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The Westminster Presbyterian Church of Hueneme dates its
earliest beginnings to 1885 when Thomas R. Bard and eight other residents of the
little town of Hueneme made application to the Los Angeles Presbytery to form a
new church. Lacking a building, the new congregation, which was named
Hueneme Presbyterian Church, made arrangements with the Methodist Episcopal
Board to use their sanctuary on two Sundays each month for their services.
The Reverend J. H. Harris was appointed stated supply.
By 1891 the congregation was large enough to construct its own
building, which was located at the corner of Second and Scott streets on land
that had been donated by Thomas Bard. Two years later the Reverend David
Lander would become the first pastor of the fledgling church. For the next
few years the congregation continued to grow, along with the town of Hueneme
that was sustained by a growing commerce in grain shipped from its busy wharf.
However, toward the end of the decade, a dramatic change took
place in the region caused by the introduction of sugar beets that rapidly
became the dominate crop. Late in 1897, after the construction of a new
sugar refinery located in an area four miles north of Hueneme, a mass exodus of
people occurred -- and a new town named Oxnard was formed. With the
construction of a spur track by the Southern Pacific Railroad, connecting the
new sugar factory with the mail line, and bypassing the wharf at Hueneme, the
old town became nearly deserted.
By 1905 the congregation at the Hueneme Presbyterian Church had
declined to a point that it could no longer support a pastor, causing the
Session to adjourn for what would become a period of fifteen years. The
doors of the church, however, were not completely closed, because Sunday school
classes were continued through the efforts of the Bard family, who alternated in
teaching classes each Sunday.
Finally, in 1918, when the Reverend William Miedema, pastor of
the First Presbyterian Church of Oxnard, offered to conduct evening services at
the moribund church, happily, membership began to be revitalized. By 1920,
when the church was able to support the Reverend Miedema on a full-time basis, a
new Session was formed and the name of the church was officially changed to the
Community Presbyterian Church of Hueneme. In 1939, after 21 years of
service in the Hueneme church and 48 years in the clergy, Reverend Miedema
resigned his pastorate. In that same year, great changes were again
occurring in Hueneme -- a Harbor was being constructed and was officially
dedicated on July 5, 1940. With the completion of the harbor and the town
actually a seaport, its residents proudly changed its name to the more
portentous Port Hueneme.
After the close of the WWII, residential construction in town
began to proliferate moving the population center of Port Hueneme farther north,
while at the same time, the older section of town steadily declined. With
the passing of time, it became evident that the church needed a new location
and, finally, in 1959 the congregation purchased a site consisting of ten
residential lots facing Bard Road, across the street from Bubbling Springs
Park. The first phase of construction, which consisted of a fellowship
hall and an administrative/educational wing, was begun in March 1964. On
October 4th of the same year, the first worship service was held in the new
fellowship hall with an overflow crowd of 130 people in attendance.
Not too many blocks away in Oxnard, at the corner of Samuel Ave.
and Hughes Dr., just east of Saviers Rd. was the location of Westminster
Presbyterian Church of Oxnard -- a strong active congregation under the
leadership of the Reverend Warren Porter, who had begun his ministry there in
1962, just eleven years after its founding by the Reverend James W.
Arnold. When it became known that the Hueneme church was actually being
relocated to the Bard Rd. site, many in the Oxnard church were fearful that the
two churches would be competing for membership -- and this indeed was exactly
what occurred. But this distressing situation was soon remedied. It
appeared logical to the Santa Barbara Presbytery and to the leaders of both
churches that a merger would be in the best interests of the two
congregations. On January 16, 1966, the members were informed that the
Presbytery had approved the merger, and combined services were begun the
following Sunday. The newly merged church was named the Westminster
Presbyterian Church of Hueneme, with the Reverend Warren Porter remaining as
pastor. The Revered Skelly, pastor of the former Hueneme church, resigned
his position effective December 31, 1965.
Following the merger of the two churches, because of limited
space, two consecutive worship services were held each Sunday at the Oxnard
church, while the Bard Rd. and Hughes Dr. locations were both used for church
school classes. It was obvious the first order of business would be
the construction of a much needed sanctuary, which later became a reality when
it was dedicated on May 4, 1969.
In 1991, after 29-1/2 years of faithful service at the
Westminster Church, the Reverend Porter retired from his pastorate. Throughout
the following two years, the church came under the guidance of interim pastor
Reverend Michael McKim.
During this period, an intensive four-month Mission Study, under
the direction of the Santa Barbara Presbytery, was conducted in preparation for
the calling of a permanent minister. Upon reviewing 60 applicants and 30
dossiers and evaluating the sermons of numerous candidates, the Pastor Seeking
Committee happily presented, for the approval of the congregation, the Reverend
Dr. Timothy Fearer as the new pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church of
Hueneme. After overwhelming approval, he was ordained at Trinity
Presbyterian Church in Santa Ana, on September 19, 1993. The first Session
meeting moderated by Reverend Fearer was held on the evening of October 5,
1993. But his duties at the new church would not actually begin until
November, for he had previously been committed to serve as a delegate to the
first American-Chinese Conference on Human Sexuality, to be held in the People's
Republic of China that same month.
Upon Pastor Tim's return home to the many challenges of his new
ministry, and to an expectant congregation, a new era in the history of
Westminster Presbyterian Church of Hueneme had begun.
*Powell Greenland, the author of this history and our Church
Historian, is also the author of Port Hueneme, A History. His
book can be found in fine
bookstores throughout Ventura county and at the Chamber of Commerce in Hueneme,
the Ventura County Maritime Museum in Channel Islands and the Ventura County
Museum of History and Art in Ventura. For Powell's more detailed history of our
church, please phone the church office or send an e-mail to:
enrie@Wespres.org.
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