spiritually strengthened, while brothers and sisters who arrived as refugees found comfort listening to the Word of the Lord in their sweet Romanian language. There were times of spiritual elevation as well as times of storm, similar to those when the Lord was in the boat with the disciples on the waters of Palestine.
Through all the confrontations, unrest, and struggles, the church was sifted, cleansed, sanctified, and renewed. Due to economic, family, or spiritual conditions, some members moved to Missouri, Atlanta, North Carolina, Modesto, Sacramento, Hayward, San Ramon, and other locations. There, they live their lives as part of Baptist churches, waiting for the glorious day when the Lord, our precious Savior, so greatly anticipated, will come and when we will be granted to be united once again, all those redeemed by Him.
From those early days, Brother Elisei Boţan, who lives in Modesto, and Brother Avram’s wife, Jeni Boţan, who retired to Timişoara in 2005, are still living.
If certain names involved in the 35 years of the church’s existence have been mentioned here, it is only to mark events in time where, whether in good times, storms, or obstacles, God showed His love and His good hand. The glory is His! He also used every member of the church who remains anonymous on this occasion, all knowing that we were chosen by God to spread salvation and the glory of the Lord in this beautiful, interesting corner of the earth, full of souls who need Him and the light of His Gospel.
“Thus far the Lord has helped us!” “Ebenezer!”