East County Times Column for Jan. 22

Members of various churches over the years that have been located in the Live Oak Community Christian Church have been looking for the bell that once fit in the bell tower of the church. Many years ago, no one remembers quite when, the bell needed to be taken out of the old building because of structural issues. It was stored somewhere, but no one quite remembered where.
About 10 years ago I received a call from someone who definitely knew where the bell was, but when the members of the church who owned the building at the time checked, they were told that the bell belonged to a church once in Antioch. Not knowing the history of the area, the members of the church didn’t realize that actually at one time the building was located in Antioch. The church members continued looking, but didn’t find out anything further before selling the building.
Now the building belongs to the Live Oak Community Christian Church. Members of this church were delighted when a few months ago a local area resident, who collected bells, Mr. Iconis, was leaving the area and called the Pastor to tell him he had a few bells that the church might be interested in. Iconis wanted to find a home for the bells where they could get some use.
That was good news for the church, according to Pastor Larry Pineda, as the members of the church had been looking for one to fit in their bell tower. “I don’t know if any of these are the exact bells,” Pineda said. “One of them does say Live Oak on it, but it was the larger one, not the one that fit in the tower.”
Pineda said that he wasn’t too worried about whether it was the exact bell only that it fit. A member of the church, who is also a contractor, Lee Harrington, offered his services to put up the bell. First though, the structural damage in the tower needed to be renovated. Harrington has been taking care of that. The church hopes to have the bell up in a couple of weeks.
As for the other bells, Pineda said he was more than happy to accept the donation of all three bells. One of the bells was added to the sign outside the gates of the church. It was the smallest of the three. The third is being displayed outside the Sunday school room.
The Live Oak Church hasn’t always been a church or even in Oakley. Several times throughout the area history the boundaries between Antioch and Oakley have changed and that stretch of highway was in Antioch. In 1885, the property was about a mile and a half outside of Oakley. It belonged to the Ruckstuhl family and then was turned over to the local residents for a school. The school was named Live Oak School because Live Oak trees surrounded it. When the school opened it housed 25 students and one teacher.
In 1903 a new building was put up at the cost of $4,000. It is still the outside building we see today. Inside has changed considerable.
Pineda said he is looking forward to hearing the bell ring before services each Sunday morning. Currently Sunday services are at 10 a.m. There is also a 10 a.m. Sunday school service.