Sunday, December 2, 2012

150 Years of Celebration


The Hollister United Methodist Church is the familiar red brick edifice on the corner of Fifth and Monterey Streets. This weekend (December 1 and 2), it is celebrating its 150th anniversary. Wowza!

The husband and I visited its open house yesterday afternoon to see what the stained glass windows looked like. They are just as beautiful as we imagined they would be, just from looking at them from the outside. Reverend Ardyss Golden and another member of the church told us some interesting notes of both city and church history.
 

The church was started in 1862. It held its first services in Colonel Hollister's home, which is the site of new San Benito County courthouse. And, for us old timers, where Fremont School once stood.
 

Col. Hollister constructed a church building for the congregation in the middle of town. Where precisely, the Rev. Golden did not know. Nor did she know why it was moved to its current location.
 

The original church, built in 1872, was a wooden structure. Today's social hall was the first sanctuary. The brick building was constructed in 1910.  If I remember correctly what was said, the parsonage used to stand where the preschool is today. The parsonage was moved to Tres Pinos.
 

Many of you, dear readers, may remember the ivy that climbed the brick walls. The ivy had to be removed because it was eating into the grout and destroying the building.  The ivy, we learned, was a clipping of ivy from the University of Pacific in Stockton, and the college took its clipping from the Westminster Abbey in London.

At one time, there were two Methodist congregations in Hollister. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South was located at the current spot, while the Methodist Episcopal Church was a couple blocks away.

For more about the Hollister United Methodist Church, check out these pages:
• Hollister United Methodist Church Facebook page
• Web page at United Methodists of the California–Nevada Annual Conference 




© 2012 Su-sieee! Mac. All rights reserved. www.take25tohollister.com

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