First Presbyterian Church is a proud California community
Seen in this panorama built from three photos is the large domed sanctuary of the California Presbyterian Church was the original construction of the church in 1900, which has since grown with additions of a manse and a Sunday School wing. The church has 84 stained-glass windows, many of which were restored through donations from parishioners, and the sanctuary was painted blue a few years ago after many years of being painted "about eleven shades of yellow," according to member Isabelle Anderson.
The California Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 120th anniversary on May 20.
Rev. Candace Cook, the pastor of the California Presbyterian Church, has been with the church since fall 2009.
A set of massive pipes provided the sound for the organ in The First Presbyterian Church in California, stretching along a wall of the church.
They remained in the church until the old organ was replaced in 1958 by an electric organ.
“When I was a kid, I thought God was behind those pipes,” lifelong parishioner Isabelle Anderson said with a laugh.
Anderson has been a parishioner nearly as long as the church has been in existence. The First Presbyterian Church will kick off its year-long 120th anniversary celebration Easter.
While the church’s membership has dwindled over the years, the remaining parishioners have remained dedicated to their church.
Now 84, Anderson was baptized and married in the church and her three daughters were also baptized there.
In the late 19th century, all of the Presbyterians in the area attended church in Coal Center. But in the aftermath of a fire at that church, a group of men decided to break away and form their own church in California.
On May 20, 1897, the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of California was formally organized with 115 charter members in response to a petition to the Pittsburgh Presbytery.
The church would ultimately become the First Presbyterian Church of California.
The church cornerstone was laid Sept. 22, 1900.
“The contractor went bankrupt and left the project,” said Anderson. “The people had to finish the project. They borrowed $10,000 at 5 percent interest to finish the church.”
When that loan was not enough though to cover the $1,200 cost of the stained glass windows in the church, parishioners and even some organizations throughout the community donated.
The first services were held June 8, 1902.
Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie donated $1,000 toward the church’s original organ on the condition that the parish match the donation.
A Sunday School addition was built in 1911. The two-story building with classrooms on both levels is visible from the church’s front on Fourth Street.
The original church is to the right of the Sunday School addition.
When the Manse, connected to right of the church, was built in 1936, about $5,000 was donated by the Lilley family, who owned coal mines along the river in the area.
The church for many years was heated by a coal furnace. The church custodian would go to the church Saturday night to get the furnace burning in order to heat the church in time for the services.
Currently, the church minister is not living in the Manse. It is rented out.
The church is dwindling in numbers. In 1956, the parish consisted of 706. Today, there are less than 100 members. In 1956, 10 weddings were performed in the church and nine of those couples ultimately left the area, Anderson said.
“As the mines and mills closed, people moved out,” Anderson said. “Town churches unfortunately are not doing well as far as membership is concerned.
“But we still work at it.”
In 1962, the back of the building was built as a Sunday School addition “because we had so many children at the time,” Anderson said.
That addition is being rented out to The Village, an early childhood program.
In the last 15 years, the parish undertook a capital campaign for a new roof on the church and back addition.
All of the stained glass windows were refurbished too. The big rose, stained glass window on one side of the church was taken to PPG in Pittsburgh, piece by piece and painstakingly refurbished.
“The pedals for the window were made of wood and deteriorating,” Anderson said. “They were replaced with aluminum at a cost of $35,000.”
In 2004, a new nursery and upgraded youth room and Sunday school room were completed.
When the former California High School property behind the church became available, a couple donated $15,000 so the church could purchase the land and convert it into a parking lot.
“It always seemed when something was needed, the money was found,” Anderson said. “The Lord looked out for us.
“When Rev. John Rankin was with us, he had an accident and an anonymous person donated a car for him to use. So you never know where it is going to come from.”
Serving from 1968 to 1997, Rankin was one of seven ministers the church has had since 1940 and 16 since its inception.
“People referred to it as Rankin’s Church,” Anderson said.
The Rev. Candace Cook is the current minister. Cook, 62, has been minister since November 2009.
At the end of the benediction, Cook encourages the congregation to join hands in a big circle.
“The folks here are really committed to the church,” Cook said. “They really are one big family.”
The church is governed by a session elected by the congregation and moderated by the minister. It is a member of the Washington Presbytery and the Synod of the Trinity and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA.
Administrative Assistant David Kurilko joined the church when he and his wife moved to California in 1995.
“I grew up in the church,” Kurilko said. “I never questioned why. I just went.
“When we moved into this community, we were looking for a church. I was involved in youth soccer, which plays games on Sundays, and they had evening services here.”
Kurilko said youth and adult church members have made mission trips to West Virginia to renovate homes the last four years.
“In my capacity, I have gotten to know the members,” Kurilko said.
The parish is small but mighty.
A group of parish women knit prayer shawls which are distributed all over the country and have sent food baskets to shut ins.
“We have groups of people who go to places that need help,” Anderson said. “We even sent mission trips to Haiti and paid $1,000 to drill a well. We like to help any way we can.
“We’ve very proud of our church.”