Community Presbyterian Church – 2026

When the 19^th century rolled into the 20^th, Redlands had been incorporated for barely 12 years. The city had long attracted wealthy Easterners, but as the city and its environs grew, an expanding labor force developed to work the citrus groves and other enterprises that formed the foundation of Redlands’ economy. Among these workers were five families from Mexico – the Zamarripas, Herreras, Romeros, Trevinos and Enriquezes – who were united by their religious identity as Presbyterians, a Protestant denomination that had made inroads into Catholic Mexico.

These families – later joined by the Valdez, Garcia and Ayala families – were committed to creating a Spanish-speaking Presbyterian church in their (very Catholic) community north of the Santa Fe railroad tracks. They met together in homes and then in a small chapel (La Capillita) they built on land donated by Gavino Trevino, located on the northeast corner of Webster Street and Union Avenue. A little over a decade after their arrival in Redlands, on March 18, 1913, the new congregation of 34 charter members – 22 of whom were from the eight core families — was established by the Presbytery of Riverside and christened with the first of its many names, Iglesia Presbiteriana Mexicana de Redlands (Mexican Presbyterian Church of Redlands).

The congregation grew dynamically, and a small sanctuary was built on the corner of the property nearest the intersection, showing up on the Sanborn map of 1915. By the mid-1930s, the congregation had outgrown that initial building, and a new, larger sanctuary was envisioned. Working in cooperation with First Presbyterian Church downtown for planning and fundraising, the project commenced in early January, 1936.

Charles C. Reasoner, a local contractor and elder at First Presbyterian Church, was tapped to build the new structure. His business was located at 940 Washington Street. Local work by him noted in various issues of The Daily Facts includes renovating businesses on W. State Street just off Orange Street, redoing the Behlow home on W. Highland Avenue near Alvarado Street for use as a chiropractic sanitarium and building new quarters at the YMCA camp above Seven Oaks.

The new sanctuary, still in use, was constructed as wood frame with a stucco exterior for $4,000. It features a gable roof and a short, crenelated tower over an offset entrance. The tower reflects Scottish Baronial influence (Presbyterian heritage) as well as evokes neo-Aztec and neo-Mayan architecture, a style popular at that time (Mexican heritage). The boxy shape of the structure is softened by eyebrow arches over windows to the west and a “flared skirt” effect near ground level.

It was built on the site of the old sanctuary, which was moved to the back of the property, rotated 90 degrees and tied into the new building with folding doors. The older building was repurposed to serve as a fellowship hall, with Sunday School rooms and a pastor’s study added. The structure was expanded on the east side with rooms under telescoping gables.

Over the course of its history, the church has had five names, each one chosen to reflect its ministry at the time. The original name, noted earlier, succinctly described the congregation – it was Presbyterian, its heritage was Mexican and its language was Spanish.

By 1946, 33 years after the church’s founding, the community around the church was changing, becoming home to Spanish-speakers from various Latin American countries. The church decided to remove the narrow, ethnic designation of “Mexican” from its name and so became El Divino Salvador Iglesia Presbiteriana (Divine Savior Presbyterian Church). The name remained in Spanish, demonstrating the language of church life and worship.

Further transitions in the community by the late 1950s drove another name change. The number of strictly Spanish speakers had declined in both the church and the neighborhood, replaced by bi-lingual and English-only speakers. In response, after much debate and suffering the loss of some members, the church translated its name into English – Divine Savior United Presbyterian Church (“United” in the name appears because of a denominational name change). In addition, two worship services a month were held in English.

These transformations failed to stem a steady decline in the church’s viability. The denomination and the Presbytery, each of which had been providing mission funds to support the church, acted after several years of study and deliberation to dissolve  Divine Savior as a congregational entity and replace it in 1969 with a new church development, to be known as IMPACT Presbyterian Church (“IMPACT” being an acronym for In Mission Pursuit And Community Thrust). 

The new church, with some former Divine Savior members and utilizing the former church’s facilities, embarked on a new model for ministry designed to focus extensively on the needs of the community. The sanctuary was stripped of its pews and organ and became a workplace to coordinate and host programs and activities. Worship services and offices were moved offsite. The make-up of the congregation changed as well – faculty and families from the University of Redlands were increasingly attracted by IMPACT’s unconventional ministry.

It was a bold dream that eventually proved to be fatally underfunded and understaffed. Despite the hard work and dedication of staff and church members over 25 years, when it came time in the mid-1990s to call the next pastor, the church decided that IMPACT no longer reflected the church’s identity, and the church was renamed Community Presbyterian Church.

Steady pastoral leadership and a vibrant congregational spirit carried the church into the 21^st century. But today, Community Presbyterian Church is admittedly struggling. Its ageing membership is declining, and few members still reside in the neighborhood. Yet the glue that holds this congregation together is the same force that brought the first families together 113 years ago – the profound pull of community and shared experience. There are signs of a renewed sense of life and hope. The church hosts two tenant congregations – a Taiwanese Presbyterian Church and a Spanish-speaking Seventh Day Adventist group. It has been the nature of this church to prevail against long odds, and there is no reason to believe it cannot do so again.

The Redlands Area Historical Society acknowledges the invaluable work of church members W. Willis Cadwallader and Donna Cadwallader in compiling a comprehensive history of the congregation’s first 100 years. Their unpublished volume is available in the Heritage Room at A.K. Smiley Library.

Research by Ron Duvall

Presented on June 9, 2026.