History of Concord United Methodist Church

 


Oglesby Hall was completed in 1954. (Now called the Oglesby-Close Hall)

In July 1952, the Reverend William Fletcher Oglesby, at the age of 82, began his quest of establishing a Methodist Church in Concord. His plan was to go where the people lived. He had no car so he walked and talked and visited with people in Concord.

In October 1952, Sunday morning services were conducted in the Armory on Willow Pass Road. November 30, 1952 was declared "Organization Day," when Rev. Oglesby called forth Jesse and Winzola Green, Alex and Grace Zipsnis and Evelyn London to be the first to sign the charter, since they were the first families to contact him.

The next day, December 1st, the first Board of Stewards met and appointed a building committee, a membership committee, and declared that the charter would be held open until May 31, 1953. Anyone joining on or before that date would be considered a charter member. There were 240 charter members and some of those are still on our rolls, including Winzola Green.

By the fall of 1953, the congregation purchased the present property on West Street. At the time it was a walnut orchard with a small white frame house and a chicken coop. Across West Street were the remains of a small airport from which an airplane flew the first transcontinental air mail route to the East Coast.

Members helped build Oglesby Hall and the educational wings, and on May 23, 1954 the first services were conducted by Bishop Tippett.

Rev. Oglesby lived in Concord until July 1954 when left and established churches in Hayward and Bakersfield. The Sanctuary was built in 1962, and Reverend Oglesby attended the consecration on July 5, 1964. (He was 94 years old.)

Sherrill Hall and the Administrative Wing were built in 1977. The Rev. Paul Irwin, a retired naval chaplain, was the first minister appointed to serve the congregation. He served from 1954 to 1959. Since that time the following senior pastors have been assigned to the congregation:

Edgar Bradley

1959–1967

Charles Lord

1967–1969

Charles Cox

1969–1971

Shirley Sherrill

1971–1982

Jerry Angove

1982–1997

Jim Hutchison

1987–1997

Pamela Abbey

1997–2004

Robert Kirk

2004–2010

Sungho Lee

2010–present

 

 

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