In 1956 a small group of people felt the need for a liberal, family-oriented neighborhood church and Pilgrim Church was born. They received help from the Conference of the now the United Church of Christ. The first worship services were held in January, 1957 at the Native Daughters Hall on California Street with the Reverend Ray Welles as their first permanent minister. A formal service of recognition was held October 6, 1957 and a constitution was adopted with a charter roll of seventy members.

Later the congregation moved to the Eagles Hall on Yuba Street and finally to the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Eureka Way where they worshiped for three years. In January, 1959, the eighty-four member congregation engaged Frank Lloyd Wright to design our present church. After discussion and revision preliminary drawings were commissioned. The death of Mr. Wright caused delays, and financing was not obtained until the spring of 1960. Robert S. Bryant was the general contractor and he arrived at the site in late July.

The ground breaking ceremony was held on June 24, 1960 and the congregation did all the excavation and site preparation. By the spring of 1961 the basic stone work was completed. In August construction funds were exhausted and the cost exceeded the estimates by so great a margin that all construction stopped. For nine months the building sat on a hill with no hope of further activity. Many were deeply discouraged.  In the spring of 1962 an appeal was made to the Northeast California Conference of the United Church of Christ requesting emergency funds. The conference advanced the funds and in November construction began again. Tony Puttnam represented the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to insure conformation to the original plans. Through the efforts of the congregation, who expended great effort, the work progressed.

The Church was dedicated on March 10, 1963 with the presentation of a modern choral work composed by Duane Hampton for the occasion. Dr. Richard Norbert, the conference Minister, made the dedicatory address.  When the Reverend Ray Welles left in January, 1965, the congregation had 251 members. In July, 1965, we called the Rev. George Lindsay as pastor.  The Church was used five days a week as a children's center and pre-school. An active Social Concerns Board kept the congregation involved in human concerns.

Pilgrim Church was deeply concerned about civil rights, the plight of farm laborers, numerous problems in the local are, and war - whether it was in Vietnam or Latin America. A sub-parish plan with a deacon as shepherd provided a caring-sharing channel for the fellowship. Over the years the Board of Worship has mingled new forms of celebration with the traditional. On September 1, 1975, the Reverend George Lindsay left leaving a membership of three hundred eight. The Reverend Paul Babbitt served as Interim Pastor until February 1976 when the Reverend John M. Larsen was called as the new minister.

John Larsen had some "radical" ideas about Christian education. Under the tutelage of John and his wife Kathleen, the Community developed. As the Learning Community formalized, a need was felt for more conventional lessons for the older children, and classes are held downstairs for them.  The office was moved from the tower over the kitchen to the present location. The basements, once referred to as the catacombs, had a choir room as well as two classrooms. The kitchen was remodeled and the Great Hall made energy efficient.

In 1989 the Reverend John Larsen retired. The Reverend Don Poisson and the Reverend Ann Lougee served as Interim Pastors until the Reverend Lee Neuhaus took over the task September, 1990. Worshiping with four widely differing personalities in the pulpit during a little over a year's time proved to be a stimulating experience. During those interim years we purchased a computer and the church's records are retained on disks. Lee faced a monumental task when he took the helm of our church with its aging membership. He injected a new vitality. Our membership increased to three hundred forty. A morning and evening Bible Study add new dimensions to our faith, and Pilgrim Fellowship were revived as well as the children's choir.

The building is in use every day of the week. Pilgrim Church was home to Congregation Beth Israel, who used the building several times each week. Such groups as Shasta County Foster Parents, Lilliputt Children's Services, T.O.P.S., Overeaters Anonymous and other groups have used the facilities on a regular basis, as well as various single-use groups, here for a few hours, a weekend, or a short series of meetings. The most joyous of these occasions are weddings and the annual Madrigal Dinners given by the Shasta High School Choir during December. Significant to our faith are those who use our Great Hall for memorial services. Our choir is an integral part of the worship service, and the organ and the Bell Choir have enriched our spiritual nourishment.

Wright referred to the design of our church as "Pole and Boulder".  He designed the church in the form of the ancient tent of Israel, a temporary, migratory home for pilgrims seeking new visions of themselves and their relationship to their faith.

God is available to each of us, alive, fresh, exciting, God of the present as well as Creator of our heritage.  God is. Love is. This is Pilgrim Church, our Church, your Church.