The Pilgrim congregation was supposed to purchase not more than twenty acres of land on which to build churches and parsonages. Almost immediately, the new group came into conflict with the Methodists, and the Congregationalists had difficulty obtaining subscriptions to build a new church in Sierraville. The Methodists accused the new society of “pilfering” the Methodist Sabbath School in 1887. Apparently the problem was resolved as construction on the Sierraville church began in June, 1888, and was completed by November of that year. The more wealthy members of the new society came to the Church’s aid and money flowed into the coffers. By 1890, Rev. Philbrook had acquired enough money to not only pay off the building debt but to also buy a new organ.

The Congregational church of the late nineteenth century was notably more conservative and less evangelical than was the American Methodist. There is a strong possibility that Methodist enthusiasm offended some of the more temperate or moderate Protestants and was one of the reasons the Sierraville Congregational Church was formed. This being the case, members of the new Church must have been surprised when Rev. Philbrook began holding revival meetings of his own in 1889.

In relative terms, the Congregationalist Church was the most successful of the three denominations in Sierra County regarding their expansion of official membership. In 1884, there were not only no members, there was no church as such. But by 1890, there were two Congregational organizations, one church building, one hall and fifty-six official members. By that year there were only sixteen fewer Congregationalists than Methodists, and the Methodist Churches had been established institutions in Sierra County for thirty years.

Apathy was organized religions’s primary enemy. The Leader put its finger on the problem the Churches were up against. In May, 1890, the Sierraville newspaper explained:

“The Congregational minister of this place says there is no hell and the Methodist minister says there is. There is very little interest taken in the belief of either, by the majority of the people.”

The Methodist churches were probably the most active in fighting against apathetic attitudes and confronting organized religion in Sierra County. They were not much more effective than the other denominations in combating disinterest, but organized Methodism involved itself in the life of the community.

The administrative organization of the Methodist Church in Sierra County was rather complicated, primarily due to geography. The county contained two Methodist circuits-the Downieville circuit, which included Forest, Sierra City and Goodyear’s Bar, and the one in the east covering Loyalton and Sierraville. The eastern circuit was in the Northern District, Nevada Conference; the western circuit in the Sacramento District, California Conference.

The State Conferences were the most important governing bodies of the Methodist church. They appointed the ministers to the different circuits. Each district was governed by a presiding elder, the district being somewhat similar to a Catholic diocese, the elder analogous to a Catholic Bishop. The ministers were appointed annually to their circuits and, until 1888, could remain in one place only three years. In that year the California Conference changed this rule so as to allow for a five year pastorate.

Local administration was also complicated, and was organized around both hierarchal and democratic practices. The presiding elder traveled through each circuit in his district at least once a year. While there, he presided over the “quarterly” conference of the circuit. These local conferences apparently met annually and were the business meeting, local rule-making body, administrative assembly, and electoral body of the membership. At the meetings, chaired by the elder, the important business of the congregation was transacted. Questions about repairs on churches or the building of a parsonage were discussed. The officers of the Methodist Church for each locality that had a congregation were elected to one year terms. Every congregation had its own elected officers. They included trustees of church property, a steward, treasurer, class leader, organist, secretary, chorister, and Sabbath school superintendent.

The local congregation did not have control over who was to be their pastor. As already noted, he was appointed by the state conference. But the people had the means to keep a pastor in line and to see that he administered to their spiritual wants. In 1890, when Sierra County suffered a hard winter, and Sierra City was isolated for a long period by heavy snows, the Methodists in the town complained so long and loud about the absence of the minister, that Rev. C.H. Darling had to place a public apology in the newspapers.

Stay tuned, next week's edition will conclude Copren's 1971 account of religious activities in Sierra County during the late 19th century.