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Overview

This congregation formed in 1868 as the 1st Presbyterian Church of Davisville. This first church served the congregation until 1875, when a second building was erected. This second house of worship burned in 1924, requiring the group to reconsider its future. By the mid-1920s, it adopted an ecumenical theology, and rechristened itself as the "Davis Community Church," an interdenominational church aimed at uniting Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists. It sought out the architectural firm of Allison and Allison of Los Angeles to design its new building. At this time, Allison and Allison was gaining a statewide reputation for its educational buildings, and this design related to buildings erected on the UCLA Campus at about the same time.

Building History

This design by Allison and Allison was set to cost about $60,000 in 10/1925. (See Southwest Builder and Contractor, 10/02/1925, p. 55, col. 2.) This was up from an estimated $50,000 in 02/1925. (See Southwest Builder and Contractor, 02/27/1925, p. 56, col. 2.)

At the cornerstone placement ceremony, clergy from Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Congregational, and Presbyterian denominations attended. A formal connection with the Methodist and Congregationalist faiths stopped in 1955.

Alteration

A fire damaged the sanctuary in 1937. At this time, a new stained-glass window, based on the Pre-Raphaelite painter, William Holman Hunt's "The Light of the World" was added to the choir loft.

The congregation built a Fellowship Hall to the north of the sanctuary in 1949.

A church office was added to the complex in 1960, and a Christian Education wing erected in 1962.

A new Fellowship Hall and the church's Phoenix Hall were being built in 1993, when an arsonist burned the partially completed buildings. They were rebuilt at a cost of $1.8 million. (See Davis Community Church, "Church History Timeline," accessed 04/03/2018.)