Friends Church in Citrus Heights, California, to celebrate 100th anniversary

The Friends Church in Citrus Heights will mark its 100th anniversary on the weekend of Sept. 29-30, with several events planned. The church traces its roots to the early 1900s, when it first met at the old Sylvan School house on Sylvan Road. It later built a church building on Old Auburn Road that still stands, and eventually moved to its current building at the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Woodmore Oaks Drive.

The Friends Church was started by a Quaker family from Oklahoma, Walter and Gertrude Leonard, who moved to Citrus Heights in 1914 with their eight children. They began Sunday school services at the Sylvan School house in 1917. The congregation then called its first pastor, Terry Hollingsworth, from another Quaker church. According to Pastor Tweed Moore, Hollingsworth became pastor of the Citrus Heights church in 1919, when he was paid $15 a month and rode a bicycle 100 miles from Denair, near Turlock, to Citrus Heights.

Congregants met at the schoolhouse until they bought land for a new church building at 7600 Old Auburn Rd. in 1919. In June 1921, they opened and dedicated the building for services. The source describes it as the first church in the area. The City of Citrus Heights has recognized the building with a historical plaque placed outside. The building is now home to Pioneer Baptist Church. The congregation met there for a little over 50 years before outgrowing the facility and building its Woodmore Oaks Drive church, where it meets today. The church started Little Friends Preschool in 1974, after moving to the 7070 Woodmore Oaks Drive location.

The anniversary program begins on Saturday, Sept. 29, with an open house from 1 to 5 p.m. displaying pictures, reading stories, showing videos and sharing the church’s history. A re-dedication service from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. will include previous pastors, missionaries and Citrus Heights Vice Mayor Jeannie Bruins, whose son attended Little Friends Preschool. Looking back at the church’s history, the Saturday program reflects a lesson in passing faith to the next generation (Psalm 78:4). On Sunday, Sept. 30, the church plans coffee and fellowship at 9 a.m., followed by a worship service at 10 a.m.

Moore, who has pastored the church since 1998 and has the longest tenure of any pastor there, told The Sentinel that Saturday is for looking back at “where we’ve been and who we are,” while Sunday will focus on “where we are going and what it will be like for the next 100 years.” He said a 100-year milestone is significant because many churches do not last that long. He estimated the average lifespan of a church at 80 years and attributed this largely to generational differences. He also said the congregation has changed over the years. “At its older services, it was choir and everyone with suits and ties,” Moore said. “Today, you would see a full band with guitars and vocalists and people dress more casually.” He added that the message has stayed the same: “Style is one thing, but content is another. We are Christ-centered, Bible-based, and Spirit-directed.”

The Friends Church in Citrus Heights is an Evangelical Quaker church associated with the Evangelical Friends Church Southwest. According to the source, Quakers trace their roots to the mid-1600s and have historically been known for pacifism, involvement in the women’s suffrage movement, and opposition to slavery and other social causes. The source cites History.com as estimating about 300,000 Quakers worldwide today. It also names two U.S. presidents, Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon, as well-known Quakers, and says John Cadbury, founder of Cadbury chocolates, was a Quaker who sought to provide cocoa and chocolate to help “alleviate some of the alcohol-related causes of poverty and deprivation amongst working people,” according to the company’s website.

A schedule of the church’s 100th anniversary events is available at www.friendschurchonline.com.

Source: Read the original report