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Short History of SUMC
The Santee United Methodist Church was started by a
group of earnest Christians in the
old Santee Elementary School on Mission Gorge
and Edgemoor Drive. Afternoon services were held and attended by people of
several denominations.
The women started a Ladies Aid Group, with interest in establishing a house of worship. Consequently a meeting was held at the home of L. I. Porter for the purpose of deciding on the
denomination of the church to build.
It was
decided that the church would be the Santee Methodist Episcopal Church. It soon
became known as the Santee Community Church, and was chartered by the State of
California.
The first Methodist service was held in the Santee schoolhouse at 4:00 PM on Sunday, June 4, 1911, with the Reverend Frank Edwards one of the letters of Paul to the Corinthians. On June 25, 1911, 33 people were received into membership.
In 1911 work
began on building the new church. The total cost,
after much volunteer
labor, was $4,100.00. This cost was paid in full and the
church was dedicated in 1912.
Fellowship
Hall was built in 1949, while the Reverend Arthur Huckaby was pastor. The
church school wing, kitchen and offices were added
later.
The original sanctuary was taken apart in November of 1968 and the material given to people of Mexico. Our Congregation moved to Fellowship Hall which had been redecorated, and made into an attractive sanctuary.
In
1971 1977, Reverend Vernon Story was pasto
r, and the congregation was giving
serious thought to the building of a new sanctuary. Under the guidance of
Reverend Karen Jeanette, from 1977 1979, a financing campaign and plans for a
new building on the site of the original church were started. First street was
declared discontinued, and became part of the church property so that we had
sufficient area for a parking lot.
In 1979, Reverend Dennis Ginoza became the pastor. Arrangements were made with the Board of Global Ministries in New York for a $90,000.00 loan, and a groundbreaking ceremony for the new sanctuary was held on July 31st. A year and a half later, after hundreds of hours of volunteer labor and substantial giving, the new sanctuary was completed.
In the mid
1990s, the congregation, feeling a need for more space for ministry, began an
expansion program. In 1995-96, under the leadership of Reverend Gwen Jones-Lurvey,
Sunshine Hall, a new pastors office, and four new classrooms were added to the
existing facility.
PASTORAL HISTORY
Rev. F. C. Edwards 1911 1913, Rev. H. H. Weyant 1913 1915
Rev. F. C. Neptune 1915 1916, Rev. O. C. Laizure 1916 1917
Rev. A. A. Burge 1917 1918, Rev. O. N. Oleson 1918 1919
Rev. J. E. Fisher 1919 1922, Rev. F. Newman 1922 1924
Rev. D. D. Woodworth 1924 1925, Rev. W. H. White 1925 1927
Rev. C. M. Ross 1927 1931, Rev. J. E. Ferris 1931 1934
Rev. P. I. Hershey 1934 1936, Rev. W. F. Wilson 1936 1938
Rev. C. W. Sharer 1938 1940, Rev. H. L. Vandenburg 1940 1941
Rev. W. L. Summers 1941 1942, Rev. J. Jordan 1942 1942
Rev. G. C. Rector 1942 1945, Rev. G. M. Marshall 1945 1948
Rev. A. Huckaby 1948 1953, Rev. R. Cameron 1953 1956
Rev. A. C. Eastland 1956 1958, Rev. C. D. Clark 1958 1963
Rev. G. E. Garner 1963 1967, Rev. H. E. Smith 1967 1968
Rev. J. R. Augustine 1968 1969, Rev. D. K. Corbin 1969 1971
Rev. V. L. Story 1971 1977, Rev. K. Jeanette 1977 1979
Rev. D. Y. Ginoza 1979 1988, Rev. M. R. Wiley 1988 1994
Rev. G. Jones-Lurvey 1994 2001, Rev. B. Parnell (Associate) 1995 2000
Rev. Wesley Matsen Neal 2001 2009, Rev. Jerusha Matsen Neal 2001 2007
Rev. Diane Davis (Associate) 2007 - Present, Rev. Kay Barre 2009
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