I've often been interested in the spiritual history of places, especially places I live. for many years I have been fascinated with the california missions, because they represent the spiritual history of my state. a few years ago, I found this book at a local bookstore:
this book tells a story of a church made for miners and their families in the new almaden area, which is near my house and near the church I work at. the church was built in 1875, and to my knowledge is the first protestant church facility in south san jose.
I was immediately excited about the idea of visiting this church and creating some kind of connection with the first ministers in my neighborhood. the church I work at is kind of big and influential, but this church was the first one to reach this neighborhood- its like the ministers who served there are like my vocational ancestors- the trailblazers. in this book, it details who the ministers that served here were, who they ministered to, who they baptized, attendance reports, everything. this was a very active church that reached hundreds of miners and their families.
I got a copy of this book for myself and my then-boss and suggested that we go and find the church and stand in its pulpit and thank God for those pioneers. he thought it would be a fun idea, but we never did.
I heard from some friends that htey had visited the church. for a long time I thought that I should go up there to make my own pilgrimage to this high and holy place. a few weeks ago I went hiking up in the new almaden area to go and find it. I hiked for hours and over miles and miles and found nothing. I later discovered this video on youtube only to discover that the building is long gone:
there is a photo in the book mentioned above taken in 1919 of the church after it has been abandoned and run down. in the 30's a group of conservation corps workers went in and dismantled all of the buildings from the mining town, including the old church. I would never find it.
I went back a week later to continue my quest. and it really began to feel like a quest. something in me really wanted to make a connection to that old ministry and to those old ministers. each time I hiked up to this spot, it was miles up steep terrain. but I concluded that if I couldn't find the building, I would at least find the site. I tried to line up the horizon with this picture that I found of the old church:
I went to a site that seemed to fit what I was looking for: right horizon and angle with a flat spot big enough for a church. I even found an old foundation. but when I got home I found another photo that confirmed that I was in the wrong spot again.
this picture shows the church in relation to the map house. I know where the map house is, and if I just went to the map house, then up that hill and to the right, I would find the spot it was on, and I'm pretty sure that I found it today.
the hill that the church used to sit on is huge and is covered in old oak trees and weeds. but I found a flat spot that seemed to fit the spot I was looking for. I found some old foundation blocks and some pipe that makes me think that this was the site of that old church.
on this spot, guys like me tused the bible to tell people about jesus. they listened to people and loved them and prayed for them. they taught them how to live for God. guys just like me moved to this spot, to this neighborhood in response to a call and they gave their lives for that call. it was an honor for me to pay homage to them at the site where they ministered.
who knows? maybe someday someone will come looking for the spot where I worked. maybe someday my place of work will be a historical site too!
God is love.
-rev-rob
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