Pastor was called to preach gospel

By Claire Vereczky Malis Special to The Acorn

The Reverend Steve Muzio

"I don’t know why one would enter the ministry if there is no sense of calling," said the Rev. Steve Muzio, pastor of Church in the Canyon in Calabasas.

Muzio believed he was called to preach the gospel in the "context of the Lord’s church," and he completed his undergraduate studies at Belhaven College in Jackson, Miss. He earned his master’s at the Reformed Theological Seminary, also in Jackson, and is working on his doctorate of ministry at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

Born in Berkeley, where his father was in the military, Muzio later grew up in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. He says he was challenged to transfer from the christianized culture of the Southern Bible Belt to a culture that is less steeped in "bibliocity," and he’s made adjustments to the ministerial style and "some of the ways of doing church" around here.

Muzio and wife, Melanie, have three offspring. Cody, the youngest, is currently being home-schooled, and Abbey, 8, and Cole, 16, are students at the Hillcrest Christian School in Thousand Oaks.

About seven years ago Muzio assumed his position at the Church in the Canyon, a member of the Presbyterian Church in America. A strong commitment to evangelism worldwide and the building of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, with missionary work at home and abroad, is the church’s vision.

The missionary outreach begun 30 years ago by the Valley Presbyterian Church in North Hills became known as the Church in the Canyon, located at 4235 Las Virgenes Road, about one-half mile south of the 101 Freeway. Muzio said the church’s group of elders played a significant role in the life of the church.

Services at the Church in the Canyon include Sunday worship beginning at 9:30 a.m. and Christian education (Sunday school) at 11 a.m. Planned Easter activities are a 7 p.m. Good Friday service and a 9 a.m. Easter brunch preceding the Easter service scheduled for 10 a.m.

For more information about weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings, call the church office at (818) 880-2060.