More beautiful pictures of the church here and here.
As Bodie’s population grew in the late 1870s, those wishing to attend religious services gathered in homes and buildings, such as the Miners’ Union Hall. The heads of the various congregations undertook fundraising activities for the building of church buildings. The Catholic and Methodist congregations were successful in constructing church buildings in 1882. The Catholic church burned down in 1928.
Completion of the Methodist Church was no doubt gratifying for Reverend Francis M. Warrington, who had led the Methodist congregation since 1880 in a town where some did not always follow the Ten Commandments. Reverend Warrington was the first to step to the pulpit of the Bodie Methodist Church upon its completion. He is most remembered by a letter he wrote to a mother who had written inquiring about the safety of her son who had recently arrived in the rowdy mining camp. Capturing the highlights of the letter here, you can read it in its entirety in the book, The Ghost Town of Bodie by Russ and Anne Johnson:
Jan 25, 1881
Mrs. Thomas D. Penfield
Dear Madam,
I proposed being more prompt with a reply, but the multiplied duties of a minister in such a field as this have caused a delay. You will know that I was not greatly surprised at your addressing me when I state that your letter is not the only one of the kind I have received from an anxious mother. Only yesterday I answered one to which my reply was not, and could not be, so welcome as this.
The party inquired for was what, in the phraseology of this coast, is termed a "hoodlum" in plain Anglo Saxon a ruffian. I have a better report of your son, not that I can give a full account of him, for I have not had opportunity to learn; but he has been present at some of my services and says he comes when he can.
His address is that of a gentleman, and I understand he gives his employers satisfaction by faithful service. At the same time I do not wonder that you tremble when you think of his surroundings, "a sea of sin," lashed by the tempests of lust and passion. Such dissipation as is indulged in here you never have read in books. No man can write it. Let me give you the table of contents for last weeks chapter in Bodie:
On Monday morning a man was lynched for shooting another in cold blood the week before. On Friday two men grappled each other, and holding fast with left hands poured shot into each other until one dropped dead and the other has been expected to breathe his last each hour since. Fill that out with what you must know accompanies it and you have one week. But for your comfort I must say that no man is in such dangers, except by his own choosing. Respectable citizens feel as safe as in our well regulated cities and I think your son is one of that number. Advise him to attend our Sunday School and preaching services. I will befriend him as I can.
Respectfully,
Rev. F.M. Warrington
His opinion of her son, Israel S. Penfield, was accurate. According to research by Nick Gariaeff, author of “Discovering Bodie,” Israel returned to his hometown of Camden, New York to take up his father’s interest in his antique furniture business. Israel lived a long life, dying at age 88.
Until the Cain family and the California State Parks were able to protect it, the interior was badly vandalized, and the Ten Commandments painted on oilcloth which once hung behind the pulpit (Thou shalt not steal) was stolen. In 1928 it still housed a perfectly-preserved church organ and wood-burning stove.
In recent years, the 2020's, the church has started to shift and lean north-west in a more obvious manner. This issue has become the number one priority for the State Parks Cultural Resources and Maintenance departments, and they have asked the Bodie Foundation to fund the entire project. Learn more about the work needed and how to donate to this project here
E. J. Clinton, head of a mining company operating in Bodie, using his own funds. restored the church and held the last formal service in 1932. In recent years, the church has been used for weddings and open for viewing on Friends of Bodie Day
Interior of the restored Methodist Church in 2012 - Photo by Carol M. Highsmith - Library of Congress
Methodist Church in Bodie State Historic Park - August 25, 1962