everychurchihaveeverseen

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Hamilton Square Baptist Church, San Fransisco CA. Hamilton Square Baptist Church, originally the Zion Baptist Church, was founded in 1881 in San Fransisco by the 60 year old Swedish immigrant, and former seaman, Gustavus W. Schroeder. In April of 1844, Schroeder went on a voyage from New York City to New Orleans where he was converted at a Methodist church, later studying the scriptures concerning baptism and was eventually fully immersed (as prescribed by Baptist belief)  in the East River back in New York on November 3rd 1844. In 1877 he moved to San Fransisco, to a property on 1812 Geary Street, where the first meeting of what would become the Zion Baptist Church was held. Schroeder also found his new church a minister by publishing a call in the Baptist publication ‘The Watchman’ which was operating in Boston. Rev. Joseph S. Poromley answered the call and arrived to San Fransisco on the transcontinental railroad to be the churches first minister. On February 7th 1881, seven people met in Schroeders home and adopted seven articles of agreement (one of which declared the church independent from any larger Baptist associations) and drafted a proposal to build a church on the outskirts of the city. Despite this first proposal being denied, the congregation moved ahead, holding their first communion on April 3rd 1881, and first official service on June 5th in Hamilton Hall. In the early years the congregation moved around a lot, from different municipal halls to the local Seventh Day Adventist Church. In 1885 the first church, a modest 2 room building, was constructed for $2,600. The church was renamed Hamilton Square Church, as the new building was adjacent to Hamilton Square Park. The parish remained in this building for 18 years, experiencing periods of great financial instability but also an overall increase in membership. In 1906, shortly before the massive earthquake and fire, the church building was moved to a new site and raised so another floor could be added. The church was badly damaged in the earthquake but was not destroyed, becoming a center for other Baptists in the city who had lost their churches. In 1912 a new, larger church was constructed and used until 1944, when it was sold to the Jones Methodist Church and a lot for a new church was purchased. Due to wartime restrictions, the new building could only be one floor and was not fully completed and dedicated until 1948 (services were held in the basement portion till that time). In 1993 the landscaping and courtyard that are present today were designed and planted, and in 1998 the roof was replaced. The church voted to join the Conservative Baptist Association and the San Fransisco Bay Cities Baptist Union on Mat 5th of 1948.  During the 1940′s Hamilton Square was the second largest Baptist Church in the City, but fell into a period of decline beginning in the late 1950′s as the city changed around it. In 1993 the church invited prominent anti-gay activist Lou Sheldon, attracting LGBTQ protesters that the church literature remembers as a “rioting mob of homosexuals”. 

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St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Fransisco CA. In 1863, under the leadership of Rev. Jacobus Mathias Beehler, the first St. Markus Evangelical Lutheran Church was constructed. In 1867, Rev. Beehler resigned to form the more conservative St. Pauls Lutheran, leaving St. Markus without a permanent Reverend for the next 16 years. During this tumultuous time, the church also suffered financially, going as far as to rent pews for $10 each. This all ended with the arrival of Rev. Julius Fuendeling in 1883, who soon arranged for the construction of a new church closer to the Western Addition, where many of the churches parishioners now lived. In 1894, German American architect Henry Geilfuss was hired, and the cornerstone for the new building was laid before the eyes of some 300 onlookers. The church was dedicated March 10th of the following year, built of red brick in a mostly Romanesque style but featuring many Gothic elements. The interior included a Schoenstien organ and a grand chandelier, both gifted by Claus Spreckles, German immigrant and Sugar tycoon. St. Mark’s narrowly avoided complete destruction during the massive earthquake of 1906, which weakened the east tower, and the subsequent fires which were so close, the heat melted the church cross. Services had been held exclusively in German until 1932 when english was introduced, eventually fully replacing German by 1938. Between 1944 and 1949, the entire church interior was redone in preparation for the Church’s centennial celebration, including the addition of a new Moeller organ. In the late 1950′s, the church was mainly focused on efforts to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood, including assistance in founding and constructing Martin Luther Tower, which offered affordable housing for seniors. In 1971, due to its historical and architectural significance, St. Mark’s became San Fransisco’s 41st registered landmark. In 1989 the church survived yet another massive earthquake, seeing only the destruction of its chandelier. However, following the Loma Prieta earthquake, the city passed new ordinances requiring all masonry buildings to be extensively retrofitted to make them more earthquake safe. St. Marks was thus forced to raise enormous funds in order to satisfactorily renovate their church. Alongside traditional money raising efforts, a restoration fundraiser hosted by Garrison Keillor was held, and the sanctuary was rented to the crew of the movie RENT, as a filming location. The church closed June 2005 as construction began and reopened December 2006, during this time services were held in the nearby Urban Life center. During the restoration, a time capsule from 1863 was unearthed, containing newspapers in English and German, a German Hymnal, a German copy of the Augsburg Confession and a silver half dollar minted in San Fransisco. Inspired, the congregation assembled a new time capsule to be opened in 2057 by future parishioners.    

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Holy Child and Saint Martin Episcopal Church, Daly City CA.

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First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, San Fransisco CA. The First Unitarian Church of San Fransisco was organized in 1850, making it the oldest Unitarian congregation west of St. Louis. Between 1860-1864 the church was led by Thomas Starr King, who is credited with keeping California in the Union during the Civil War by both traveling around the state urging listeners to support the Union and end slavery and by raising money for the medical expenses of Union troops. Due to his popularity as minister, the congregation grew so rapidly it had to move from its original location (built in 1853) to a new church. The third and current church was dedicated in 1889, designed by the architectural firm of Percy and Hamilton in the Richardson Romanesque style, one of the earliest examples of this architectural style in the City. The church was renovated in 1906 following damage sustained in the great earthquake and fire of that year, which destroyed its original bell tower. The church was renovated again in the 1960s, including the construction of a new center which features a chapel, classroom and office space. 

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Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints, Napa CA. Mormonism was brought to the Napa Valley by Samuel Brannan, a prominent Mormon and the state’s first millionaire. Brannan is credited with being the first to publicize the California Gold Rush, and with the founding of the nearby city of Calistoga, after being impressed by the natural hot springs in that area. Today Napa’s LDS Church is under the presidentship of Darin Judd and has about 600 members in the area. 

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Napa Valley Center For Spiritual Living, Napa CA. In 1961, what was to become the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Life, was founded under the name The Science of Mind Center. Four years later, membership had grown large enough to incorporate as a church. The location of the church moved around Napa, before ultimately buying the land where it now presides. The church practices International Religious Science, founded by Ernest Holmes, author of Science of the Mind and other books on metaphysics. As a young man, Holmes was inspired by the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy before moving to Venice California where he was ordained as a minister. The teachings of Religious science stress an emphasis of a single God, known by many different names and cultures, and need for unity and peace among all people.

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Napa Community Seventh Day Adventist Church, Napa CA. On August 10 1873, J.N. Loughborough officiated the first meeting of Seventh Day Adventists at a home in Napa. The group continued to meet in a tent pitched in Fuller Park, until a church was built in 1874. That first church still stands today, now used by Valley Bible Chapel. By the early 1950′s, the congregation had outgrown the building and plans for a new church were laid. A contractor was hired for the new site, but much of the work was done by volunteer parishioners, including the search and acquisition of the distinctive rose colored glass for the windows. The interior of the church also features a large wooden pipe organ, originally from Napa’s Fox Theatre.  

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First United Methodist Church of Napa, Napa CA. In October of 1852 the Napa Methodist Church was first established by Samuel D. Simmons, the first ordained priest of the Sonoma Circuit. 1857 marked the end of the Circuit era, and the year construction of a formal Methodist church began. The current Reverend, James Corwin, also worked as a carpenter out of a mill in St. Helena and was able to negotiate the use of the mill for free, where he then cut the logs for the church’s construction. The prepared logs were hauled from St. Helena to Napa by volunteers where they built a small, single room church. The size of the congregation at that time was 12, so the small, rustic church was at first acceptable. The church was completed in 1858 but lasted only one year, until a new, larger and more refined structure was built. This second church was burnt down in 1864 by a fire purportedly started by a young boy trying to punish the family cow. The church that replaced it was completed and dedicated in 1867 and was valued at $15,000. This church lasted until 1912 , when a new building was planned to replace it. The church hosted closing services in March and April before it was torn down to make space for the new and final church, dedicated on June 10th 1917. On the day of its dedication, after asking for a building report, Bishop Adna Leonard became aware of a $5,000 deficit in the building fund, and would not let the parishioners leave until it was pledged in full. In the 1950′s the churches congregation had grown significantly, so two new structures were added (Adam’s Hall and the Bonner Building) to accommodate the church’s growing needs. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Pastor Andy Juvinall called on his parishioners to serve all people without prejudice, leading to the writing of a plea for open housing for all people in Napa, signed by the church, and published in the local paper. In response, a church was burned on their lawn. Today the church has remained dedicated to social justice, participating in Protests and founding the Hope Center in Napa that provides drop in housing for the city’s homeless population. 

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Old First Church, Springfield MA. The church was first organized in the fall of 1637 under Reverend George Moxon, following the arrival of a group of settlers from Roxbury MA in 1636. It was only the 14th church to be organized in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The first meeting house was built in 1645 by Thomas Cooper only tot be replaced a little over 30 years later by a new building, the second meeting house. 1752 a new, third, meeting house was built which was the first to allow men and woman to pray together, but was still organized by class and status. The fourth and final meeting house was finished and dedicated on August 19th 1819. The architect was cap. Isaac Ramon, a noted designer of churches and bridges from Northampton MA, where he had designed the fourth (now destroyed) meeting house for Northampton’s First Church. The foundation of the building was made from huge white pines transported from New Hampshire via the Connecticut River. Over 3,000 people attended the dedication of the Fourth Meetinghouse, about 3/4ths of Springfield’s current population. The church hosted many famous guests, including Thomas Blanchard, Jenny Lind, Daniel Webster, John Brown, D.L Moody and the body of President John Quincy Adams. After existing for 370 years, the First Church congregation disbanded in 2007. The building was sold to the city of Springfield for $900,000, who now rents the space out for weddings and to the Wellspring Church for their Sunday services. From 1908 to 1970, the top of the church’s steeple (at 125 ft) was the height limit for all new construction in Springfield, resulting in the city having far less skyscrapers than neighboring areas. On October 18th 1971, it was the first building in Springfield to be designated a historical landmark and was placed on the National Registry in 1972. 

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Valley Bible Chapel, Napa CA. The Valley Bible Assembly (they prefer not to be referred to as a church) began in 1966 when eight families met in the home of Homer Williams. The assembly has remained small, with 60-75 members at it’s recorded largest. The assembly belongs to the Plymouth brethren, a loosely associated group of churches that share a disdain for traditional denomination structures. The group also operates Emnaus Bible College, an accredited four-year institution located in Iowa. The Valley Bible Assembly moved into it’s current location in 1972. The church building itself was constructed in 1874 as a Seventh Day Adventist Church, but has since been extensively remodeled, including the removal of its steeple. The Valley Bible Assembly remains very traditional, with its female parishioners required to wear head coverings and pray separately from the male parishioners.     

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Former North Congregational Church/Grace Baptist Church/Hispanic Baptist Church, Springfield MA. In May of 1872, ground was broken for a new North Congregational Church, and on September 18th 1873 the building was completed and dedicated. The architect was Henry Hobson Richardson, who was to become one of the most important architects of 19th century America. The church was an early example of what was to become Hobson’s signature Romanesque style and his use of brownstone, native to Massachusetts. The church features windows from the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany, but an otherwise minimalist interior due to shortages in the construction budget. North Congregational Church disbanded in 1935, and the building was renamed Grace Baptist Church and later Hispanic Baptist Church. Today the church is one of only two remaining buildings designed by Hobson still standing in Springfield. In 2019 the church was put on the market by Iglesia Apostolica Renovacion for $600,000. 

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The Cathedral of Saint Michael the Archangel, Springfield MA. The church had its beginnings in the early 19th century when catholics first began to arrive and gather in the Pioneer Valley, especially after the Great Famine of 1840. This group of parishioners struggled to find a site for worship until  acquiring a former Baptist church, refitting the interior to create a Catholic space. The church was dedicated February 14th 1847 and was named St. Benedict’s in honor of Boston’s bishop Benedict Fenwick who had been a huge supporter of the Springfield parish. In November of 1865, Michael P. Gallagher arrived and laid plans for the construction of a new church for the now much larger parish. The church was renamed St. Michaels in his honor, and the cornerstone was laid on the Feast of Saint Michael, September 29 1860. The churches architect Patrick C. Keley of Brooklyn. The new church officially opened on Christmas of 1861, with a concert for the public featuring an enormous organ built by Boston’s E.&G.G Hook, and held its first mass on Christmas Day. Over the years, the interior of the church has been altered, with major changes following the Second Vatican Council and later efforts to make the church more accessible. The congregation has also changed, from mostly Irish immigrants, to a culturally more diverse makeup, especially following the closure of other Catholic parishes in the city. In 1870 the church was designated the cathedral for the newly autonomous Springfield Diocese. 

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Christ Church Cathedral, Springfield MA. The church began on May 13th 1817 when a chapel on the second floor of a small building on the grounds of the U.S armory was dedicated. It was the commander of the armory and devout Episcopalian, col. Roswell Lee, who spearheaded and this initial organization. After a fire destroyed parts of the armory grounds, the church was forced to hold services in a variety of spaces around Springfield, and risked falling apart all together, until rev. Henry Lee, son of col. Roswell Lee, reorganized the church under the same name in 1838. The need for a new church was clear, and construction began in 1839. The building was long and box like with a square turreted cupola at one end and a portico at the entrance. The church was enlarged in 1851, but by the 1870′s a want for an entirely new building arose. On November 10th 1875 the cornerstone for this new church was laid, and the first service in the new space as held on Easter of 1876. The architects were Lord, Fuller and Wadlin of Boston, who designed a church of Longmeadow Brownstone with large wheel windows on the north and south transepts and a tower that was soon taken down and not replaced for another 50 years. In 1929, nearly 30 years after Western Massachusetts became an autonomous diocese, Christ Church was made its cathedral. 

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First Church Amherst, Amherst MA. The church began in 1739, before Amherst itself was recognized (1758). During the American Revolution, the church experienced a partial split between revolutionary and Tory members. The revolutionaries went to form 2nd Church, which dissolved some 200 years later. Early in the 19th century, First Church members helped raise the money that lead to the founding of Amherst college The building it occupies today was erected in 1867. The architect was Austin Dickinson, older brother to Emily Dickinson, who’s family lived across the street. The Church was active during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s/70s, including the hosting Martin Luther King Jr. It also embraced the woman’s movement, naming its first woman deacon in 1966 and first female priest in 1980. First Church was also the baptismal site of feminist writer, gloria Steinem.

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St. John Cantius, Northampton MA. The St. John Cantius Catholic parish was founded in 1904 for Northampton’s Polish speaking Catholics. In July of 1908 property for a new church was purchased, with construction beginning in August of 1911 and finishing in April of 1913. The parish was closed alongside Northampton’s other Catholic parishes in 2010 by the Springfield Diocese in response to decreased attendance. The property has stayed empty since, at one time in line to become a restaurant for a senior living facility, but the project was not seen through.  

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St. Valentine’s Polish National Catholic Church, Northampton MA. In late 1930 a group of Polish immigrants living in Northampton gathered with the intention of organizing a church as a parish of the Polish National Church. The Polish National Church was founded in America in the late 19th century in response to a growing disdain for the Roman Catholic hierarchy that was considered responsible for the lack of Polish Bishops and priests and the refusal to teach polish in Catholic schools. The formal decision to found a Northampton parish was made on Valentines Day of 1931. The first service of this new church was held on March 8th of that same year at the Northampton Unitarian Church. Though the space was given to them for free by the Unitarians, the churches growing numbers demanded a need for a new space. In June of 1931 land was purchased, and construction began soon after, including the cornerstone being blessed by Bishop Walenty on November 16th. The building was complete in January of 1932 and the first mass was held there soon after. On August 7th 1932 the church was consecrated by the founder of the Polish National Church, Bishop Francis Hodur. 

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Northampton Friends Meeting, Northampton MA. Many quakers were brought to the Pioneer Valley from the midwest due to their background in farming and general “can do” spirit and began regular meetings around the area beginning in the 19th century. The Northampton meeting occupies a room at 43 Center Street, which also houses the offices of local psychiatrists and a shelter for the homeless.