First Southern Baptist Church - San Lorenzo, CA
Posted by: 
DougK
N 37° 41.370 W 122° 07.740
10S E 576793 N 4171722
This New England Gothic-style church has been in continuous use since 1875.
Waymark Code: WME85W
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 04/16/2012
Views: 1
The church website says, "
Our Church has two histories". One story is that of the building and the second is that of the people.
This beautiful historic church building, one of the oldest in Alameda County, was begun in July 4, 1875 and was built for $6,000, using Douglas fir and redwood. The bell was added in 1880. The building was first used by the Christian Union of San Lorenzo. The building fell into decline in the 1930's and the church was reopened in 1944 as the San Lorenzo Community Church. Finally in 1949 the First Southern Baptist Church of San Lorenzo moved in.
A few years later, in 1955, the church wanted to install a baptistry and so they removed the old pump style pipe organ to make room for the new baptistry. In 1987, a 5,100 square foot, two story education facility was added to the back of the building. At about the same time, the windows were replaced with stained glass. The chapel windows tell the story of Jesus beginning with his birth and ending with his ascension. In the side rooms, there are four windows with scenes from the Old Testament.
The second story is that of Lon (Elonzo) Braziel who began the church in his home in 1942 with his family and some friends. From the beginning, the young church was looking for a permanent home. In 1949 the current building was purchased for a price of $15,000 and the church has met for services ever since.