The Willow Glen Resident

The WG Baptist Church celebrates its centennial

By Michelle Ku

Few things in life make it to age 100, but in Willow Glen, one church will be commemorating its centennial Oct. 9-11.

"In my lifetime, this is a major historic event. It's not often you can be a part of a fellowship, a congregation of believers of people, and be able to also witness and be a part of this major milestone in a church," said Bob Meleen, a lifetime member of Willow Glen Baptist Church.

Celebration Activities: A listing of events planned for the centennial celebration.

Willow Glen Baptist Church (WGBC), located at 1292 Minnesota Ave. at Hicks Avenue, has survived an earthquake, relocation and several name changes over the last century to become what it is today, a thriving church with a membership of 221 and a congregation of 320.

Through the years, WGBC has been a special place for its members, but the church holds an extra-special meaning for Meleen, 57, who attended WGBC while in his mother's womb. Meleen officially joined the church in 1951.

Meleen and his wife, Fay, met in 1960 at a social function held jointly by WGBC and Bay Horizons Community Church in Santa Clara. Two years later, the couple was married.

A fixture in the San Jose area since the first service was held there on Oct. 9, 1898, the church has a long and colorful history.

Willow Glen Baptist Church was formed to serve the Swedish community. The church was originally called the First Swedish Baptist Church of San Jose and it began with 14 members, nine of whom were women.

The 1906 earthquake damaged the church building, and in 1912, the church moved into a new building on the same site and changed its name to the Swedish Baptist Temple.

Services continued to be held in Swedish and English until 1940, when the decision was made to hold all services in English. To commemorate the change in the church's philosophy, the name was changed to Bethany Baptist Church. "They realized that [a Swedish church] was narrow, that God didn't call them just to reach Swedish people," said Richard Murphy, senior pastor at WGBC. "There are a lot of ethnic churches, and if they stay around long enough, what they tend to do is broaden."

The church did not become known as the Willow Glen Baptist Church until Oct. 17, 1948, when it relocated to the corner of Minnesota and Hicks avenues. When the church arrived in Willow Glen, it had a membership of 64.

Since moving to Willow Glen, WGBC has worked at becoming a member of the community. While only about 30 percent of the church membership is from the Willow Glen area, the church tries to reach out to the neighborhood. "One of the challenges I give to the people in my congregation is that we need to impact the people of Willow Glen more. We believe God placed us here for some reason. In our mind, that's to reach the people of Willow Glen," Murphy says.

Since 1991, WGBC has held an annual harvest carnival on Halloween tailored for children age 10 and younger. The turnout for the event is usually about 600 or 700, Murphy said.

Each week, the church hosts a junior high school and senior high school groups in addition to Sunday School. During the summers, the church holds vacation Bible schools, and a group of high school and junior high school students are taken to Hume Lake Christian Camps.

While WGBC has 100 years of history in the area, the impact of the church reaches further through its three "daughter" churches in the area. In 1955, 15 people became charter members of what is now the Bay Horizons Community Church of Santa Clara. The East Valley Baptist Church was formed in 1962 with aid from WGBC. The youngest daughter church of WGBC is Cornerstone Community Church, formed in 1992 as an outreach to the Almaden area of San Jose.

"Some of the members of the church felt a need to start a church in another area. We provide the initial funds, members and support. Those are daughter churches," Murphy said.

While WGBC has drifted away from its Swedish roots, it has maintained two traditions from its Scandinavian roots. The church continues to hold a julotta service and a smorgasbord every year.

On Christmas morning, the members of WGBC come together at 6:30 a.m. for the julotta service. "It's a celebration of the birth of Christ with a Swedish twist to it. Apparently, it's some kind of Scandinavian or Swedish custom to meet early on Christmas morning to sing songs and have a fellowship. I've never heard of this done elsewhere," said Murphy, who began his ministry at WGBC in 1994.

The smorgasbord is a dinner event held in early November to celebrate women of faith. Women are served Swedish food by the men, and the men clean up afterwards. "It's a focus on Christian women and their importance and significance in the family. It's just a celebration of the role of women in our community and faith," Murphy said.

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