A building is a building, said the Rev. Karl Hauser, pastor of Manteca Presbyterian Church in Manteca. It’s the people who “make the church,” he said by way of prefacing his comments about one of the Family City’s visually prominent places of worship, particularly in the downtown district, and stating his order of priorities first.
The story of this church building, though, is not just about the Presbyterian congregation that worships there today, and the religious organization that is now the owner of this prime real estate property on the southwest corner of North Main and East North streets. The structure with the brick façade, pointy roof – the north section – and the matching brick bells-and-cross tower that played a carillon-type of music which announced the changing of the hours, has been home to a number of church denominations. With its prime central location and theater-style seating complete with a balcony section and a raised platform in the worship area or sanctuary, the church also has been the venue for numerous community events such as concerts, community-wide worship services during Good Friday and other religious events, symphonies and Easter cantatas.
With its prominent bell tower, it’s hard to miss this focal worship place downtown.
Hauser, who was called to shepherd the small Presbyterian congregation in Manteca a little more than two years ago, describes his church’s architecture as “a blend of styles, from mid-century to late mid-century modern.”
The building complex that is there today was the result of expansions done through the decades during the latter half of the 20th century.
The A-frame section of the building with the pointy roof mentioned above, which was the first to be built before the subsequent expansions were done, was probably constructed in the 1950s, Hauser guessed, with some of the additional classrooms completed in the 1960s, and the second story and main sanctuary completed in the 1970s.
“The typical angled cornices, the geometric stained glass and colors that stylized the mid-century era are still quite apparent,” he said. “Since it was built in stages over the course of a few decades, the overall floor plan meanders a little, but overall offers ample space for worship, fellowship, classes, and meetings. While it may appear a little rundown in parts, our growing congregation is constantly finding ways to repair and improve the facility.
Upgrades they have done recently include a new roof, energy-efficient HVAC units, new windows and interior lighting. Outside of the building, they have added a new sign. Additional outside improvement with plans already under way is the repair of the broken facia facing North Main Street which, Hauser sadly admitted, has been “an eyesore for many years now.”
The classrooms that are located on the second story of the building have not been fully utilized “due to the congregation’s smaller size – we do not need 15 Sunday school classrooms with our 70+-member organization – but our recent growing child attendance has put more of these rooms back into use,” Houser stated.
“They are mostly simple square rooms with old-fashioned chalkboards – which are not coming back into popularity!” he noted happily.
When he first saw the building, his first thought was that it had full potential.
“It was an older building so there are certain cosmetic aspects that are expected such as the worn exterior and faded carpet. The structure itself is good, and because of this location, our leadership is looking at ways that our facility can be used more to help the surrounding community,” added Hauser.
It was actually considered, at one time, by proponents of the performing arts in Manteca to be an existing property that the city could purchase and turn into such a venue. It was one of several that were considered with that purpose in mind.
Before Hauser accepted this new pastoral assignment in Manteca, the Presbyterian shared its building with another church group which held its worship services there. Prior to that, the church was owned by the Assembly of God but sold the property when it badly needed to expand and later purchased acreage on Button Avenue just north of East Highway 120. Under the pastoral leadership of the late Pastor Richard Brown, the building that is now home to the Place of Refuge was built along with the other classrooms. Assembly of God’s ambitious plan was to develop not just a place of worship but also a centralized location for Bible studies and evangelization training, as well as a K-12 school. It eventually opened the Manteca Christian School, but the campus was later closed due to dwindling enrollment save for the preschool program.
Today, the property owned by Place of Refuge includes the original worship building, with the classroom facilities leased to Great Valley Academy, a charter school that is a satellite campus for the original school established in Modesto.
