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Over 130 Years of Episcopal Worship and Ministry in Siskiyou County In the 1880s, the small ranching and lumber-based communities of southern Siskiyou County were still in many ways the“wild west,” tucked as they were into mountains where access, especially in winter, was difficult and amenities were few.The first small Episcopal congregations in Sisson (later renamed Mt. Shasta), Mott, Dunsmuir and McCloud were served by circuit-riding priests from St. Mark’s, Yreka.

 

It is no longer possible to determine precisely when Episcopal services were first held in Dunsmuir, although 1887 seems a reasonable estimate (the town was officially founded in 1886). Episcopalians in this rapidly expanding railroad hub chose St. Barnabas as their patron. For a time they held their services on Monday evenings at the local Methodist Church. Then they began meeting in a handsome wooden church which had been built in1890 by area Presbyterians. In 1897, after two years of fund-raising, the Episcopal congregation was able to purchasethe building, and they continued to worship there until it was destroyed by fire in 1924.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That same year, the people of St. Barnabas set about building a sturdy little stone church on Dunsmuir’s main street. The “rock church,” as it came to be known, because it was constructed of Black Butte rock, was dedicated on Palm Sunday, 1925. The first services in the new church had the nature of community events, and twenty-member choir that sang at them was the first vested choir ever seen in Dunsmuir. Two or three years later, changes at the Southern Pacific Railroad led to the loss of a significant number of jobs in Dunsmuir. The onset of the Depression only made the economic situation in the town worse. There was some improvement in civic fortunes during World War II (for a time during that conflict the church basement served as a USO center for soldiers stationed in Dunsmuir to guard railway tunnels and bridges against anticipated sabotage), but after the war a switch from steam to diesel engines, the relocation of the railroad’s division headquarters from Dunsmuir to Roseville, and the eventual closing of the local shop and yards resulted in still further cuts in local employment. As the town declined, so did membership and financial support at St. Barnabas.

 

 

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The construction of the I-5 interstate highway (completed in 1960) dealt yet another blow to the local economy, with ninety some homes being lost to make way for the freeway. By the mid-1960s, St. Barnabas’s congregation had shrunk to six families.

The church was without a pastor for three relatively extended periods between 1961 and 1974. At the same time, the “rock church,” for all its beauty, was by then nearly fifty years old and in need of serious and costly repairs which the congregation could not afford. Accordingly, in 1969 the decision was reluctantly made to dispose of the building. That same year it was exchanged for a small former retail structure at the corner of Dunsmuir and Wells Avenues on the north end of town owned by the local Baptist congregation. It would be the Episcopalians’ home for nearly twenty years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1983, the congregation set the goal for itself of building a new church. The continuing decline of Dunsmuir, coupled with the growth of Mt. Shasta as the regional center between Redding and Yreka, led to the decision to relocate St. Barnabas eight miles north in Mt. Shasta. Under the leadership of vicar Howard M. Park, ten acres just outside the city limits were purchased in 1984 and fully paid for in 1985. In 1987, building began and the church was dedicated on All Saints’ Day of that year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fact that the congregation had a new and beautiful home did not mean its challenges were over. In 1990, the diocese determined that St. Barnabas needed to make greater efforts toward paying down the loans taken out to build the new church, and at the same time significantly reduced the diocesan subsidy for operating expenses, with the result that the congregation found itself unable to continue supporting the cost of a vicar. Father Park retired and the Rev. William A. “Will” McClain, a local rancher who was also a retired Episcopal priest, agreed to celebrate and preach at St. Barnabas without pay.

When Father McClain returned to ranching in 1997, a clerical couple, the Revs. Richard L. Green and Kathleen Patton, had been serving as co-rectors of St. Mark’s, Yreka, for two years. Father Green accepted the bishop’s assignment to St. Barnabas as part-time vicar, and his three-year tenure was a time of healing and modest growth. In 2000, however, the Green-Pattons moved on and St. Barnabas found itself again without a priest.It did, however, have a resident deacon, the Rev. Jacqueline “Jackie” Charles, who had been raised up out of the congregation and ordained a deacon by Bishop Lamb in 1994 (Charles died in 2003).

During the two years when St.Barnabas was again without a resident priest, sacramental ministry was provided by the Rev. Arthur “Art” Lillicropp, who traveled from Redding twice a month – often with his dog Barnabas – to celebrate the Eucharist. A corner was definitely turned with the arrival of the Rev. Julie Honig-Smith in 2002. Although “Mother Julie,” as she initially resisted being called, could only be offered a half-time position, she proved an indefatigable spiritual leader, drawing in new members, restoring much-needed organization to every aspect of congregational life, and encouraging a strong cadre of lay leaders.

When she left the mission in the late summer of 2005, the size of the average Sunday congregation had grown significantly and a new spirit of enthusiasm, confidence and mission was clearly in evidence. Calling upon its well-developed lay leadership for interim guidance, the congregation was blessed by the appointment of the Rev. George “Ted” Ridgway as non-stipendiary Priest-in-Charge in 2008. A retired priest living some fifty miles to the south in Shasta Lake, Father Ted served St. Barnabas faithfully until his retirement in 2010, when the congregation named him Pastor Emeritus.

In the meantime, Lawrence “Larry” Holben, a longtime active layman who had joined the congregation in 2004, was encouraged by numerous members to seek ordination as the congregation’s priest. Holben was accepted as a postulant in 2007, read for Holy Orders through a program developed and overseen by the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, was ordained to the transitional diaconate in June, 2010, and was priested and installed as Priest-in-Charge of St. Barnabas on December 11th of that same year.

For twelve and a half years Fr. Larry faithfully served at St. Barnabas. By avocation a religious scholar and historian, he strived to bring the full range of Anglican tradition, practice and liturgy into worship. During his tenure he encouraged lay leadership and vocations in the church. Especially before his retirement just after Easter 2023, he created a team of lay preachers, worship leaders, and liturgists to carry the church forward.

In 2017, the Dibelka family came to St. Barnabas. Mark Dibelka was born and raised in Siskiyou County and he became very active in the church. In January 2024 after years of study and discernment he was ordained to the transitional diaconate and is now serving as Clergy at St. Barnabas, as he continues his path towards the priesthood.

Kamille Dibelka, who is an elementary school teacher, has served as Sunday School teacher and lay preacher for years and is on track to becoming a Vocational Deacon.

For over one hundred and thirty years, Episcopalians have been worshiping and serving God and their communities in south Siskiyou County. As the last remaining Episcopal church in the county, St. Barnabas looks forward to continuing that tradition in new and creative ways in the years to come.