HISTORY OF COMMUNITY PRESBYTERIAN FELLOWSHIP

On December 10, 1947 a group of people, feeling the need of a church in the then “small farms community” of West Covina, met to discuss the possibilities. With Mr. and Mrs. Branson Larkin as spokespersons, Los Angeles Presbytery was requested to make a survey of the area to ascertain feasibility. As a result of the survey, the Board of Church Extension of Presbytery made application to the Southern California Council of Churches to organize a Presbyterian church in West Covina. The application was approved and the first Protestant Church in West Covina was authorized! It was designed to serve the whole community.

Rev. Franklin Tomlinson was called as organizing pastor and the Community Presbyterian Church of West Covina was organized on June 20, 1948 with a membership of 99.

The congregation met in the Japanese School House at the corner of Sunset and Service Avenue, and then for a short time in the cafeteria of Sunset School (the old club house) until property could be purchased and a building erected.

A large group of people posing for a photo in front of a building, with men, women, and children dressed in vintage clothing. Japanese charter members West Covina Community Presbyterian Church.

Japanese Center Charter Members 1948

Corliss Roenicke, one of the charter members, is still on the active roll of our church today!

OUR FIRST BUILDING

Lots were purchased and ground was broken in June 1949. In just seventy days, our first building was completed. It consisted of a chapel to seat 120 (the present offices and pastor’s office), the Fellowship Hall, Fireside Room, kitchen, and music director’s office (now is the office of ITS’ president). Dedication services were held in December 1949.

Soon after the completion of the building, three public school classes were held here: kindergarten, first, and second grades. Cameron School was completed about two years later and the classes moved there.

Black and white image of leafless trees with a person standing among them, with trees casting shadows on the ground. West Covina Community Presbyterian Church in 1949, looking at plans to expand their building.

WE KEEP GROWING

The rapid growth of the community was reflected in the growth of the church and the church school. To meet the need, a sanctuary was the next unit planned and the cornerstone was laid in 1954. First services in the new sanctuary were held on Palm Sunday, 1955, with dedication services in May. All the furnishings in the sanctuary and the stained glass windows were gifts, many of them memorials.

The church school continued to grow. Classes were held in the Fellowship Hall and the Fireside Room, and then rooms were rented in the newly completed Coronado School (now Walnut Grove Intermediate School) across the street. This challenge was met by the construction of the pre-school building, completed in 1958.

In 1962 the classrooms in the fourth unit of our church were completed, the Fellowship Hall was enlarged and the Pastor’s study, offices and kitchen remodeled.

Black and white photo of a group of people gathered at a groundbreaking ceremony for the West Covina Community Presbyterian Church in 1954. Some people are standing, while others are kneeling or sitting near a brick wall with a sign in front of them.
West Covina Community Presbyterian Church. 1955. A large gathering of children and adults in a church with a cross on the altar, decorated with flowers, labeled 'The sanctuary 1955'.
A group of diverse elderly and young people sitting around a large rectangular table enjoying a meal together in a community room with light-colored walls, framed artwork, and a fireplace.

THE FUTURE

West Covina Community Presbyterian Church thrived in the mid-1960s, with over 1,200 active members. However, membership began to decline due to leadership and community changes, as well as the rise of multiple new churches. The decline kept going, and over time the church lost a significant amount of members. Due to its small size the church went under the care of the Presbytery in 2018, and is now referred to as a Fellowship.

Now, with about 30 to 50 people on the rolls and 25 active members, West Covina Community Presbyterian Fellowship continues to worship weekly on Sunday mornings in the Sanctuary.

As a fellowship we continue to serve the community around us and share our space with multiple ministries, such as Shining Light Ministries, International Theological Seminary (ITS), La Senda Hispanic Ministry, and First Chinese Baptist Church of LA (FCBCLA).

Two women, one elderly with gray hair and glasses wearing a leopard print jacket and red scarf, the other middle-aged with dark hair, sitting at a table together smiling. In the background, several other women are seated in a room with framed landscape paintings on the wall.