Sometime prior to 1939 a group of seven women began to meet together for prayer. They had a dream - a dream which became the theme of their group and individual prayer times. The theme? A Bible believing church where the great truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord would be preached, believed, received and obeyed.
1939 - James T. Black graduated from Simpson Bible College, Seattle Washington. He answered a call to start a church in Fort Jones that same year. Reverend Black arrived with his wife, Edith, also a graduate of Simpson Bible College, to begin his work. Services were held in the Methodist Church where Reverend Black also served as interim Pastor for a time. In 1942 Reverend Black accepted a call to a church in Livermore. He pastored the church there for one year, 1942 - 1943. A Pastor named Hardwick was placed in the Fort Jones Church for that year. Rev. Black returned to Fort Jones in 1943.
The youngest boy in this picture was recently identified by the wife of James
T. Black, Jr. as Daniel A. Black. James T. Black who was born after his father
was killed, so he is not visible in the family picture.
In the Black family picture, from left to right, they are;
The Black family information was originally supplied Jan. 19, 1999 by Sharon Black, wife of James T. Black Jr., the son of James T. Black. Sharon provided us with an update on some of the family members in April 2007.
The defunct Saint Paul's Episcopal Church building located at the corner of Main and Sterling Streets became the new home of Fort Jones Community Church. Reverend Black was the Pastor until his death on October 29, 1946. He is Buried in the Fort Jones Cemetery. This photo of St. Paul's Church was taken in 1893.
This second photo showing the addition of the cross and bell tower was taken in 1920. It must have looked very much the same in 1943 when fort Jones Community Church began to meet there.
1950 - Work was begun on land donated by Alford Branson, who was a former
member of the Saint Paul's Episcopal Church. We rejoiced that he was still alive
when we had the "ground breaking ceremonies" in 1950.
In 1951 the Fort Jones Community Church rented a store front on Main Street, where the Dry Gulch Laundry Mat is today, and church services were held there until the new Church building in this photo was completed enough to move into, in 1955. We occupied this building as our main church building until 1991.
In 1991 we, as a church body adopted our philosophy of ministry, our mission
statement, and our goals and objectives for carrying out that mission. We
believe that the ministry of Fort Jones Community church must be built upon a
commitment to Jesus Christ, a commitment to the body of Christ (YOU), and a
commitment to the work of Christ in the world.
In harmony with this philosophy of ministry, the mission of Fort Jones Community Church is to follow the command of Christ by making disciples in Fort Jones and Scott Valley; baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and teaching them to love the Lord their God with all their hearts, souls and minds, and their neighbors as themselves, which compels them to obey everything that Jesus commanded.
As these disciples are developed, they become aware of the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ as our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. As this message of the fullness of Jesus is proclaimed and practiced in Scott Valley, it is reflected upon the entire world through our participation in the worldwide effort of the Christian and Missionary Alliance to make disciples of all nations. Our new logo explains graphically what our mission is all about.
In order for our church body to achieve all that our philosophy of ministry, mission statement, and goals specify, we set some specific objectives to be achieved on a regular basis in addition to our objective of securing additional facilities.
1991 - We identified such a property on Highway 3 north of Fort Jones - the old Conifer Inn and moved into the building pictured on our home page. We converted the old church building into an Alliance Youth Center which is no longer being used. In securing this building we have a facility that meets our requirements without being extravagant. It gives a place for worship, instruction, fellowship, and recreation - a place where we can bring our families.
We would be short-sighted if we did not want to grow beyond the capacity of the new building. As many others from the Valley join us, we need to consider the possibility for expansion. We have the dream of growing beyond the limitations of our new building - reaching out to the hurting, lonely, and lost people around us. This building and the adjacent land give us the ability to continue to grow.
In 2005 - We began construction on 2 Sunday School classrooms that is only a portion of a larger vision to build a Christian school for children throughout Scott Valley. These 2 classrooms were completed and in use as of September 2006.
Fort Jones Community Church has been served by 22 pastors;
1939-1942 James T. Black
1942-1943 Pastor Hartwick
1943-1946 James A. Black
1946-1947 Edith Black (6 months, interim)
1947-1949 John Swift
1949-1952 David Johnson
1952-1956 Merle Caldwell
1956-1958 Walter Hutchins
1958-1959 Eugene Bobo
1959-1964 Urbane Travis
1964-1967 G. E. Pedersen
1967-1970 Phillip Hezmalhakh
1970-1972 Ron Franklin
1972-1976 Leland Books
1976-1977 Neil Cromwell
1977-1981 Dave Wallis
1981-1985 Rev. Lloyd Skellie
1985-1989 Bill Myers
1990-1991 Bill Jung
1991-1996 Robert Trempert
1996-2000 Kurt Trempert
2000 and currently serving Dr. Terry Munn