NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: Emmanuel Parish, Grass Valley, to celebrate 150th anniversary of historic church

July 16, 2008 [Episcopal News Service] For 150 years, Emmanuel Episcopal Church has ministered to the community of Grass Valley in the Diocese of Northern California. On August 3, the congregation will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opening of its church building, the oldest Episcopal church in continuous use in the state.

Emmanuel celebrated its sesquicentennial year in 2005 under the leadership of Fr. James Sigler, who served as rector from 1991 to 2006, the longest tenure in the parish’s history. The congregation is now concluding a successful search for its 38th rector.

Emmanuel Church was founded in 1855 through the efforts of the missionary bishop William Ingram Kip, who had visited the area in 1854, and sent the Rev. W.H. Hill to Grass Valley to be the church’s first rector.

In its 150-year history, Emmanuel has flourished in times of growth and survived in times of fire, the Gold Rush of 1849, two world wars, and the decline of the mining and timber industries in Nevada County. Its rich and colorful history includes Fr. Henry Smeathman, who became rector in 1858, left the ministry in 1862, and was killed by Native Americans in Nevada in 1865. Emmanuel’s Victorian rectory was constructed in 1902, and a parish hall was built in 1939 and named after the popular and beloved Fr. Frank Buck, who served as rector from 1944 to 1951. The Shrove Tuesday waffle sale, a legendary event in the area, was first held in 1916.

Emmanuel is currently involved in several community outreach programs for the homeless and others in need, and works with the Grass Valley United Methodist Church in the “Make Us One with Christ” fellowship study. Parish youth are planning a trip to the Batwa mission in Uganda in 2009 and the parish is looking forward to welcoming a new rector this autumn.

Historical information was adapted by the Rev. Phil Reinheimer, interim rector of Emmanuel Church, from Crosses in a Gold Field, A 150-Year History of Emmanuel Episcopal Church and Grass Valley, by Gage McKinney, Comstock Bonanza Press (2005).

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