A View from Our Past – Our Beginnings

The FIFties

  

    What a good time I’ve had,  reading the minutes from the “Fifties”,  bringing back wonderful memories of very special people sharing their time and talents with West End.

    A contract was awarded to Key Construction Co. of Ivor, VA to build the Educational Building at a cost of $144,000.00 on November 8, 1950.  After the regular worship service on November 19th the congregation gathered at the back of the Church for the groundbreaking of the building,  which was completed and dedicated January 13,1952,  with two of our former pastors,  Dr. R.P. Downey and Dr. Sam Habel taking part in the program.

    On June 7, 1952 Rev. Thomas W Fryer tendered his resignation to go to Moffett Memorial Church in Danville,  VA.  Dr. Julian Pentecost was called and came as our pastor on April 1,1953 from the Baptist Church in Wallburg, NC.

    The Sunday School records were kept with great detail and presented at the monthly conference meetings.  They included:  Sunday School enrollment, average attendance, average on time, average Bibles brought, average prepared lessons, average offering, visits, telephone calls and cards sent and how many attended preaching.  Don’t you just love it!!

    On January 27, 1957 Dr. Pentecost submitted his resignation to go to First Baptist Church in Waynesboro, VA.  Fortunate for me, as I was in school there at that time.

    A call was extended to C. Bailey Jones of the Baptist Church in Sandston, VA to become our pastor, effective September 1, 1957.

    A parsonage committee was appointed in July, 1959 to study the possibility of building a new parsonage on property purchased by the Church in 1956 on Pennsylvania  Ave. in the Lakeside area.

    

                                                              Lynnette Holmes Park, 75th Anniversary Committee