Historic Church Rising From Ashes in New Sanctuary

A little more than five years after fire destroyed the historic First Presbyterian Church, members of the congregation will gather at 3 p.m. today for a worship service to dedicate a new sanctuary.

The Rev. R. Scott Sullender, the pastor, said banners have been prepared proclaiming: “New Sanctuary . . . New Management . . . Same Lord.”

The new sanctuary on Holt Avenue at Gibbs Street replaces a church and bell tower that were constructed in 1907 and burned to the ground in an electrical fire Feb. 1, 1985.

Gil Thompson, assistant chairman of the sanctuary building committee, said the fire lighted up the sky, drawing parishioners and other spectators from miles away.

As church members watched the destruction, Thompson said: “Everyone was numb and awe-struck. It was spectacular.” Thompson, 71, had been attending the church since he was 4.

Lynn Honaker, 84, a member of the congregation since 1929, said he was at home in Pomona when someone called and said: “Your church is burning down.” Honaker said he raced to the scene in time to witness a miracle.

The old church was connected by a second-story pedestrian bridge to a Christian education building that housed church offices, Sunday school classrooms and a gymnasium. The fire was about to spread from the church to the education building, Honaker said, when “a breeze from the southwest came up and stopped it. We had a miracle here.”

The preservation of the education building, which was constructed in 1930, permitted the church to continue Sunday services without interruption. The services have been held in the gymnasium, with the congregation seated in metal folding chairs facing a cross. The gym floor was carpeted, but the room still has basketball backboards at each end.

The new sanctuary, which cost $1.2 million, is a modern brick structure with seven sides, curved walls and a distinctive roof line. It will seat more than 300 people.

Thompson, who worked on the building project with John Guthrie, the building committee chairman, said construction has taken more than 1 1/2 years because the church elected to save money by managing the project itself rather than hiring a general contractor.

The Rev. James Baird, who grew up in the Pomona church and has served as pastor of several Presbyterian churches in California and Colorado, will speak at the dedication service. The church’s music groups will be augmented by choirs from other churches.

The First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1883, making it one of the first churches in Pomona. It had as many as 1,300 members 60 years ago, but now has 290.