A View from Our Past – Our Beginnings

The Forties

 

     In our last newsletter, Joyce Mauck, a member of the 75th Anniversary Celebration Committee gave us an interesting review of the formation of our church from it’s beginning up through the 1930’s.

     Her very interesting story brought us from our formation on March 11, 1929 through the building of the main church building, (the sanctuary) in 1935.  Which found the Sunday School classes still meeting in the old residence which had been moved to a location directly south of the sanctuary on St. James Ave.; and remodeled to suit the needs.

     This is intended to give us an overview of the “Forties”.

     The minutes reveal that Dr. Downey submitted his resignation from the church on July 14, 1939 and shortly thereafter, Dr. Sam T. Habel was called from a pastorate in N.C. and served until October 31, 1948 when he left for a pastorate in Chapel Hill, N.C.

     During these World War II years, the church grew and prospered with the minutes revealing that on December 1941, the church became “debt free”.  By April of 1943 we supported a budget of $8334.83.  It showed the long standing support of “Missions” by increasing the percent of the budget going to the Cooperative Program from 10% to the 15% which became a tradition for West End.

     The large Sunday School enrollment created the need for an Educational Building with a first committee appointed to study this need on April 27, 1944.

     This ambitious project finally moved beyond the planning stage with the appointment of a special committee to contact Mr. A. Dupree Breeden, local Architect, who designed the sanctuary, for plans for the Educational Building on January 14, 1948.

     The decade of the forties ended with bids for the new Educational Building expected in September of 1950; Rev. Thomas W. Fryer was called as Minister June 1, 1949.

 

                                            Jack W. Webb, Sr., 75th Anniversary Committee