History

            UPDATE ON 125th Anniversary: 4/20/10

We at the Little Brown Church Council have been discussing a 125th celebration/fund raiser in downtown Sunol.  Some of the proposed/possible activities would be a chili cook-off, bed races, live music, silent auctions, local talent show, and a pet parade.  To successfully pull off such a venue, we would need quite a bit of volunteer help.  This help would be in such things as:
Helping with set up and cleanup
Serving food and drinks
Organizing the silent auction
Organizing the chili cook-off
Advertising
Organizing the bed races
Coordinating with local groups and businesses (Save our Sunol, 4-H, Sunol Business Guild, Bosco, local wineries, Pleasanton/Niles Businesses, etc.)
Coordinate with local police, etc for permits
Coordinating talent show or pet parade
Serving as overall chair of the event
If you are interested in helping in any (or all) of these areas, please get back to me or any other member of the LBC council.  We need to make a decision on going forward with this ambitious event so please get back to us by the general membership meeting on 5/23.

Mike Brown

Although the liturgical church year officially starts on the first Sunday of Advent every year late in November, in the American church it realistically follows the end of the school summer vacation, coinciding with the Labor Day holiday weekend. Little Brown Church is no exception, with three themed events planned for September 13, the first Sunday after Labor Day.

As part of the morning worship service, we are kicking off our year- long 125^th anniversary celebration. Throughout the year, there will be lots of special events marking the occasion of the founding of the Little Brown Church – then known as the Congregational Church of Sunol – in October of 1885. As a part of the festivities, we are having a coming together reunion of any and all connected with the church. Whether you have been traveling this summer or spent some of those dog days of summer with family or it has been a while since you paused for a moment in your busy life to seek the sacred, come join the community in worship. Come, renew old acquaintances, have a cup of coffee with friends, pause for a moment to thank God.

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“Little Brown Church in the Vale” aka “The Church in the Wildwood” by Dr. William S. Pitts, 1857

Dr. William S. Pitts (1830-1918) was born in Orleans County , New York . As a young man, he taught school in rural Rock County , Wisconsin . He later became a doctor, and practiced in Fredericksburg , Iowa , for over 40 years. He is buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Fredericksburg .

Here is his story about the origin of the song:

One bright afternoon of a day in June 1857, I first set foot in old Bradford , Iowa , coming by stage from McGregor. My home was in Wisconsin . The spot where the " Little Brown Church" now stands was a setting of rare beauty. There was no church there but the spot was there waiting for it. When back in my home I wrote the song "The Little Brown Church in the Vale." I put the manuscript away. In the spring of 1862 I returned to Iowa and settled at Fredericksburg ...

In the years of 1859 and 1860 the good people of Bradford were determined to build a church...By the early winter of 1864 the building was ready for dedication. While I was holding the singing school, near its close in the spring, the class went one evening to the church. It was not then seated, but rude seats were improvised. My manuscript of the song I had brought with me from Wisconsin . It never been sung before by anyone but myself. I sang it there. Soon afterwards I took the manuscript to Chicago , where it was published by H. M. Higgins. It won a speedy recognition locally and with the years won its way into the hearts of the people of the world.

Above article from: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/i/littlebc.htm

"On October 4, 1885 the church was "up and partly enclosed and the floorboards laid loosely" when the first worship Services was held at what was then called the Congregational Church of Sunol" ....

With the help of the American Home Mission Society of the Congregational Church, the church was built to serve the several families who used the town of Sunol as their summer resort. In 1890, the church's Ladies Aid society (also known as the "glenside Helpers") was organized. In 1903 they helped furnish the church with gas lighting The church parsonage, which now serves as our office, Sunday school, and bride's room, was added in 1907-the same year that the Congregational Church in Mission San Jose donated their "old" pews to the church. In 1916 attendance dropped sharply and the church fell into what was called "the dark ages." The church appeared in several silent feature films during this period.

With renewed interest in 1949, the little church grew from four to more than 30 members, and was again poised to serve the community. In 1954 the church was painted brown and renamed "The Little Brown Church of Sunol" after the popular song of the time, "The Little Brown Church in the Vale."

Major renovation of the Sanctuary interior was completed in 1998, and the exterior of the church was renovated/repainted in April 2000.

Victoria Christian

LBC HISTORICAL FACTS

The church filed its Articles of Incorporation on June 1885 as the “Congregational Church of Sunol Glen”.
Thomas F. Bachelder deeded the land the church sits to The Congregational Church of Sunol Glen on July 8, 1885 for $1.00
In 1954, movies was shown in the social hall every Friday night.

A fundraiser was held to purchase the church bell in 1893

A handful of women built the stone wall that surrounds the church in the 1954
The Women’s Fellowship was formerly known as the Glenside Helpers
Information Provided by Victoria Christian