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St. Alban's, El Cajon
The Back Country Church
By Jarvis Nolan, Historiographer
The church began as a camping trip for the Rev. Henry B. Restarick, rector, The Rev. Sanderson H.J. Ilderton, deacon, from St. Paul’s. The two clergy arrived in Bostonia, an area just north of El Cajon, on Monday, September 17, 1889. They set up camp and then held services in the Meridian School that evening. Beginning in 1892 services were held on Tuesdays by members of the Lay Raders Guild from St. Paul’s. Restarick visited again for two days in 1894 to form a mission to be called St. John’s, named after St. John’s, Detroit, the former parish of one of the trustees. A church was built on land given by the Bostonia Vineyard Company in 1895 on Peach St. The church was free of debt and consecrated on July 1900 by the first bishop of Los Angeles the Rt. Rev. Joseph Horsfall Johnson, D.D., first bishop of Los Angeles.
In 1950 St. John’s moved two miles to Farragut Circle and became St. Alban’s, named after the first British Martyr. They brought with them the old church to which they added a parish hall all of which still stands today. They also brought with them the altar, credence table and communion rail carved by a rector in the 1920s, The Rev. William Bate, often called “Termite Bate” because of his love of wood carving. Ground was broken in 1954 for a new sanctuary. The church was designed by Charles W. Kries of Lakeside but was built by the parishioners who placed a beer can in the cornerstone. Christine Waldron remembers “while the work crew built the church, other parishioners cooked dinner for them”. Bates altar came over into the new parish and is now in the St. John’s chapel. The church went through a renovation in 1976. The artist was James Hubbell. Over the altar is a bronze and copper crucifix of the crucified Christ with the whole armor of God symbolizing Christ’s victory over death. Behind the altar is a mural, painted by Hubbell, of St. Alban and the well that sprung up on his way to his execution.
As if back in the Restarick days, the church was once again a campground. This time for the homeless in East County as a result of the El Cajon City Council not providing a shelter. Tent City began with a few people camped out in May of 2002 and grew to 120 by October. The vestry voted to donate 1% of the operating budget for camp expenses. After a battle with city council the camp remained open until January 2003 when the city opened a shelter for the homeless.
The Rev. Dr. Frank Hegedus, priest-in-charge since September, opened his sermon on the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, “WWJD, what would Jesus do” basing his sermon on Matthew’s Gospel “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Tent City is gone but the church still feeds the homeless once a month in Wells Park. HeadStart uses the education buildings and their needy families are the recipients of food baskets provided by the church at Easter. The church held a Saturday School to give second graders extra assistance before entering the Ballantyne Charter School. This fall Hegedus held the first ever blessing of the animals. There is a plaque that still hangs in the old sanctuary that best describes St. Alban’s “Here let faith and friendship swell-for by these this house was built.”