A Faithful Few – A Legacy of Love.  By Laura Carson.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

In the countryside of California in the 1860’s – 70’s there were circuit riders. These brave and fierce individuals were preachers who traveled on horseback to spread the gospel and start churches. They traveled from town to town; one stopped frequently in Tehama.

Folks heard God’s Word and came to a saving faith in Tehama.

One of the faithful provided a plot of land for a church. Then God’s grace sent the builders. Grace prompted people to donate funds and time and talents.

The church was built lovingly by a ship builder. The sanctuary is all wood, with the most wonderful acoustics. The pews are curved and were handmade on the east coast. Then they were sent by ship down around Cape Horn, because there was no Panama Canal yet, after which, they were placed on a Steamboat and brought up the Sacramento River to the church in Tehama. 

It took two years to build the church. It was dedicated in April of 1878.

A shipbuilder built the church. The people built a legacy.

Let’s fast forward to 2022, the pastor at that time stepped down. No one came to take his place. A very small core group of faithful individuals continued to meet, pray and study God’s Word. They also continued to tithe and paid the bills to keep the church operational. Take note; most of these faithful servants of the Lord are far north of 50 years old. The secretary is 85 and the treasurer is 90 years old.

I relocated to Tehama County and heard about this strong group of Christ followers. I wanted to meet them. Upon entering their Wednesday night Bible Study, I was greeted with smiles and hugs. The fellowship was sweet! I knew immediately that this was to be my new church family. 

We walked the property at the church, praying and praising God, and we continued with our Bible Study. 

We sent a letter to the Northern California Supervisor of our church. We reminded him of his promise to help us with some much-needed repairs to our church building and our need for a new pastor. 

Two days after receiving our letter, he got a phone call from a newly ordained pastor. The young pastor asked if there were any churches in northern California that needed help? He wanted to help! One week later the pastor and his wife and daughter met with the church secretary and walked through the church. The next week he met with the rest of us.

He said ” If you would like me to be your pastor, I would like that.” 

Since that day several teams of volunteer workers have cleaned, restored and painted our nearly 150-year-old-church. One lady lovingly pruned our roses and even fertilized them. 

We found out that when we were walking the church property and praying, calling out to God for a new pastor, at that same time God was saying to this man that was studying for the pastorate, ” I need you! I need you to hurry!”

God is faithful!  All the time!

We did start having Sunday services in January. And we still have Bible Studies. 

What a Resurrection Sunday, celebrating both Christ’s rise from the tomb and the celebration of the resurrection of our beautiful historical church. We have a bell in our tower and we rang it! There were about 50 adults in attendance and 10 children. Praise God! 

There will be a special service in June to officially install our pastor. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. ” (NKJV)

Our good God honors those that faithfully serve Him. While it was disheartening at times to not have a pastor leading us, we had God’s Word and the love and support of one another. We were strong in our faith that God would provide, and we were united in our belief and our prayers. 

John 12:26 “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serve Me, him My Father will honor. ” 

And in Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen