The village of Occidental had a unique beginning. Many nearby communities began with a saloon or a railroad station. M.C. "Boss" Meeker was a logging engineer who had a vision for a town on the summit where the railroad would soon pass. Instead of seeking to attract people to Occidental by starting a general store, post office, railroad station, or any of a number of other buildings, Meeker chose to establish the town by constructing a church. Meeker donated the land on which the church sits and milled the redwood lumber. Although people lived in the surrounding hills, the community of Occidental began with the completion of the church.

The church began as a Methodist Episcopal Church, but during the 1960’s, it began to decline until it closed it’s doors in 1972. For two years it remained vacant, with the homeless coming and going, finding protection from the weather. Trudy, an antique store owner in Freestone, wanted to preserve the church building as a community hall. She entered into negotiations with the Methodist district to purchase the building and place her antique store in the back rooms. But God had other plans in mind for the historic country church.

A group of local people still desired to have a Protestant church in Occidental. Through the assistance of the American Missionary Fellowship, the dozen or so new members were able to purchase the church for $4,000.00 which was much less than Trudy would have given.

The dozen members began holding church services. In 1974 they held a Vacation Bible School. Rev. Jerry Hackett, then director of Mt. Gilead Bible Camps, preached on Sundays. The tiny church began to grow. In 1975 Rev. Linden Heath and his wife Janet had taken a sabbatical and lived in Occidental. Rev. Heath was asked to come and preach occasionally. The church board finally called him to be the pastor, paying him $35 per week. According to the minutes of the August, 1976 Board meeting, this was much more than the $20 the church usually paid a visiting pastor. The stipulation from Rev. Heath was that he would do the preaching, and the Board members would do the administration. The new church called their first pastor.

In 1982 the little country church reached out into the community by starting Pleasant Hill Christian School. Janyln Heath and Mary Jo Kinser, both seasoned teachers, began the school with just a few children. It has grown considerably so that today it has over 70 students enrolled, a part-time administrator, 3 full-time teachers, 1 part time-teacher and numerous aids and office help.

Pastor Peter Munson and wife Tracy came to Occidental in 1990 as the assistant to then Pastor Linden Heath. In 1993 Pastor Heath announced his retirement and Pastor Pete became the Interim Pastor and then in January 1994 the church called him to be the Pastor. Pastor Pete graduated from Talbot Theological Seminary with a Masters Degree and is ordained with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Youth Pastor Dave Ramalia and wife Natalie came to Occidental in 2005 to focus on the youth in Western Sonoma County. Pastor Dave graduated from Simpson University and is licensed by the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

The Occidental Community Church is a group of people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences who love the Lord. We gather weekly for worship and prayer and enjoy fellowship with one another. We study God’s Word and embrace it as our guide for daily living. Believers from all denominational backgrounds come together, diverse yet unified in our belief and love of Jesus Christ. The Community Church is a nondenominational church which seeks to share the love of Jesus with all that we can.