The Mountain View church of Christ...
...traces it's origins to the late 1860s, within 10 years of the time the Mormons were first sent here from Salt
Lake City on the orders of Brigham Young, erstwhile head of the Utah Mormons. According to sources we are attempting to verify,
the church in San Bernardino began just a few years after the seed was planted for a church of the Lord in Fremont. At
that time, Fremont was quite a transient community, due to the coincidence of time with the Gold Rush and the growth of San
Francisco. But, that gave the San Francisco Bay area a headstart, if only from the standpoint of people flowing into and out
of that area. On the other hand, the growing importance of Southern California, and particularly the San Bernardino area
as a significant railhead, gave it a unique position. Not only was San Bernardino strategically located at the base of one
of the most significant mountain passes (now known as Cajon Pass), but that location was undoubtedly a principle factor
in the development of the major railroad presence that has defined San Bernardino for 120 years.
A New Beginning...
Around the turn of the 20th century, the church in San Bernardino ceased to meet for some time. It is postulated
that this may have been due to the growing division in the disciples of Christ, particularly as was evident surrounding the
introduction of the Missionary Society (c. 1849-1865) and instrumental music (c. 1870-1890) controversies. This was very
unfortunate, but an apparently necessary separation of those who had formerly worked and worshipped together, resulted in
the distinctive identities of the undenominational church of Christ and the church that would eventually become the denominationally-organized
First Christian church. There were also a couple of other churches located in the immediate San Bernardino area, which
were somewhat connected to the so-called Restoration Movement of Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, including the independent
Christian church (at 18th and G) and the no-Bible class church (which met in the northwest area of Redlands). According
to California State records, we do know the San Bernardino church was organized and functional by 1888. For some reason,
the church ceased to assemble just after the turn of the (20th) century. Following a few years of having no undenominational
church of Christ in San Bernardino, a group of charter members met in October 1908 to agreed on their intentions and began
to pool their resources and abilities in order to accomplish their goal to be a simple, New Testament-based, church. They assembled
in the old Women's Club facility in Colton. It is this reorganized group which is the direct ancestor of the current
Mountain View church, as well as the "C" Street church in Colton. The archive of historical records of the Mountain View church contains the original ledger book which lists the "charter
members" of the church and contains the first financial records from October 1908, but by 1923, a number of other
Christians had moved into the San Bernardino area and a decision was made to unite in the interest of peace. Apparently,
it was decided the central location of San Bernardino made it an attractive location to establish a permanent facility
and in 1925 a new building was built on Bellevue Avenue, just south of the Santa Fe railway yard (west of Mt. Vernon Avenue).
In late 2006, local preacher Royce Bell made contact with Herman Reed--the nonegenerian, but sole surviving son
of E. M. Reed--who provided information from a typed document (with handwritten notations) produced by his father. That document
directly traced the development of the church from about 1923. Included in that record is specific information about $700
originally subscribed to build a church building. In 2009, Herman Reed was growing older and wrote Royce Bell, asking him
if he would take possession of his father's notes and insure they became a part of the church's archive. Here
is what we know from that time and into the late 1940s: In February 1925 the church was incorporated as The Church
of Christ of San Bernardino, California, Inc., and elders were appointed sometime later. Unfortunately, the names of those
elders are lost to history. The archived record of church business meetings indicates some discussion among the brethren about
whether elders were required if trustees for the corporation had been appointed. The 1930s were a time of great growth
in San Bernardino and the church also enjoyed tremendous growth. It was not very long before it became evident a much larger
and commodious facility would be soon be required. The aforementioned $700 was just the beginning of the financial commitment
which was necessary. Property was secured at 1354 North Mountain View Avenue, about 10 blocks north and 1 mile East of the
Bellevue building. Since Mountain View Avenue was a north/south artery through the city and many members of the church
lived in close proximity to the new location, the church continued to grow and by the time the new facility was opened, the
church numbered in excess of 400 members. Of that time, older members (all but a very few, now deceased) remembered Wright
Randolph (the local preacher) stumping for contributions and pledges of future support. He prepared a large paper thermometer
which was colored, rising like the temperature to reflect contributions and pledges required to get the building built. By
the time the new building was finished, the church had spent $100,000 and, given the sacrifices of the church was debt-free. The first couple to be married, utilizing the facilities of the Mountain View church, were Chuck and Carol
Childs, who were married on December 30, 1946. The current cry-room did not have a sound-insulating window over it at
the time, and Carol's friends from the Pepperdine College Choir were located high above the rear of the auditorium, providing
the music. Carol's matron of honor was her sister, Neva (twin of Gerald), attended by Eileen (Burnham) Evans,
daughter of Orville and Elsie Burnham (long time members at Mountain View, originally from Oklahoma). In 2003, Lee Wolf,
one of the elders of the church made a membership count from a period membership directory and discovered the church had 379
members in 1957. As of November 2008, Chuck and Carol Childs are still
members of the Mountain View church. For several years, Chuck served as a deacon and was considered by many to be an
ideal candidate to be ordained as an elder. When presented with that possibility, Chuck always politely and humbly declined
the honor, believing that he was not adequately qualified by the revelation of the Holy Spirit (as given in 1 Timothy 3:1ff
and Titus 1:5ff), since he did not feel himself apt to teach. By 2009,
Chuck and Carol were not in good health. He had suffered injuries in a fall, requiring surgery to repair his knee. Carol had
a couple of serious bouts with knee replacements, the first being particularly troublesome. Eventually, they moved to Lancaster
CA, to be near their youngest son. In 2010, Carol passed away after a short illness. It was a terrible blow to those who loved
the Childs for their faith and committment to the cause of the Lord.
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1968-1991
In November, 1995, the Mountain View church held a gospel meeting,
utilizing Royce Bell (of Refugio, Texas) in an evangelistic capacity. He and Jack Gilliland had known each other
for many years, going all the way back to Royce's work with the Westside church in Irving TX, from 1976-1981.
During the 1950s, Jack had served as a deacon at the old Beltline Road church, whence the Westside church began
surrounding the continued decline into institutional practices by the Beltline church.
During the 1995
meeting, brother Bell was asked by Jim Horton (one of the elders at Mountain View) to lay significant emphasis to
the cause/effect relationship that is inherent in all Biblical teaching. While brother Bell had prepared his material
in advance for the meeting, he tried to meet the expectation of brother Horton's request. It was during that
meeting that Jack Gilliland first asked brother Bell if he might consider relocation to San Bernardino in the future,
since he (Jack) was considering resigning within a year or so. In mid-1996, Jack Gilliland announced his desire
to retire from local preaching obligations and expressed his plans (with his lovely wife, Chris) to move back to
Texas. Contact was made with Royce Bell and plans were first laid for the Bells to move to San Bernardino, sometime in early
1997. In the meantime, George Harris, a highly respected brother in Christ who had labored in the Word for many
years, agreed to do fill-in preaching and the church was greatly edified by his efforts.
In early 1997, Jim Horton fell at his home, hitting his head. It was to prove to be the beginning of the end
of his ability to serve the church in the capacity for which he is so fondly remembered by many. Soon, serious memory
lapses and other evidences of encroaching dementia of the Alzheimer sort began to develop and within just a few
years, he would be rendered incapable of continuing as an elder. The loss of brother Horton to the eldership was--and
continues to be--an incalculable loss. He was a great Bible student, soft-spoken and exceedingly wise.
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