Our History
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Our first services were in a tent down near Market Street, in July of 1871. Central Church then soon moved to a storefront on Market Street, and shortly moved again to a church building on Laguna Street. In 1927 we finally moved to this present 1892 building, originally a Methodist-Episcopal Church. So welcome, today, to a grand old church with a great tradition! How many people, over the years, have come here to worship God on His Sabbath day? It feels good to be part of that number. The word “church” in the New Testament, is ekklesia, (with the second e pronounced like a long a, and the accent on the i, pronounced like a long e). It means, “called out.” The church is composed of people “called out” of the world by God, to worship Him. And for thousands of Sabbaths, groups like this one have answered God's call to come out of the world to worship Him, at Central Adventist in San Francisco.
The Civil War years were hard on the group. Some members became Due to the cost of pitching their tent in the city, they first concentrated their efforts in Sonoma County. Over the next two years, half a dozen congregations were established, with Petaluma becoming the first organized Seventh-day Adventist church in California.
On March 15, 1927, a motion was passed by the Laguna Street church to purchase the current building at the corner of California and Broderick Streets, then a Methodist-Episcopal church. They brought with them the old pulpit, a hand-carved walnut lectern, used by Loughborough, Ellen White, D.M. Canright, and other pioneers of the Adventist message. For many years it served honorably in the foyer holding the guest book for our visitors, and was placed back in service as our pulpit in the main sanctuary by Pastor John Duge in 1999. The present building was built in 1892 by ship builders who labored in the "off season," and although it withstood the 1906 earthquake, the lesser quake of 1957 topped part of the tower. Joseph Bates' Ship Found in San Francisco
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In 1859, Merritt G. Kellogg (photo at right), a carpenter by trade and brother of the cereal king, crossed the West with a small wagon train to reach the bustling city of San Francisco. He was a member of the Sabbath-keeping Adventists, who would organize themselves in the Seventh-day Adventist Church four years later. Kellogg gathered a little group of 13 in his living room for weekly services, a company which would eventually become San Francisco Central Church
discouraged or moved away. Undaunted, Kellogg raised $133 in gold to send back to the newly formed General Conference in Battle Creek to provide for the expense of a minister. None could be found to take the "call" until J.N. Loughborough (photo at left) and D.T. Bourdeau responded in 1867. Although Bourdeau would leave within a year, Loughborough was destined to work in California for nearly 50 years; and might be considered, along with Kellogg, a founder of Central Church.
When James and Ellen White first visited the church in San Francisco in the winter of 1872, they were so impressed with the needs of the small group that they sold their house in Battle Creek, advancing $6,000 to assist in building a church at 914 Laguna Street.