``The purpose and the goal is for us as Christians to come together and talk about what we have in common,'' Jardine Bruce said, adding that Christians tend to focus on each other's differences. ``We are all baptized in Christ and we all recognize each other's baptisms.''

To show participants how much they share in common, Jardine Bruce had them fill out a spiral worksheet. They were to start from the time of birth and from that point on fill in the spiral with important dates, words or symbols representing life events.

``We all experience loss, we all experience love,'' Jardine Bruce said. ``There's so much that we hold in common as human beings.''

The participants, who came from as far as Anaheim Hills, then formed small groups and shared their personal stories from their worksheets and tried to see patterns in them. They then shared these patterns with the larger group.

``There were powerful stories being shared and new friendships being formed,'' Jardine Bruce said.

Betty Comer, 58, who has been a full-time volunteer for 15 years at St. Clement's and has been attending for as long as she's lived in town, 47 years, told of her own hardships. She said in 1976 she became very ill with three ulcers. One of them was on top of a main artery into the stomach. Doctors told her that if the artery was perforated, she'd be dead in three minutes. She underwent surgery on an emergency basis. The ulcers were taken care of but she developed an infection. She had to have more surgery. Then her pancreas stopped functioning. Diabetes set in and she began to take insulin. At one point her pancreas began working again, causing an insulin overdose. She was clinically dead, not breathing.

``They brought me back, but I did suffer brain damage,'' she said.

She spent one year in the hospital -- suffering from pneumonia six times; having two lung surgeries; losing half of her left lung; and undergoing brain surgery to correct severe shaking resulting from the brain damage. She was in a wheelchair for five years, used crutches for a while and now uses a cane. She said that seven to eight years ago she visited her doctor, who couldn't believe she was walking and talking.

``I look at it as a blessing from God. If I didn't die it meant my work here was not finished. I believe what I do here at the church is what I'm so supposed to be doing and it's such a blessing being around so many wonderful people,'' she said. ``This is not a sad story. I'm a very happy person. I love what I'm doing and I think life is great. I had some bad times like everyone else, but the end result was a great life. It seems like a tragic story, but I told the people (Monday) night that I wouldn't change one second of the experience because it's made me the person I am today.''

She thought Monday's gathering served its purpose.

``I think we all learned that no matter what our differences are, where we come from, how big our families are, we all hold a common bond and that's our Christian faith,'' she said. ``People are more alike than they are different and I think a lot of the times we focus on the differences. I look at it kind of like we're all different colors of yarn and we're all woven in this beautiful tapestry that represents a human family. It would be pretty horrible if we were all the same.''

Chuck Mitchell, 71, who has lived in town since 1972, said he attended St. Clement's from 1972 to 1985, but has since been at Our Lady of Fatima for about 17 years in the Roman Catholic tradition.

``We don't all have to march in lockstep. Everyone has a little bit different take on Christianity, but all of the basic steps we're all together on. ... Each (denomination) has a rather interesting and rich tradition. Each gives people what their specialty needs are and I don't think they have any real trouble coming together on a whole lot of common issues, and that's what I got (Monday) night.''