Community Bible Church History
To know and make known the glory of God
June 8, 2025
A group of Folsom families was attending a local church when the pastor announced one Sunday that Christ was not coming again. The choir director Doug Hillis knew that to be false so when it was time to sing the last hymn, he announced to the congregation they were going to sing, Coming Again.
Concerned for Biblical truth, in 1952 seven men began meeting at 6:00 in the morning to pray for wisdom and direction. Doug and Dave Hillis, Bruce Babbitt and Stan Hall were included in that group. From that Morning Prayer group, the men and their families moved to meeting in homes. As the group grew in size, they relocated to the Bank of America building on Sutter Street which is no longer there and then to the Miller Funeral Home until they purchased the property at 601 Natoma Street.
John Dunlap, the Folsom Prison Chaplain, was aware of the families gathering together without a pastor. When Pastor Howard Townsend was passing through Folsom, John told him about the group of people who were meeting in homes and asked him to contact the group. He did and according to Doug Hillis, they loved him immediately. They decided to call him as the first pastor of Community Bible Church.
On April 4, 1956, the church began with twenty-five people. Doug Hillis said in an interview, “I was really excited when the church started because for the first time, I was exposed to expository preaching. Pastor Townsend went through a book of the Bible verse by verse to bring out the truth. We were so hungry for the accuracy of scripture. Because of that our numbers grew, but we didn’t have our own church building, so the Sunday School classes had to meet in cars in the parking lot.”
The men continued to meet and pray and did much research as to which organization they would become a part and to whom they would have accountability. They decided on the Evangelical Free Church. Under the leader ship of Pastor Townsend, in 1961 a Quonset hut was purchased from Mather Air Force Base. Moving it from the base to the property was a big problem, but they loaded the building onto wheels and moved it from Mather Air Force Base to the current church location. It was set on stilts while the men of the church dug the hole on which it was to stand by using wheel barrows and shovels. Then the block foundation was laid. Once the building was secured, which is now the social hall of the upper building, the whole church community worked to prepare the exterior and interior of the building. The ladies stripped wall paper, painted and taped while the men did the heavy construction. The family center auditorium was added later along with the kitchen. During that time the people developed a really close friendship and continued to enjoy the expository preaching of Pastor Townsend. The congregation grew quite rapidly after the addition of the building and soon outgrew the auditorium.
After six years of service Pastor Townsend left and Pastor Meryl Aaker became the pastor for the next six years. Under his leadership the church continued to grow. He was there about six years and then Don Bowman was called to serve as pastor. Gary Hunter served as associate pastor. By that time the attendance was at 120 people, which was more than the current building could accommodate. Under Don Bowman’s leadership the current worship center was constructed. He served the church from 1967 to 1985. During that time two sister churches were planted, one in Shingle Springs named Discovery Hills under the leadership of Gary Hunter and another in Roseville called Creekside.
In 1998 Bill Kellogg became the pastor and served until 2010. He was instrumental in restoration and encouragement. The main sanctuary was expanded under his leadership.
Today Clark Crebar is the senior pastor of Community Bible Church which has about 400 people involved. He teaches the Bible very clearly and consistently with an emphasis on prayer. From 1969 to 2025, sixty-nine years the little church on the corner has faithfully taught God’s Word and discipled many people to live for Christ.
To know and make known the glory of God continues to be the motto of the church.
June 8, 2025
A group of Folsom families was attending a local church when the pastor announced one Sunday that Christ was not coming again. The choir director Doug Hillis knew that to be false so when it was time to sing the last hymn, he announced to the congregation they were going to sing, Coming Again.
Concerned for Biblical truth, in 1952 seven men began meeting at 6:00 in the morning to pray for wisdom and direction. Doug and Dave Hillis, Bruce Babbitt and Stan Hall were included in that group. From that Morning Prayer group, the men and their families moved to meeting in homes. As the group grew in size, they relocated to the Bank of America building on Sutter Street which is no longer there and then to the Miller Funeral Home until they purchased the property at 601 Natoma Street.
John Dunlap, the Folsom Prison Chaplain, was aware of the families gathering together without a pastor. When Pastor Howard Townsend was passing through Folsom, John told him about the group of people who were meeting in homes and asked him to contact the group. He did and according to Doug Hillis, they loved him immediately. They decided to call him as the first pastor of Community Bible Church.
On April 4, 1956, the church began with twenty-five people. Doug Hillis said in an interview, “I was really excited when the church started because for the first time, I was exposed to expository preaching. Pastor Townsend went through a book of the Bible verse by verse to bring out the truth. We were so hungry for the accuracy of scripture. Because of that our numbers grew, but we didn’t have our own church building, so the Sunday School classes had to meet in cars in the parking lot.”
The men continued to meet and pray and did much research as to which organization they would become a part and to whom they would have accountability. They decided on the Evangelical Free Church. Under the leader ship of Pastor Townsend, in 1961 a Quonset hut was purchased from Mather Air Force Base. Moving it from the base to the property was a big problem, but they loaded the building onto wheels and moved it from Mather Air Force Base to the current church location. It was set on stilts while the men of the church dug the hole on which it was to stand by using wheel barrows and shovels. Then the block foundation was laid. Once the building was secured, which is now the social hall of the upper building, the whole church community worked to prepare the exterior and interior of the building. The ladies stripped wall paper, painted and taped while the men did the heavy construction. The family center auditorium was added later along with the kitchen. During that time the people developed a really close friendship and continued to enjoy the expository preaching of Pastor Townsend. The congregation grew quite rapidly after the addition of the building and soon outgrew the auditorium.
After six years of service Pastor Townsend left and Pastor Meryl Aaker became the pastor for the next six years. Under his leadership the church continued to grow. He was there about six years and then Don Bowman was called to serve as pastor. Gary Hunter served as associate pastor. By that time the attendance was at 120 people, which was more than the current building could accommodate. Under Don Bowman’s leadership the current worship center was constructed. He served the church from 1967 to 1985. During that time two sister churches were planted, one in Shingle Springs named Discovery Hills under the leadership of Gary Hunter and another in Roseville called Creekside.
In 1998 Bill Kellogg became the pastor and served until 2010. He was instrumental in restoration and encouragement. The main sanctuary was expanded under his leadership.
Today Clark Crebar is the senior pastor of Community Bible Church which has about 400 people involved. He teaches the Bible very clearly and consistently with an emphasis on prayer. From 1969 to 2025, sixty-nine years the little church on the corner has faithfully taught God’s Word and discipled many people to live for Christ.
To know and make known the glory of God continues to be the motto of the church.