What is the history of the PUC Church and who were the pastors?

Answer

The first Pacific Union College Seventh-Day Adventist church met in the former Angwin resort dance hall. The first meeting was December 31, 1909, and Pacific Union College had just moved from Healdsburg to Angwin. The church had 42 charter members.

By 1919 the church had more official quarters-the chapel of the newly completed college building. Three years later, in 1921, church membership had grown to 290. Until 1947 the church was pastored by the head of the college religion department. The first of these was Elder A. O. Tait and the last was Elder Paul Quimby. The first person called to be full-time pastor was Elder Paul Campbell who served from 1947 to 1950.

The PUC Church continued to grow, but had no place to call its own. Irwin Hall Chapel and the gym both served as multi-purpose auditoriums which housed the church services. As an institutional church, the size of the congregation has been related to the enrollment of the college and the size of the faculty and staff. After 1935 the membership grew rapidly, reaching 849 by 1946. The need for a church sanctuary was keenly felt, and the members began plans for a new church. However, not until 1962, under the leadership of Elder Lawrence G. Scales, did the successful building campaign get underway.

On January 6, 1968, 58 years after the church's inception, the 1,755 members moved into the new sanctuary. The entire complex was completed in 1977 under the leadership of Elder Arthur J. Escobar. In the years since, the church has grown to its present membership of almost 2,200 people, plus college students.

Full time senior pastors of the Pacific Union College Seventh-day Adventist Church have been:

  • Paul Campbell, 1947-50
  • H. K Martin, 1950-56
  • E. W. Rogers, 1956-62
  • Lawrence G. Scales, 1962-63
  • Arthur J. Escobar, 1963-74
  • Morris L. Venden, 6/1974-81
  • John S. McIntosh (interim)
  • H. Roger Bothwell, 2/1982-3/88
  • John S. McIntosh (interim)
  • Louis Venden, 8/16/1989-9/12/92
  • John McVay, 9/13/1992-12/31/93
  • Ron Stretter (interim)
  • Ray Mitchell, 9/1/1994-5/15/98
  • John Hughson (interim)
  • Mic Thurber, 12/1/98-9/21/2003
  • John Hughson & Malcolm Maxwell (interim)
  • Tim Mitchell, 7/2003-6/2012
  • Jim Pedersen (interim)
  • Mark Witas, June or July 2013-December 2018
  • Ernest Furness (interim)
  • Chanda M. Nunes, June or July 2020 to March 2022
  • Ernest Furness (interim), June 2022 to February 2023
  • Nate Furness, February 2023 to present

 

From former PUC Church website archived at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20080512181526/http://www.pucchurch.org/whoweare/history.shtml

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  • Last Updated Aug 29, 2023
  • Views 39
  • Answered By Patrick Benner

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