History

God used an unlikely man to start what is now known as Centerpointe Presbyterian Church. William Wallace Brier was driven by wanderlust and often stepped on other people’s toes. Nevertheless, his Scottish descent and godly heritage were driving forces behind his enormous energy and sanctified stubbornness that God used to plant churches in Ohio, California and Nevada.

About the time that Pleasanton was beginning to develop upon the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad, Brier was serving as the Alameda School Superintendent. The new town must have caught Brier’s eye in 1872 as he passed through on his walk home after an official trip to Livermore. By 1876, God’s timing was right.  In a meeting hall on Main Street on August 11th, a small group of Pleasanton citizens met as a result of Brier’s invitation to start a church. That group of people met in Centennial Hall on Main Street and decided to start a Protestant Church. Just a few days later, 35 of the 47 people in attendance voted to organize a Presbyterian Church, the first church in the Tri Valley.

By October, the First Presbyterian Church of Pleasanton was founded. Two lots on the corner of Neal and Second were purchased from J. A. Neal for the site of the new church. Before construction of the church, the congregation met at times in a grammar school located on First and Abbie Streets. The original church structure was “a general type patterned after the School House.” Completely remodeled in 1923, the clapboard building resembled a quaint New England village church. Today this structure houses the Amador Valley Baptist Church. In 1979, the congregation moved en masse to its second site on Mirador Avenue. At the Mirador site, the congregation grew in mission and ministry and rich traditions and cherished memories were formed.

Some 25 years later, the church (renamed Pleasanton Presbyterian Church) found itself planning to move again. This time the vision took the congregation back down the hill to a newly purchased site on the corner of Busch Road and Valley Avenue. The collective hope and vision of the congregation was to once more be a church clearly visible and accessible to the community in order to reach out and touch the lives of the people throughout the Tri-Valley area.

The true heritage of a church is not in its buildings but in the faithful work of its members. At the very service on October 15, 1876, Rev. W.W. Brier used John 1:1 as the text:  In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. On that day 15 people committed to serve God and devote themselves to His Word through charter membership in the newly formed church.  Pleasanton Presbyterian owes its heritage to God calling a small group of people who trusted that He wanted not only to grow them spiritually but also to invest in the spiritual well-being of the community. Those men and women boldly took the very first step of our corporate spiritual journey.

Through the years, there have been exciting periods when God has manifested His Presence through fruitful evangelism, life-changing social action and service, awakenings within the church that have strengthened body life, and miracles of spiritual, emotional and physical healing. As the church continues its march into the 21st century, men, women and children continue to walk by faith, trusting God for His gracious intervention within them and through them. During the 125th anniversary of the church, Pastor Mike Barris reflected, “…this church’s life and ministry have been under-girded through consistent, heartfelt prayer by a wonderful group of saints.  These faithful ones have prayed quietly but effectively for God’s guidance, blessing and spiritual power.  This ministry of intercession has been extraordinary and its impact is beyond measure.  One of my prayers for our congregations is that we would continue growing in being a people who pray with Kingdom intensity and vision.”

Time Line

1876 - Rev. William Wallace Brier founds the church with 19 original members. Rev. C. W. Anthony joins church as senior pastor. Serves through 1880.

1877 - Infant Leah Miller, daughter of Jane and Peter Miller, is first child baptized in the schoolhouse.

1885 - Ladies’ Aid Society purchases the Gilson property and donates it to the church for the manse.

1894 - Church forms Missionary Society to support mission work overseas.

1922 - Church remodels with $8,000 in raised funds.

1929 - Loyalty Crusade youth movement lasts for several Sundays in the fall. Sunday school enrollment reaches 244, driving the need for an education building.

1930 - Congregation votes $10,000 to build a combined Social Hall and Sunday School.

1933 - Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hansen organize a church school in Dublin, which grows to 29 children.

1936 - Schooner Club, predecessor of Mariners, begins.

1946 - Church purchases organ with $1,000 donation from William Kuhl and $2,500 in subscriptions.

1948 - Church rebuilds manse at a cost of $10,000. Various women’s organizations unite to become the Women’s Guild.

1949 - Church redecorates Social Hall. Men’s Club is formed.

1950 - Church school opens at Komandorski Village to serve needs of soldiers at Camp Parks.

1957 - Mariners begin at the church.

1958 - Rev. Robert S. Vogt joins as senior pastor. Serves through 1987

1963 - Church starts campaign Sharing to Build, Building to Share to raise funds for a new site, with its first buildings to be used for Christian Education. Campaign receives pledges of $89,000 in its first month. Church makes offer on the Hansen-Weil property on Mirador, after the congregation authorizes the land purchased at a special meeting on July 21.

1965 - New Christian Education buildings on the Mirador site open for school.

1966 - Local churches found Pleasanton Gardens Inc. to provide housing for the elderly in Pleasanton.

1967 - HUD funds $475,100 to build Pleasanton Gardens. Pleasanton Gardens opens. Church receives loan to expand Pleasanton Gardens. Pleasanton Greens Inc. opens to provide housing for indigent families.

1976 - Church breaks ground on construction of a sanctuary on the Mirador site.

1977 - Congregation moves into the new sanctuary on April 1.

1984 - Church adds three offices to the administrative building at Mirador.

1988 - Rev. Carl Bosteels joins as senior pastor. Serves through 1995.

1995 - Rev. James Hewitt joins as interim senior pastor. Serves through 1997.

1997 - Rev. Betty Jean Young joins as interim senior pastor. Serves one year. Rev. Mike Barris joins as senior pastor.

2001 - Church starts Walking by Faith campaign to raise funds for a new site and facility. Gifts exceed $1,600,000. Church celebrates 125th anniversary. Church makes an offer on 6-acre site at the corner of Valley and Busch.

2004 - Church purchases 6-acre tract at Valley and Busch from Ponderosa Homes. Initiates Building by Faith campaign to raise funds to finalize purchase of property and build the first phase of the church campus, which was planned to include the sanctuary. Members and friends pledged $1,088 215 and the total received was $1,119,571.

2005 - Church receives final City Council approval for the master plan for the site.

2006 - St. Mary and St. John Egyptian Orthodox (Coptic) Church enters into purchase agreement to buy the Mirador site. The agreement allows the Presbyterian Church to continue to occupy the site until November of 2008. The contract closes before the church takes its proposal for the Sprung structure to the planning commission.
Pleasanton Planning Commission unanimously approves 10-year use permit for a unique worship center built as a stressed-membrane (Sprung Corporation) structure.

2007 – Construction commences on Phase 1 of the Ironwood campus that includes full Sunday school complex that also will house the preschool, two meeting rooms and a coffee shop and the Sprung structure Worship Center. The third phase of the capital campaign, Growing in Faith, is launched and pledges received total $980,000. In November, members bid farewell to the Mirador site and worship for the next five months in a corporate meeting center.

2008 - In May, the congregation moves onto its new site with its new name, Centerpointe Presbyterian Church. Centerpointe Christian Preschool, a full-service pre-school, opens as well.