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The Church
in War
Then came Pearl Harbor Day and we were plunged into war! Although only
one of our boys, Leland G. Cagwin, was there on that fateful December 7,
1941, it was not long until many of our young men were off to defend their
country. On October 4, 1942, World-wide Communion Sunday, Rev. John N.
White held a special service honoring our Methodist men and women in the
service. On a table within the altar rail and on a large easel standing
on the table were several dozen photographs of them.
As time went on, it was inevitable that some of them would make the
Supreme Sacrifice, the first to go being Frank V. Hooper, who was lost
in the North Atlantic on June 13, 1943. Others to give their lives were
Robert J. Packer, July 11, 1943, in Sicily; David Elias, killed at Florence,
Italy, October 10, 1944; Arnold Wolfram, died in hospital in Paris, France,
November 29, 1944 and buried in France; Rexford C. Collins, February 4,
1945, in France; Dwight Neal, May 31, 1945, on Okinawa; and Donald Ball,
killed in Germany January 16, 1945, and buried in Luxembourg, in whose
memory the lighted cross back of the choir was given by his family and
dedicated April 8, 1945. All these boys grew up in this Church and Sunday
School, and Donald had been president not only of the local Methodist Youth
Fellowship, but also the District. At the end of the war a bronze plaque
was placed in the Sanctuary by the Church, listing all who had served their
country.
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The Silent
Communion
On Thursday evening, February 20, 1947, under the guidance of Rev. Leon
W. Bouton, a very unusual and impressive Candlelight Communion service
was held in the Sunday School Assembly room in absolute silence. Upon entering
the church, everyone was given a typewritten sheet of instructions and
meditations and the request that no word be spoken until people had left
the church again. Leaving our wraps in the Sanctuary, we proceeded to tables
in the other room, went through the ceremony and returned silently for
our wraps. Anyone who was there has never forgotten that evening! People
still talk about it as one of the most beautiful meetings they ever attended.
On May 25, 1947, Recruiting Officer and Mrs. Ira Moon presented their
son, William Robinson Moon, for baptism, to perpetuate the name of his
late great grandfather, William R. Moon, on his 80th birthday, and of his
great great grandfather, Tylman C. Robinson, who built the church in 1892
and again in 1902. Mr. Moon was an active member of this church for 50
years and president of the Board of Trustees at his death.
On November 11, 1949, the Trustees passed a resolution to amend the
charter of April 18, 1844 to correspond with the present Discipline of
the unified church, (1) in the matter of electing trustees; (2) in changing
the name from The Methodist Episcopal Church of Carbondale to The First
Methodist Church of Carbondale; (3) in correcting the name of the county
from Luzerne to Lackawanna.
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The Liberian
Bishop Visits
In February, 1950, we had the privilege of a sermon by Bishop Willis
J. King, of Liberia, Africa. A noted scholar and educator, he is Administrator
of Methodist work in that country. In Scranton, he had a rather embarrassing
experience when a barber refused to cut his hair as he was a Negro, but
an immediate investigation brought forth an apology from the barber! He
said he had never had a Negro in his shop all the 40 years he had been
barbering, and did not know how to cut Bishop King's curly hair!
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The
Wyoming Conference Centenial
The year 1952 being the Centennial of the organization of the Wyoming
Conference, on May 21st the first day's morning and afternoon sessions
were held in the Carbondale Church with impressive services, this being
the first time since 1908. It had been hoped to hold the 50th Anniversary
in this church but the fire of 1901 precluded that, so Waverly very generously
took over in our place. The opening session of 1952 was at 9:30 A. M. with
Bishop Fred Pierce Corson presiding at Holy Communion; and Rev. Roger B.
Glazier, pastor, presiding at the Memorial Service which followed. An item
of historic significance in connection with this 101st session of the Wyoming
Conference was that the bell which rang in the service was the same bell,
in part, which rang in the first session in 1852. Although the original
bell was partially destroyed in the fire of 1901, enough was salvaged to
make another bell, with the addition of some new metal.
The main part of the afternoon session was an address, "He holds
the stars in His hands," by Dr. Leroy Bugbee of Wyoming Seminary.
As Carbondale was too small to cope with the entire Conference period,
the remaining sessions were held in Elm Park Church in Scranton. At 8 o'clock
that evening a marvelous centennial pageant was presented in the Masonic
Temple in Scranton, with some of our local people participating.
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The
Local Commissions
In 1952 the General Conference passed legislation setting up 4 Commissions
in each local church, covering the 4 major concerns of the Church Universal,
Evangelism, Education, Missions and Finance. This newly created organization
resulted in a division of responsibility among laymen, and a new and more
vital interest in the spiritual life and ministry of the Church. The chairmen
are elected by the Quarterly Conference and the following are giving effective
and devoted leadership to the Commissions:
Harry 0. Shankweiler, Membership & Evangelism, succeeding Henry
Tonkin, lay leader, who served 1954-56. The pastor, Rev. Charles C. Chayer
was the first chairman, 1953-54. Robert Vandenberg, Education, succeeding
Carl Camin, 1953-54. Mrs. Gerald Alexander, Missions, 1955---. William
Geesey, Stewardship & Finance, succeeding Harry Stephens who gave many
years of faithful service to the church as chairman of the Finance Committee
and later of the newly organized Finance Commission, 1953-56. Mr. Stephens
is also secretary of the Board of Trustees.
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