Fairmont's History

    In 1905 seventeen Seventh-day Adventists met for worship services in the home of one of the Lodi believers. This marked the beginning of the Adventist work in Lodi. The following year a church building was constructed on East Lodi Avenue near Garfield Street.

     The membership quickly increased. The growth may be attributed in part to the fact that a number of German-speaking believers moved into the community. For some time English services were conducted in the morning and German services in the afternoon. In 1908 the English-speaking believers built a church on Central Avenue and the church on Lodi Avenue became the Lodi-German Seventh-day Adventist Church. During the early years, the church had no regular pastor. The elders provided leadership and visiting ministers assisted.

     In 1922 a new and larger building was erected on the corner of Hilborn and Garfield Streets. By 1936 this edifice also became inadequate and was enlarged to nearly twice its original size, and a pipe organ was installed.
Although all the services were originally conducted in German, it was inevitable that the English language would eventually be utilized. This began in the children's Sabbath School divisions and some adult classes. Occasionally the worship hour would also be in English. After 1942 the Sabbath School and worship services were conducted in English and the church became known as the Hilborn Seventh-day Adventist Church.
    As the membership continued to increase, the problem of accommodating a growing congregation became acute by 1955. Since enlarging the facilities at the Hilborn Street location seemed impractical, the congregation decided to relocate. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held at the current Fairmont Avenue site on February 22, 1959. Construction began soon after this. By Sabbath, May 14, 1960, the baptistry had been installed and the first baptism conducted in the new building. The first services were held in the new sanctuary on October 8, 1960. A 3-manual, twenty three rank Moller pipe organ was installed in the sanctuary. Total cost for the structure was $626,660.85.
    The Fairmont Church was dedicated to the Lord, debt free, on Sabbath, May 23, 1964.
    A major remodeling was completed in 1993 at nearly the same cost as the new building.
    The history of Fairmont continues to be written as each day this congregation dedicates itself to being a light in this community.

Pastors 

Carl Becker 1946-49	E. H. Oswald 1949-52	L. A. Baughman 1952-54	J. J. Dollinger 1954-59	E. W. Koenig 1959-69

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Merlin Foll 1969-75	Elwood Staff 1976-78	Monte Jones 1979-80	Jerry Sorenson 1980-85	Doug Clark 1985-86
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Anthonie Wessels 1986-91	Ron Carlson 1992-2000	Gordon Mattison 2000-2001	Ralph S. Watts, III 2001-2006	Bill & Laura McVay 2007-