 FIRST
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
OF SAN FRANCISCO United Church of Christ |
| FIRST
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
OF SAN FRANCISCO United Church of Christ |
What is our history?
We are celebrating 160 years during 2009! We have a summary and detailed records prepared for your
interest.
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HISTORICAL SUMMARY 1849 TO 1899: THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS A new building was dedicated in 1853 at California and Dupont Streets. Membership blossomed to several hundred by 1856. Subsequent pastors in the 1800's include Reverend Edward S. Lacy, Reverend A. L. Stone, Reverend Charles Dana Barrows, Reverend Charles O. Brown and Reverend George C. Adams. During this time of prolific growth in California, our church sponsored Sunday concerts, The Cheerful Workers (a local mission), a kindergarten, the Choral Society, and the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. The church growth led to the construction of a new gothic style building with a large steeple, dedicated May 19, 1872. The efforts of First Congregational Church help to support 105 new churches across the West by 1899 as far away as Eureka, Nevada City, Fresno, Los Angeles, National City and Salt Lake City. Many Bay area congregational churches were also created with the financial and missionary support of our former church members including Berkeley, Antioch, Stockton, Petaluma, Martinez, Niles, San Mateo and Santa Rosa. Source: Golden Jubilee: 1849-1899, First Congregational Church, San Francisco, California. 1899 to 1949: THE 1906 EARTHQUAKE AND THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS  At the time of the earthquake, First Congregational Church had the largest
Protestant church membership in San Francisco. The gothic steeple,
a symbol of the 1872 building, toppled in the earthquake (shown in the
adjacent photo from the Museum of San
Francisco). Subsequent damage to the building eventually led
to a decision to demolish it and erect a new building, dedicated
in 1915. The current building was designed with a skylight in the
middle, and with a sturdy steel frame encased by poured concrete walls
to resist the impact of future earthquakes. Much of the rebuilt church
was enabled by the merger of Plymouth Church (once on Post Street near
Webster Street) along with a major building fund drive. Doctor Charles
Aked was instrumental in inspiring the congregation through this challenging
time.
Succeeding called ministers included Reverend Byron H. Stauffer, Doctor James Logan Gordon, Doctor Chauncey J. Hawkins, Doctor Kerrison Juniper, and Doctor Jason Noble Pierce. Of these, Doctor Gordon led the way for many innovative ideas, including a "question box" for sermon topics and substantial improvements to the organ. The succession of ministers brought significant swings in church membership and attendance. A special service creating the United Nations was held in our building in 1946. As a result of this ceremony, a collection of flags from around the world were mounted in the sanctuary for many years. Source: A History of San Francisco's First Congregational Church, Presented by Mr. Charles Bufford, February, 1948 1949 to 1999: FIFTY YEARS OF CHANGE  The history
of First Congregational in recent times includes a marked shift towards
setting forth new movements of church awareness. The members saw
a resurgence in popularity through the 1940's and 1950's only to see a
decline through the 1960's and 1970's as more of society steered further
away from church as a predominant element in community life. As a
result of this, the church leaders began to explore options to provide
space for community programs, and to possibly partner in management and
ownership of the building. Some cosmetic modifications were made
to the altar area of the sanctuary as a result of partnering agreements.
The church as served by Dr. William E. McCormack (1949 to 1960), whose sincere and strong leadership style renewed the church from what had been a very low ebb. He was followed by Dr. Ernest Heeren (1960 to 1962) and Dr. Harold Janes(1963 to 1965, when he died from a stroke). Reverend James Clark Brown provided inspirational leadership from 1966 to 1980. From 1977, the church also called Reverend Brita Gill, the first female minister called by FCC. Together they ministered effectively to a congregation that had strong liberals and strong conservatives, more elderly than young. One noteworthy event organized by them was an ecumenical service was quickly arranged by them. The service was held at five o'clock on the afternoon following Thanksgiving. Present were numerous clergymen of all faiths and civic leaders, including Mayor George Moscone--who the very next morning was murdered in his office at City Hall, as was Supervisor Harvey Milk. Reverend Brown is also credited with bringing the St. Francis Meal Service congregate meal site to our building -- a community activity which continues each weekday today. In the 1980s, Rev. James D. Claitor served from 1982 to 1985. Dr. Roy H. Nyren was called in 1988. Roy requested that the congregation declare itself Open and Affirming to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people which it did (18th nationally to do so). He also led us to adopt our statement of purpose in 1993. Dr. Nyren retired from FCC in 1995. Rev. James Lawer, serving as a senior minister between 1994 and 1996, broke ground both as the first openly gay called minister at FCC as well as an innovator of new approaches to worship. In December 1999, the congregation called the Rev. Catherine Bohrman, who served actively until 2001. Rev. Cathy was originally hired in 1998 in a new concept called "term-limited". In addition to called ministers, the congregation has many fond memories of interim, in-care and intern ministers over the years. In particular, First Congregational Church has provided internships for many outstanding ministers across the country. Sources: A History from 1915 to 1982, Presented by Ms. Virginia Gerritsen, November, 1982 Interviews with various church members 1999 to 2049: THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS First Congregegational Church has embarked on a new journey of faith -- a new spirit of being a re-"new start" church! The church Building 4 sale was completed in early 2001. First Congregational Church became a tenant at St. Mark's Lutheran Church's Urban Life Center at 1101 Franklin Street. The congregation purchased a building at Polk and Bush Street in 2002. In 2003, the congregation secured a conditional use permit for the building site. In 2005, the congregation chose to move into 1323 Polk Street (across from the new building) as a temporary office location. Now, the congregation celebrates in the new building at the corner of Polk and Bush Streets! Another serendipitous event occurred in 2001. A minister with almost 20 years of experience in Germany at a sister denomination to the UCC, Wilfried Glabach, won a green card and was moved to come to San Francisco. As Wilfried found the congregation, a wonderful match occurred. Wilfried is now called to be with the congregation. Rev. Wilfried Glabach celebrated the completion of his Doctorate of Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary in May, 2006. Source: Interviews with various church members | DETAILED RECORDS The church has made detailed historical records written about our history available on separate pages. Materials include:
Golden
Jubilee Celebration Book, 1899: Recorded
History of FCC: 1849-1899
150TH ANNIVERSARY JUBILEE Our church celebrated its 150th Anniversary on July 25, 1999. As part of this celebration, we shared lots of information. Details are on these pages: Jubilee
Celebration Home Page
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE ARTICLE Link to San Francisco Chronicle Article, July 24, 1999 |
First
Congregational Church of San Francisco
Last update: March 10, 2009