One of the greatest efforts to establish an Episcopal church in Chico was made by Libbie Stansbury. She arrived in Chico as a newlywed in 1877 and when she learned there was no Episcopal church in Chico at the time, her reply was, "Land sakes alive! That's incredible. Do you know I've been here only three days and already I've found my first project." She believed Chico could not lay claim to being "civilized" until an Episcopal church was founded in the community. The Stansbury House (now an historical museum) became headquarters for visiting clergy working to establish an Episcopal mission in Chico.
On April 25, 1896 the Rev. Arthur George arrived in Chico and held services the next day at the Masonic Hall at First Street and Broadway (above what is now Collier's Hardware). On May 1, 1896 a mission was established to be called St. John's Episcopal Mission. Gilbert Taylor became the first church warden, and Emma Wilson became the first superintendent of the Sunday School.
In 1899 a lot was purchased for $1700 at 5th and Broadway as the site for a future building. This spot was considered ideal because of its location on the city plaza.
In October of 1900, Fr. George brought his 4 1/2 year ministry to a close, and Rev. Lewis Morris Wilkins took over the ministry. During his ministry the building of St. John's became a reality. After a successful fund raising campaign, architect Arthur Benton from Los Angeles was asked to prepare plans for a church building.
Ground was broken on February 1, 1904 and the cornerstone laid with Masonic rites on April 9, 1904. The church was completed and ready for use on Jan 1, 1905.
In July of 1906 Fr. Wilkins left St. John's and Rev. Carl A.F. Ruge became rector for a short period. He resigned at St. John's in 1909, and Rev. Ernest A. Osborn was appointed priest-in-charge. During his tenure St. John's moved from mission to parish status, and was incorporated on October 15, 1910.
During that same year, the U.S. Postal Service was looking for a new Post Office location in Chico. In July, the Vestry of St. John's was approached with an offer to buy the land which the church sat on for $25,000. The Vestry accepted, and a search was begun to find another suitable site for the building. A decision was made on July 4, 1912 to offer Mrs. Issac Burk $11,500 for her property at 3rd and Salem which she accepted. The house sitting on the lot would be relocated on the property to serve as a rectory, and the church would be placed on the corner. In November of 1912 a new cornerstone was laid and reconstruction began. Although the work on reconstruction was to be finished by Christmas 1912, an exact date for the reopening of St. John's was never found.
Fr. Osborn stayed with St. John's until May 1925, and was replaced by Dr. Paul Little who became rector in October 1925. For the first few years of his ministry attendance was steady, however, by the end of 1929 The Great Depression had begun taking its toll. Attendance fell and with it the revenue needed for church expenses. Dr. Little resigned in November of 1934.
From 1935 - 1942 St. John's was served by the Rev. Robert Raymond Reed. The Rev. Maurice O'Moore came in January of 1943 during his time a rector's apartment was built within the building so that the church building could remain open at all times. During this time St. John's celebrated the burning of the mortgage obtained in 1929. Fr. O'Moore's ministry lasted unitl 1945.
The Rev. J Raymond Lemert was rector from 1946-1956. He served St. John's during a time of real growth. Construction for a new parish hall and rectory were completed in 1948, the Canterbury Club for college students was formed in 1949, as was the Young People's Fellowship. In 1951 an organ fund was begun and in 1952 a Baldwin organ was purchased and installed. By 1955 the church was becoming too big for it's facilities and discussions began about how to move forward. By 1956 a search for acreage for a future church location had begun.
The Rev. Lloyd Gebhard was rector of St. John's from 1957-1961. He served during a time of transition for St. John's. Four acres of land was purchased in 1959 to accommodate the swelling congregation. Sunday School classes had become so large that the church was renting rooms from the Hotel Oaks next door. It was recognized that while this was a successful solution, the problem of overcrowding had not been corrected.
In January 1961 a letter was sent to the bishop requesting an informal discussion of starting a mission on the four acres the church owned. In March a resolution was approved and St. David's Episcopal Church became a Mission. Arrangements were made for the mission to meet temporarily at he Grange Hall on Nord and Henshaw.
An additional 6 1/2 acres on Floral Avenue was purchased and added to the four acres on Ceres Ave. The land had a house which would be remodeled and used by the first vicar of St. David's, Rev. Norman Boyd, who served until 1963.
Planning for a new church building for St. David continued in 1962, and ground breaking occurred on July 28, 1963.
The Rev. Robert C. Gould became the 10th rector of St. Johns in 1961, and he served until 1966. He and Fr. Boyd would meet weekly to discuss the activities of St. John's and St. David's. A Couple's Club was started during this time, and active involvement in Canterbury Club, the Women's Auxiliary, the Men's Club, Altar Guild, St. John's Guild, St. Claire's Guild, St. Bride's Guild, and St. Ann's Guild remained high.
From 1963- 1969 vestry records are missing, so information about this period is not complete.
At a joint vestry meeting in September 1970, Bishop Haden suggested that since both St. John's and St. David's were about to both be without priests, it was time to consider joining the two congregations. Joining together would relieve financial stress on both churches by consolidating assets, liabilities, and memberships. The two congregations met on October 28, 1970 to vote on a merger. The St. John's congregation voted 45-2 in favor, and St. David's 50-2 in favor. Official sanction of this merger occurred at the Diocesan Convention in November of that year.
Although he had retired, the Rev. W. Hamilton Aulenbach answered a call to serve as interim priest of St. Johns. His primary goals was to work toward a unified congregation under one roof, and to retire the indebtedness of the two congregations. Because of his tireless energy and upbeat personality he was dubbed "The Jolly Rector"
Things moved quickly under his guidance. The treasuries were combined in January of 1971, the vestries combined and alternated meeting locations, as did the church services. However, after a Fire Marshall's report listed 17 building code violations at the St. John's building, a Master Plan Committee was formed to decide how to proceed. After much deliberation and surveys of the congregations, it was decided to build a new parish at the Floral Avenue location and retain the Salem street complex for multipurpose uses.
A new name had to be selected for the new combined congregation. St. Andrews was selected, but later had to be rescinded since the bishop pointed out there were already 3 churches with that name in the diocese. A new vote was taken and St. John the Evangelist Church was selected.
Due to the efforts of the unified parishioners and the sale of some of the church property, St. John's was debt free, and attention turned to building a church that would accommodate both congregations. In 1973 some real soul-searching and re-evaluation took place on the part of the parishioners. Many options for the Salem Street building were considered including trying to get it on the State Historical Register, moving it to Floral Avenue, or selling the building entirely.
In 1974 it was decided that it was time to hire a permanent rector. Fr. Aulenbach was in full agreement, and volunteered to serve on a month to month basis until a new rector could be installed.
The Rev. Gary Sturni became rector on December 4, 1974. By 1976 it had become clear that due to the mounting repairs needed at both sites that a single edifice for the congregation was necessary. The vestry considered purchasing land at 2nd and Salem, but it was unavailable. A Long Range Planning Committee explored options for expanding buildings at both sites. At the October 1978 vestry meeting the issues were presented and relative merits and drawbacks of options were explored. Difficult discussions continued into 1979, and in January 1980 the vestry recommended that the consolidated congregations would meet at the Floral Avenue location in 2-5 years after a building was completed.
The preservation of the Salem Street church was taken up earnestly, and a letter to the state commission asking them for registry of the Salem Church as a historical monument was sent in 1981. Approval was granted by May 1981.
An attempt to split the Salem property and sell the parish house so that funds would be available for remodeling the church building was thwarted by demands made by the Public Works Department of the City of Chico, which would require substantial modifications of the church and would destroy the architectural integrity of the building. A long discussion at the March 10, 1982 vestry meeting resulted in a motion to sell the Salem street property in its entirety.
On November 20, 1982, after extensive negotiations regarding guidelines for the preservation of the church architecture, an offer to purchase the property by William and Amy Pang, was accepted. The Pang's planned to convert the property in to a Chinese restaurant and nightclub. The use of the property for this purpose caused so much controversy that the closing of escrow was delayed until January 21, 1984.
The church was deconsecrated by Bishop Thompson, and when the Dynasty Restaurant and Nightclub failed, the land was purchase in 1994 by a small Anglican group which broke away from the Episcopal Church in the 1970's. It is now St. Augustine Church.
Throughout all the complicated problems connected with the Salem Street property, progress was being made out on Floral Avenue. Groundbreaking occurred on September 24, 1983.
The construction of the new church was underway and renovations of St. David's Hall including the addition of a much needed kitchen were in progress.
On May 24, 1984 the new church building was dedicated.
Fr. Sturni resigned in July 1985, and Rev. Grosvenor Needham, who was already helping the parish, became the interim priest that summer. Fr. Harry Allagree accepted the call to become St. John's rector on August 1, 1986.
