Sundays at 10 AM · In person & on Zoom

4324 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117 Get directions
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10 AM

4324 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

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A crowd gathers beneath the church’s tall A-frame marker for the sanctuary ground breaking in July 1964

Our story · 1953 – 1965

It started in a living room.

In December 1953, a handful of neighbors on the brand-new Clairemont mesa started meeting in a duplex. Here’s how they built a church — in their own photographs.

  1. An empty, sandy lot on the Clairemont mesa in 1953

    1953

    The site of the permanent Northminster Presbyterian Church — open mesa, before Clairemont filled in around it.

  2. A small 1950s duplex home on a quiet Clairemont street

    December 1953

    The organizing church met in a Clairemont duplex.

  3. Rev. Howard Congdon standing at the door of a home in a dark suit

    1953

    Founding pastor Rev. Howard Congdon organized Northminster.

  4. Black-and-white photo of the founding congregation gathered with shovels at the ground breaking

    April 25, 1954

    Ground breaking for Northminster’s permanent home.

  5. The first church building with its tall A-frame marker against a blue sky

    1954 – 1964

    The first permanent church buildings.

  6. Worshipers seated in rows inside Fellowship Hall

    1954 – 1964

    For ten years, Sunday worship happened in Fellowship Hall.

  7. Olive Thompson greeting men in suits at the church door in 1962

    October 1962

    Olive Thompson, greeter.

  8. Church members chatting in the doorway after a Sunday service in 1962

    1962

    Social hour after Sunday services. Some things never change.

  9. Dr. Congdon and Mike Graham seated at a desk in the church office

    1962

    Dr. Congdon and Mike Graham, Building Fund leader.

  10. A crowd gathers beneath the A-frame for the sanctuary ground breaking in 1964

    July 12, 1964

    Ground breaking for the new sanctuary.

  11. The cleared construction site for the sanctuary foundation

    October 1964

    Preparing the sanctuary foundation.

  12. A “Northminster United Presbyterian Church” construction sign in front of the wooden sanctuary frame

    Fall 1964 – March 1965

    The sanctuary rises.

  13. The steep, tent-like wooden frame of the sanctuary under construction

    Fall 1964 – March 1965

    Timber by timber, the distinctive tented roof takes shape.

  14. The finished mid-century sanctuary with its dark pyramidal roof

    March 1965

    Outside construction completed.

  15. Scaffolding inside the sanctuary with blue and red stained glass glowing above

    Spring 1965

    Stained glass and scaffolding: finishing the sanctuary interior.

  16. Workers making final preparations inside the new sanctuary

    April 3, 1965

    The Saturday before the first services in the new sanctuary.

  17. Candlelit dedication service in the new sanctuary, 1965

    April 4, 1965

    Dedication service in the new sanctuary. We’ve been worshiping here ever since.

Still here

Same sanctuary. Same idea.

More than sixty years later, we still worship under that tented roof, still linger over coffee after the service, and still believe a church should be a good neighbor to Clairemont. There’s a seat for you in the next chapter.

Sundays at 10 AM

New to Northminster? We’d love to meet you.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. Come as a guest, sit wherever you like, and let us bring you a cup of coffee.

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4324 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego

Today’s congregation seated in the same 1965 sanctuary beneath its stained glass