In 1909, a small but growing group of congregational believers, after meeting for some time in various locations, including private homes and the Baldridge Opera House, (which in recent years was Por Favor Mexican Restaurant and is now Hacienda Cazadores on the corner of La Mesa Blvd. and Palm), broke ground for what would become La Mesa Central Congregational Church near the corner of Lemon and Third Street. The two-story building, comprising a large meeting room, kitchen, and storage room on the lower floor, and a small chapel and multipurpose room on the upper floor, opened its doors for regular Sunday services and other events in February of 1911. Rev. Charles Hill, who had been serving as a congregational missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, was called back to the mainland to be the first pastor of Central Congregational Church in their new building.
God blessed this original group of CCCers, and as they grew in number, plans were made for a new building; this time for a true sanctuary, not just a chapel, a large fellowship hall, space for children’s ministry and offices, and a lovely patio area connecting the original structure with the new buildings. Prayers were prayed, money was raised, and construction began. Finally, in the summer of 1925, the work was completed, and the building was dedicated to the continuing work of the Lord. A short time later, in 1926, stained-glass windows were added to honor several of the original 19 members of CCC, and the wonderful Pilcher pipe organ was installed.
At some point, Central Congregational Church purchased additional property and eventually owned most of the block between Third and Fourth Streets, with plans to greatly expand the campus footprint (we still have some blueprints). However, after several decades of growth and faithful Christian witness in the local area, and financial support of missionaries and ministries locally and globally, CCC, like thousands of congregations across the nation, began to feel the effects of a culture in transition. Attendance slowly declined, and finances waned as the country took a more secular turn in general and young people, in particular, began to reexamine or reject the religious traditions of their parents, asking challenging questions and seeking a variety of spiritual experiences in an effort to navigate the social and political shifts they were experiencing.
