CCC CHURCH HISTORY

 August 17, 2008

One hundred nineteen years ago (that was in 1888) the Congregational Christian Church was started by a group of farmers who originally came from Iowa. The church was later incorporated in August 1895. The name of the church then was WEST END CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH because this corner of Temple St. and Park View St. was the farthest west end of the pueblo or town of Los Angeles. The first pastor of the church was Elijah Cash who was followed by Frederic Field from Massachusetts, David Lloyd Jenkins from Wales, England, John M. Johnson, and then several others more followed after them.

The early growth of the church had been hastened by the availability of transportation. There was a trolley car running on Temple Street from downtown, bringing people to the church. The trolley car would wait until the service is over to bring the people back to town.

In May 1949, under the leadership of Pastor William Reedy, the old church building was refurbished, and the name was changed to United Congregational Church. Everything went well with the membership, attendance was good, when in 1950, the Hollywood Freeway was built. Many church families were forced to leave the area because their homes were demolished to give way to the freeway construction. Those who stayed went on faithfully serving the Lord.

I’d like to mention here that our guest speaker for today, Dr. James Christian provided pulpit supply during the early 1950’s (1951-1954).

In 1965, this church became a member of the four C’s, which stands for Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.

During the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, the church building was heavily damaged and was declared unsafe by the City of L.A. Department of Building and Safety. The old building was demolished to give way to the construction of a new building – the building as we see it today.  Two families mortgaged their residential properties to finance the construction of the new building. These were the families of Mr. Arcadio Bautista (the father of Sister Merlyn Sibayan) and Mr. Sayers. Mr. Arcadio Bautista also served as the Chairman of the Board for sometime. The late Mrs. Jeanne Hawkins continued faithfully in providing music services in terms of playing the organ.

At this point in time there was a change in ministry leadership. As the membership of the church was becoming predominantly Filipino, the congregration elected to call Filipino pastors to lead the church. Among these were: Pastor Manolo Chata, Pastor Rudolfo Parreno, Pastors Rafael and Genovebo Lubaton.

Pastor Rafael Lubaton pastored the church for 13 years, starting in 1975, the longest tenure for any Filipino pastor in CCC.

 In 1976, God performed a miracle by bringing a large number of families who took active part in the life of the church. Among these families were the Aluras, the Reyeses, the San Diegos, the del Rosarios, the Pablicos, the Agarpaos, and the Macabeos.

 In May 1987, the name of the church was changed from United Congregational Church to Congregational Christian Church. The preaching of the word went on with high fervor.

When Pastor Rafael Lubaton accepted a pastoral call in 1988 in Vancouver, Canada, Pastor Rudolfo Parreno took over. Pastor Parreno retired six years later in 1994. Pastor Rafael then came back for two years until May 1997 to help us out in the ministry.

Since 1997 to June 30, 2000 (3 years), CCC had no pastor. But with the able leadership of Bros. Jesse de la Vega and Willie Josue, as chairman and vice-chairman of the Board of Deacons, the church kept faithfully serving the Lord. God carried us through this critical period. The church continued on its ministries of worship service, support of its missionaries, Bible studies and prayer meetings. God also sent new families and members and baptisms were performed during church camps. During this period (sometime in April 1999), Pastor Bryan Sarile was appointed as Youth Pastor to help us out with the youth ministry.

In July of 2001, the church called Pastor Pete Wong to pastor the church. He stayed with us until February 2003. Immediately following Pastor Wong’s tenure, the congregation appointed Pastor Bryan Sarile as Associate Pastor.  Pastor Bryan Sarile was subsequently called to be full time pastor in December 2006.

Over the years we have seen how the Word of God through the church was working in transforming the lives of those who have been called to be God’s people. We know that God has a special purpose for establishing a church in this corner of Los Angeles: to serve as a beacon of light to many souls that are perishing and without hope.

Today, as we celebrate CCC’s 120^th anniversary, we pray for our Lord’s divine guidance and wisdom as we face new challenges in serving our Lord and Master. Happy anniversary CCC!