Our History
First Presbyterian Church of Anaheim is the oldest Protestant church in Orange County, and the fifth Presbyterian church in southern California. The church was founded on March 6, 1870, the result of a letter dated February 8, 1870 and signed by twenty four citizens of Anaheim requesting a church to be built. This letter was sent to Rev. Alexander Morrison Stewart, the district secretary of home missions for the Presbytery of the Pacific Coast, and in response to he letter, he traveled from San Francisco to found the church, arriving in Anaheim on March 3, 1870, and the church was started on the following Sunday with nine members in attendance. At the third worship service, on March 20, the first child baptism took place, the first communion was given, the first two elders ere installed, and the church made a call to Lemuel Peterson Webber to pastor the church.
Lemuel Peterson Webber
Beginnings
For the first three years of its existence, First Presbyterian rented space over the Enterprise Hall, which had a bar and pool hall on the first floor, and a meting room on the second which was rented out for theatrical performances, dances, concerts, and other meetings. This proved inadequate for worship, so a church was built on Cypress and Claudina Street. The church building was dedicated on August 17, 1873, with a crowd that filled the new building to capacity. The church was remodeled and expanded in 1904, and can still be seen in its original location, essentially unchanged since 1904.
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Growth
By the mid 1910's, the church had started to outgrow its building. A bigger lot was needed for the church, and it was found on the corner of Broadway and Clementine, not far form the older church location. The church first met in its new building on January 6, 1929. The original plans called for the eventual construction of a larger sanctuary, but the stock market crash on October 29, 1929 and World War II postponed the construction. The building is currently used for education and the church offices, and the stained glass windows from the first sanctuary can be seen in it.
Our Sanctuary
The current church sanctuary, designed by G. Stanley Wilson, had its groundbreaking on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1950, and construction began the next morning. The new building was dedicated on October 7, 1951. It is built in the neo-gothic style and when the Anaheim Bulletin covered it upon completion on October 6, 1951 they summed up the overall impact of the building with the headline, "Gothic Architecture Inspires Reverence, Spires Point Skyward." It continues to offer a true sanctuary of beauty and peace in the midst of our city's downtown district.
Shining From the Heart of Anaheim
First Presbyterian has been involved in the affairs of Anaheim from its start. Some examples are:
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By 1886, there were Sunday School classes in English, German, Spanish, and Chinese, in order to serve the diverse population of the city.
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First Presbyterian was a leader in the anti-Klan movement in 1924 when the Klan tried to turn Anaheim into "the perfect Klan town."
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Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japanese-Americans were taken to internment camps. Pastor Stanley Frederick George publicly opposed the internment, and brought coffee and doughnuts to the train station to serve the internees as they were being taken out of Anaheim.
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The city council commended First Presbyterian in the 1980s for its work in combating drugs and gangs in the downtown area.
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"Shining God's Light, A History of First Presbyterian Church of Anaheim, 1870-2020" by Alan Lopez is a complete history of First Presbyterian. It may be obtained on Amazon.com or by calling the church office (714) 535-2176.
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