Part 31 A Decade of Celebrations Amid International Conflict

The war years were over, or so everyone thought, but the year 1950 ushered in a conflict in the Far East, this time in Korea. Thousands of American servicemen saw overseas time protecting the independence of South Korea, a country that had evolved shortly after the close of World War II. It had been in the hands of Japan during the war years and even before that the country had been known as Chosun China. At the end of the war Korea had been divided in half at the 38th Parallel. Influenced by the Communists of both China and the USSR, the North Korean army crossed the line and invaded South Korean territory. Through the newly formed United Nations the United States and several other member nations dedicated themselves to throwing back the invaders and supporting the notion of freedom in South Korea. It was not an easy task to get the Security Council to agree to this endeavor since even one veto from the “Big Five” members of this council would cancel the possibilities of entering the conflict. The vote to enter was taken on a day when the representatives of the USSR were peeved at the actions of the United States and others and therefore were not present when the vote was taken. Three years after entering the conflict the war was over. American leadership had changed at home and since the North Koreans had been driven back across the 38th parallel and were losing additional land they sued for peace and a long-term overseeing commission was left to iron out the details. Prisoners of war were released yet thousands of lives had been lost in the conflict.

Perhaps there are many people who would read this paragraph on the Korean Conflict and wonder why it should be included in this document regarding the history of Peoples United Methodist Church. There are several reasons among which was the fact that some of the membership of this church and certainly relatives of its members saw military service directly in Korea or at the least served in support capacities for the war effort. Equally there were members of the church that outwardly advocated against such action so far from home and with the belief that involvement was not what the Lord would wish us to be engaged in. The other major item that struck the writer of this chapter was that the Methodist Church had been building religious and political force in Korea since 1930, but its growing membership was emphatically effected by the invasion from the North. Some leaders of the Korean church were rounded up and never heard from again. In some similar instances in the past the persecution of a religious group, Christians in the past and most recently to this time Jews, steeled themselves with the support of the Lord Jesus Christ and survived what could have been another Holocaust. One can only see the magnitude of influence that the Methodist Church had on Koreans in the days, years and decades after the war was over. The Korean United Methodist Church, overcame the persecution of the invasion years and grew strong in the work of the Lord. As an arm of Methodism, today, it has a spiritually powerful influence in Korea. Additionally we know of the strength of Methodism among Koreans who have made their homes in the United States, in the New England Conference and even locally as found at the Rainbow United Methodist Church in Portland. At this writing the beloved Superintendent of the Tri-state district is Paul Chang, a gentle man whose influence has been felt on the local level, district level and conference level.


That conflict may have come to an end and yet conflict continued to grow with the USSR and its influence over Eastern Europe and the Far East. The Dulles Doctrine proclaimed in the mid-1950’s said that the United States would continue to defend countries in the Far East, just as the Truman Doctrine had left United States influence on Southeast Europe in the late ‘40’s. Missionaries of the Methodist church and others serving in the mission fields found themselves often in difficult conditions. In many instances missionaries were pulled out of their locations and sent elsewhere because their national affiliations feared for their lives. In several instances that was proved to be true and some missionaries lost their lives because their goodness and belief in the Lord were a threat to opposing political philosophies.

The period of the 1950’s saw the influence of the Methodist church in every corner of the globe expanding to meet ever mounting social and spiritual needs of a multitude of suffering souls. It was a period of time when the missionaries were always in the prayers of local parishioners and local Missionary societies or other church organizations were very active in supporting missionaries in the field whether in Africa, Asia or South America. One does not usually think of the need for mission work in Europe and North America, but Methodist mission representation developed on those two continents as well
While the Methodist Church had started an overseas relief program in 1940, the great impetus of need in the 1950’s strengthened this program and in 1968 this program became known as UMCOR or United Methodist Committee on Overseas Relief. Likewise another international organization that has periodically been supported by initiatives from Peoples is the Heifer Project which had begun in 1944 with a shipment of cattle to Puerto Rico. Peoples involvement began in the late 1950’s and has continued periodically since then.

From 1957 to 1963, the pastor of Peoples was William Chamberlain. It was probably during his ministry that Peoples became close for the first time to the Heifer Project. The students in the Sunday School came to church one Sunday and found a Heifer calf in a pen on the front lawn of the church. The reality of what would be sent to help develop herds in other countries was visibly observed in the presence of that calf. Later in Reverend Chamberlain’s career he actually worked on a crew that delivered calves to a site in Latin America. Since that time other shipments that Peoples have raised funds for have included more calves, chickens, goats, and pigs. Usually the Sunday school has been the sponsor, but this project has also been supported by both the Men’s and Women’s organizations.

Part 30 Memorial Dedications

A little more than a year after the new sanctuary was opened for services the church celebrated with a special service to dedicate the stained glass windows that grace the sanctuary as well as other significant appointments in the chancel. The date was March 20, 1949. Place yourself in the pew that you may have greatest remembrance of or in the choir loft and picture yourself in that setting at 11 AM on the aforementioned date. You were probably seated by one of four ushers; John Robinson, Donald Barnes, Raymond Greenlaw or Bradford Seabury. You have heard the nearly 20 member junior choir sing, “Thine Forever” by Tillotson under the direction of the Pastor’s wife, Kit Smith and Mrs. Granville Nickerson. You also witnessed the sixteen or so member Senior Choir march in from the back of the sanctuary and follow the junior choir with their anthem, “Sanctus” under the direction of Mrs. Albert D. Tilton. A second senior anthem was sung titled, No Shadows Yonder” by Gaul. You had become settled in your pew to the strains of the pipe organ played by Dr. Malcolm Cass during the Organ Meditation and Prelude. On this occasion you heard Franck’s “Chorale in A Minor” followed by “Benedictus” created by Reger. After singing hymns and a responsive reading, the pastor took the scripture for the day from Psalm 91. Reverend Smith’s sermon followed and was titled, “The Foundation.”
As part of the regular Sunday morning worship service the Lay Leader, Mr. Henry Nelson, said, “In the name of the donors of these Memorials, I present them to the Church as memorials to be dedicated to the glory of God.” In response the President of the Trustees, Walter W. Winchenbach said: “ For the people of this church, we accept thee gifts as sacred trusts, and shall guard them reverently, in honor of the faithful and devoted lives to whose memory they are given.” Pastor Travis Smith followed with: In the faith of our Lord, Jesus Christ, I dedicate these memorials to the glory of God, and in the memory of the servants whose names we have read; in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” The dedication was followed by a dedicatory prayer offered by Reverend Smith. “Almighty God, without whom no words or works of ours have meaning, but who dost accept the gifts of our hands as tokens of our devotion, may these memorials which we now dedicate to thee be enduring witnesses before all thy people of thy faithful servants. And may our lives be joined with thy faithful ones in a deeper consecration to thy kingdom.”

The stained glass windows depict The Life of Christ and were designed by William R. Jack. The windows on the side walls of the sanctuary are The Nativity, The Boy Jesus In the Temple, The Good Samaritan, The Sower, Jesus Preaching in the Boat, The Good Shepherd, Gethsemene and The Last Supper. On the back wall of the Sanctuary are the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. They were not dedicated at this time since they had not yet been ordered. The Founders Window above the main entrance to the church was rededicated, but the Tree of Life that seems to be a natural border for the Founders was not placed in that location until much later as well.

In addition to the dedication to the windows the Pulpit, Lectern, Altar, Baptismal Font, The Bible, The Cornice, Right and Left Hymn Boards, Offering Plates, Organ Console and the Narthex Lantern were all dedicated on this date. While it has not been indicated to whom these elements were dedicated, that information will be available at a future date when an appropriate book, in the works, is published. New hymnals joined the dedicatory celebration as well.

Information found in this edition of Roots has been taken from the bulletin for the described date. It is also interesting to note what else was going on in the life of the church and times. There was a regular weekly Sunday night church service and that on this date the pastor would give a second sermon titled, “The World Mission of the Church”. Henry Nelson and Walter Winchenbach would serve as ushers on that occasion.

A Father and Son Scout Booster night was scheduled in the vestry for the next day, Monday, March 21. The program was to consist of movies and a magician as well as supper. All of this could be enjoyed for a grand total of $1.00 for both the father and the son! On the next night the Mary and Martha Circle was sponsoring a Fashion Show that featured women’s clothing from Porteous, Mitchell and Braun. Tickets were available from any member of this group.

In the very same week, on Friday night, the Wesleyan Guild was sponsoring a Conora Fried Clam Supper in the vestry. The price per person was $1.50. It was a good thing to plan such an event on the Friday night as opposed to Saturday so that the cooking fats and smoke would dissipate by the time church was to be held on Sunday.

Scheduled for the fourth Wednesday in Lent the Reverend Lester L. Boobar, Superintendent of the Portland District of the Maine Conference was scheduled to speak at the Peoples Methodist Church sponsored Lenten Service. His topic was “ The Family Needs Christ”. The sponsor of this even was the Methodist Men. The average attendance for these services was 80 and remember this service was not a cluster service, but this church alone.
Included in this bulletin was a note to remember to contribute to the “Denial Offering” for the Needy.

Some ideas that come from the past need to be left there, but the value of historical documentation is that perhaps some of those old ideas may have found their time in the life of the church again. It is also possible that what was in the past can never fully be reimplemented under the format of its time but may be brought back via some other means.

Part 29 The New Church rises, but not without controversy

The beautiful new sanctuary of Peoples Methodist Church saw its first service held there on December 21, 1947. The Lord’s Supper was served at 8:00AM and the first formal worship service was held at 10:45 AM on the same day. At 7:30 PM a Christmas Candlelight Service closed this eventful day.

The formal opening of the church and sanctuary took place at 11:00 AM on the morning of January 4, 1948, three and a half years after the groundbreaking had taken place. Bishop Lewis O. Hartman was the main speaker. In his remarks he stated that the building of this church was the greatest undertaking on the Boston area during this quadrennium. District Superintendent Lester Boobar led the worship and Pastor Smith formally opened the church.

Seating in the sanctuary was made more formal through a financial gift that Meredith and Leland Trefethen had made that allowed new pews to be installed. In keeping with the motif of the pews the lectern was dedicated to Reverend Felix Powell, the Pulpit dedication was to Reverend Walter H. Cass and the Altar was dedicated to Reverend Charles A. Brooks. Each of these items were had the cross and circle etched in gold on the face of each, excepting the altar which was embossed with the Greek symbol for Christ.

While the whole church was now ready for service and services there still seemed to be some pain existent between the church trustees and the architect who had been chosen years before to design and oversee the construction of the church. One of the bones of contention seemed to be in the manner and materials that the ceilings in both the sanctuary and the chancel were completed with. In an effort to save some money in construction and finish costs the architect, John Howard Stevens, offered a suggestion to use a Craftex paint over plasterboard on the ceiling of the sanctuary as opposed to the original call for lathe and plaster. In a response in 1946 from the trustees it was indicated that that would be okay although it was a reluctant agreement. Mr. Stevens had also indicated that the Galli Company would not cover any of the “tie-ins” near the upper side walls to give the look more of a gothic connection to the exposed beams. Mr. Stevens had also suggested that the Chancel would be finished in a plain white paint, not Craftex which again was agreed to by the trustees. Upon completion of both areas there appeared to be agreement on the Sanctuary ceiling in that it appears that all concerned thought it looked good. Mr. Stevens felt that the seams between plasterboard sheets, in a study that he did one evening with the lights on made the seems to obvious. His recommendation would be to add “fake rafters” divisions in the chancel ceiling at two-foot vertical intervals that he thought would blend better with the beams in the sanctuary. Trustees thought at this time that it would add too much to the cost and voted against it at this time. Mr. Stevens did suggest that when the parishioners were ready to add the organ pipe grillwork that they could do the raftering at that time. As one can witness today, the chancel ceiling is still plain and the rafters were never added in that area.
Another issue that seemed to raise some controversy was that members of the trustees wanted to have some of the memorial windows from the old church placed in the sidewall on the Broadway side of the sanctuary. Already it was known that the windows that would grace Peoples Church would in time be ordered and installed. If the old windows were to be included according to the architect it would throw the symetry off since the old memorial windows would not be the same size and it would mean that the window areas would have to be cut differently. There was a great deal of controversy over whether to include them or not. The decision that was finally made was to have at least one of the new windows dedicated to the family honored by the original memorial windows. What happened to the old windows after that date is a mystery because nothing seems to be recorded about what happened to them.

The trustees asked for several other changes in the plans and it appears that the architect and workmen agreed to make alterations, sometimes well after the original plans were followed. From the letters of Mr. Stevens it sounded as though he felt he was being blamed for the need for change and that he shouldn’t charge additional monies for those trustee desired changes. As historian I have not been able to find finished copies of trustee requests to Mr. Stevens and therefore a full picture of how the trustees saw Mr. Stevens work is difficult to show.

Another area of some disapproval apparently surrounded the choice of electrical wiring and fixtures for the sanctuary and chancel. Someone must have given some form of approval on the trustees, but when they saw the amount of light available once the fixtures were installed there was a claim that the lighting had not been approved. Lighting was dim and bulbs would be difficult to change once installed was the claim of the trustees. They were correct, but it took until 2004 before any real change in lighting augmentation took place in the sanctuary.

In another note from Mr. Stevens to the trustees dated October 7, 1948 he said:
“As to the ceiling of the sanctuary, it was proved that the material specified was approved by your committee. The only alternative was a plastered ceiling which would have cost much more, or the Craftex treatment that was given it at much less cost than the plaster would have been. No fair-minded man in reviewing this situation would ever rule that an architect must pay for the mahogany because his client didn’t like spruce. When the architect has tried to get effects at low cost and the client, after approving, decides that something more expensive is what he wants, it is clearly up to the client to pay for it. This argument applies to the chancel ceiling also, as well as to many other items we have discussed in the past, which your Board has so graciously dismissed.
My final decision is to accept your check for $835.90 and call it final settlement, under protest.
When you have occasion to total up the valuation of the church, (not the cost to you), be sure you add in all these donations your architect has made, because they are part of the cost of the church, and quite a large part.
I hope the donation of $300 for memorial windows will be earmarked as in memory of John Woodbury. He was a gentleman.
Sincerely,
John Howard Stevens “

The original final bill submitted by Mr. Stevens for his services had been reduced by almost $1000. The trustees thought that they had been overcharged by that amount. There is no indication that any further transactions took place between the trustees and Mr. Stevens. It looks like the project was completed on a note that wasn’t very friendly yet still with Mr. Stevens showing his respect for the relationships that had originally been established through Mr. John Woodbury.

As we look at the stained glass windows that Grace the sanctuary and the chancel today we know each is dedicated to a family or an individual that has served this church in the past. The Rose Window that graces the Chancel high above the altar was dedicated in memory of Mr. Woodbury and was in part made possible through the generous gifts of architect, John Howard Stevens.

Part 28 Building a New Church

On June 17, 1945 the last services were held in the old People’s Church located at the corner of High and School Streets. Reporters from the local press were there and took pictures and interviewed some of the oldest members. The Morning service on that Sunday included a reading by the President of the Board of Trustees, John B. Woodbury. Appointed pastor of the church in May of 1945, Reverend H. Travers Smith gave the sermon. At the conclusion of this service the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was served. One hundred and twenty five knelt at the altar rail for communion. 200 folks were present.

Later that same day the Methodist Youth Fellowship conducted an evening service at 7 PM. This was the last service held in that church building.

The very next day, June 18, the men of the parish began dismantling the church, prior to the work by the working/wrecking crew. Some of the timbers would be saved from the old church to be used in the construction of the new church. Timbers that were dismantled found there way eventually to the new church where they would serve as support of the organ lofts to either side of the chancel. The organ was also dismantled and
put in storage for later restoration and installation in the new church.

On June 24, 1945 the congregation began meeting in what was formerly the Cole Memorial Universalist Church and at times known as the Townshend Club. This building was and is still located on the corner of Sawyer and Cole Streets diagonally across from the present location of the Lyric Theater (formerly the South Portland Church of the Nazarene). Services would be held in this location until the new Peoples’ Church was built for use on the corner of Harriet and Broadway.

The building committee who were members of the trustees and were entrusted with overseeing the building project included; John B. Woodbury, President, Walter W. Winchenbach, Vice President, Raymond E. Henley, Secretary, C. Jason Tilton, Walter W. Campbell, John Berdeen Sr., Granville E. Nickerson, and Edgar Steen. The reader may wish to note the fact that no women served on the building committee. As was mentioned in the last part of this continuing history because the country was still under war time conditions the War Production Board had to give permission as a “wartime emergency” permission to build the building.


Even before the lot for the new church was cleared, tested and then excavated, the trustees purchased the home on the adjacent lot, 312 Broadway, with the intention of it being used as the parsonage. Groundbreaking for the church was celebrated on July 25, 1945. Purchase of the new parsonage was in June 1945 with the Reverend Smith, his wife Kathryn (Kit) and baby Edson moving into the home in August of the same year. The home had formerly been occupied by the Richardson family and at the time of purchase at $6000 was 18 years old.

The architect that was hired to design the new church was John Howard Stevens of Portland. The architect communicated with the building committee regularly and on occasion would meet with the Trustees as a whole. Through the bidding process the company of Googins and Clark was hired as general contractors. Subcontractors named in the records included York Electric and the Willman Company was hired for painting purposes.

The original plans for the church included a vestry in the basement. The vestry would be used for the Sunday School. While it was not the original intention of trustees to use the vestry for anything else it became home to the congregation until the sanctuary was ready for occupancy. A fully operational kitchen, a boiler room that would house a coal-fired furnace large enough to heat the whole plant, a stage area with two class rooms behind it and two rest rooms completed the design of this area. The primary use of floor space above the vestry would be used as a sanctuary with a raised chancel area to the south end of the room. To either side of the chancel there would be two rooms large enough to house the pipes of the organ then in storage. Below the organ chamber to the right of the chancel would be a ladies parlor. On the Broadway side of the sanctuary would be two closets that would be found to either side of the main entrance to the sanctuary. The closet to the rear would be used as a men’s coat and hat closet and also the room where the cord to pull the bell in the steeple would be located. The other closet would hold miscellaneous items used in church services. The original plans also showed that there would be enough area at the rear of the sanctuary to provide a sound proofed glassed room to be used as a nursery during church functions. While most of what is written here was in fact the way the church was built, the nursery was not part of the final building for several reasons. Those reasons included the added cost this would bring to the church and another was that no glass available at that time was as soundproofed as the architect and builders felt was possible in 1946-48. Another factor that eliminated the nursery was issues that use of space would give when designing, constructing and displaying the stained glass windows that eventually would grace the sanctuary.

Groundbreaking for the new church began on July 25, 1945. Work on the new building was suspended during the winter months, as there was a wartime shortage of bricks available. Construction was begun again in the spring of 1946. The downstairs vestry and the shell of the sanctuary were completed by November of that year. The first sermon, given in the vestry by Reverend Elwin Wilson, was spoken on December 1, 1946. Reverend Wilson was the District Superintendent at that time.

The formal opening of the vestry was delayed until December 15, 1946. The following individuals contributed significantly to that “grand opening”: Bishop Lewis O. Hartman of the Boston area; Dr. William Vernon Middleton, Executive Secretary of the Board of Missions and Extensions at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Reverend Elwin Wilson, District Superintendent; and the Reverend H. Travers Smith of Peoples. Trustees at that time were slightly changed from the group that graced the Trustees when the decision to move from the Village was taken. Those serving on trustees at this time were led by President Walter Winchenbach and included Granville Nickerson, Harvey Woodbury, Walter Campbell, Malcolm W. Cass, C. Jason Tilton, Meredith Trefethen, Wilbert Brown, Ray Henley, and John Berdeen Sr..

The trustees took advantage of the guests and proposed that the people of the church would continue to work toward completion of the church building. Dr. Middleton indicated that he thought another $2000 in grants might be possible from his board. By this time the cost, which originally was estimated at $43,000, had risen to a completion cost of $75,000 with a number of the original plans and materials being changed to stay within this stated cost. Assisting in the payment of costs was at least $10,000 in gifts already granted from Home Missions and Church Extensions. Beyond the outright gifts the same organization extended loans of $36,000 toward completion of this dynamic project. In the final analysis nearly 40 % of the cost was still left in the hands of the parishioners at the time of building. Certainly the membership was appreciative and grateful for the assistance that the greater Methodist church had granted in building on Broadway.

Part 27 Peoples Leaves the Village

The need to move from the Ferry Village area, home to Peoples Church since 1853, was necessitated by the dramatic change in demographics afforded by the building of the two shipyards at the beginning and throughout World War II. Many of the “Village boys” signed up for active duty or were drafted into the Navy, Army or Marine Corps. Many of those “boys” would never return to the part of South Portland they had called home. The principal reason for not returning was the removal of 170 to 180 homes that had been razed or moved out of the area. If the average household was four at the time one could easily ascertain that nearly 1000 people would have been displaced. Even some of the local business folks, while continuing to operate their businesses in the village actually moved out of the village.

The trustees of Peoples Church began looking for a new site to build a new church. Several sites were considered, but two figured prominently in. One of the sites would remove the base of operation to a lot across the street from the Cape Theater. This theater, built in 1939-40 was a movie house built for the entertainment of local families and armed forces personnel stationed at Fort Preble and Fort Williams. Today that theater serves as the home to the Portland Players and is known as the Phyllis Thaxter Theater. The thoughts supporting that location was to take advantage of the traffic on Cottage /Shore Road and perhaps attract a number of folks that were stationed at the two forts. The principal arguments against that lot was that it was to far away from the Ferry Village base even though ironically that lot was only a block away from a location on Chase Street that was thought to be a good location for a mission church proposed in the 1920’s. That location also was only about two blocks from where the first meetinghouse was located on what today would be Pillsbury Street.

The site location committee turned its sights to a location next to a home at 312 Broadway. It was on the corner of Harriet Street. At the time there was also a double lot available opposite this lot. Both lots were large enough to build a church. The positives in selecting either lot was that it was closer to Ferry Village, it was on a very busy thoroughfare and a lot of traffic would pass by to and from Fort Preble and the shipyards.
It was also very close to the home of John Woodbury, the President of the Board of Trustees. His home was diagonally opposite the lot that was settled on.

In order to build a church during the war years the trustees had to apply to the War Production Board for a Certificate of Necessity. The Board granted the certificate indicating the “war necessity” of building the church. The lot at 310 Broadway was chosen and a major fund raising campaign was begun. One needs to remember that many of the families that had formerly been active participants in the life of the church had left because of military service or had moved because of displacement. The numbers remaining were much fewer and building a new church had to be daunting to say the least.

Reverend H. Travers Smith wrote an interesting letter dated June 6, 1946 to District Superintendent Reverend Elwin L. Wilson that describes some interesting material relative to costs and the difficulty of raising funds.
Reverend Elwin L. Wilson
226 Bradley Street
Portland, Maine

Dear Mr. Wilson:

As District Superintendent of the Portland District you are familiar with the conditions which have necessitated the building of the new People’s Church. At the outset of the war a Shipyard was built in the section of Ferry Village in South Portland adjacent to the former Church lot. In order to make room for this vast project 170 house were demolished or removed from the parish area causing great damage to our parish and the Church. This necessitated the building of a new Church in a different location rather than repairing the old building as had been contemplated by the parish in times past.
When the new site was chosen and the application made to the War Production Board for a certificate of necessity to build the Church a Certificate was granted on the grounds that this building project was of a war emergency nature.
When the estimates for the new building were first brought in by the architect it was thought that the entire building could be built for a cost of $43,000. However, last July when the bids were received back from the contractors it was found to our dismay that prices had been rising even as we planned the building of the Church. Prices for the building ran from $75,000 upwards. After many sessions with the architect and obtaining advice and help from a neighboring Catholic priest as to methods of cutting costs we were able to bring the figure down to approximately $56,000. We did not contract for the entire building at that time, however, because of the fact that the Certificate of Necessity authorized only the building of the complete basement and the shell of the Sanctuary and we proceeded on that basis contracting for the same with Googins and Clark at a figure of $46,270 for this part of the building.
Due to the fact that we were not able to contract for the building of the entire church we are now faced with the fact that we will have an unfinished Sanctuary when the present contract is completed in September of this year. Since the beginning of the building project two financial campaigns have been conducted in this parish. The first one netting us $16,751, and the second one $12,930 in pledges. The second campaign will be completed by December of 1947. The people, none of them well-to-do have given as generously as possible, as you know, in most cases to the degree of great sacrifice. It is noteworthy that the total pledges of $29,681 cover only a period of three years on the part of about 150 people giving.
This last year the old Church was torn down for the materials for the new Church, meanwhile the people have been meeting in an inadequate abandoned Church building. The quarters are small and cramped, the building is old and out of repair. No meetings other than worship meetings can be held in this building because of the inadequacy of the plant. The people have met this situation courageously! They have put up with these poor conditions both in the Church School and Sunday morning worship loyally. I have wondered at the teachers patience as well as the patience and loyalty of the other parishioners who have had to put up with these impossible situations.
A glance at the enclosed financial statement will show you that we are facing a crisis if we cannot receive outside help from some source or other. We are to receive a $20,000 loan, as indicated, but this is to be paid back 4,000 per year beginning January 1948 and so will tax the people heavily for the next 6 to 7 years to the utmost.
We cannot overestimate the importance of morning worship in the lives of Christians and the needed inspiration received by them in our Church Sanctuaries, yet we face the probability of being without a Sanctuary and therefore an adequate plant to carry on the work of the parish. These facts concerning this Church situation together with the information that you have already obtained in your personal contact with the parish give you a rather complete picture of the situation and I think you will agree the people are doing everything in their power to bring this Church building to final completion.
Facing the situation squarely I have been hoping of late it would be possible to obtain $10,000 from the Crusade for Christ. I note that they are aiding similar situations, and since this is a war emergency program I feel that we are worthy of a gift from this fund. Will you be willing to contact the right source in regard to this matter?
The need is urgent and the time is short, I hope something can be done immediately to ease the situation, as all other available sources have been contacted.

With best personal wishes,
Sincerely,
H. Travers Smith
Minister.

The Crusade for Christ had only been initiated in 1945 and was an available fund of money through national Methodist Church offices in Washington, D.C..
In the next part of this history we will explore the closing of the old church and the opening of the new church.

Part 26 Storm Clouds Around the World Reach Home

In the 1930’s the growing clouds of war in Europe and the Far East was to upset the hearts and minds of many people living in the United States as well as locally in South Portland and the Greater Portland area. Many folks ancestry traced back to those overseas countries that may not so long ago been called home. Still recalling the devastating nature of the “Great War” of 20 years ago, local folk believed that type of devastation would never again be visited upon this world. As the rise of Hitlerian Germany, Stalinist Russia and Mussolinian Italy loomed through their use of military weaponry, people here at home looked at their incursions among innocent people with mixed emotions. Some wanted the United States to “stay clear” of what was going on and yet it became increasingly difficult for an American Economy to survive when boycotting goods from those countries and for that matter, Japanese controlled areas on the face of the globe as well. There was the notion that perhaps they would fight it out among themselves, but when they began invading the domains that were homes for other nations, political, social, economic and humanitarian ideas and initiatives helped develop mixed messages at home.

The American government finding that it was increasingly difficult in this age to be isolationist began involving itself on the fringe of what became open conflict especially after the Germans invaded Poland on September 2, 1939. Even before then the United States government authorized the gift of 50 old destroyers to England for the purposes of guarding the merchant convoys that were guided from American and Canadian ports to England. The United States Congress passed the Lend Lease Act in 1940 to provide all types of military and humanitarian aid to the peoples of England and Russia in particular.
Eventually some of the ships guarding the convoys across the Atlantic were American and manned by American sailors.

On the sixteenth of September 1940 Congress passed the Burke-Wadsworth Bill better known as the Selective Service Act of 1940. While we had not declared war as a nation we certainly were committed to a side and it wasn’t Germany or Italy! All men between the ages of 21 and 35 needed to register for the draft. Over the course of the next year 1.2 million men were added to the ranks of the American military forces under this bill and all this before a declaration of war. While most of the war buildup was toward European aggression there were warning signs that the Japanese threat was looming in the east. In October of 1940, President Roosevelt proclaimed an embargo on the sale of scrap metal to any country other than Great Britain. This was especially directed at Japan, which paradoxically was still negotiating for scrap metal in Washington on the day that Admirals Yamamoto and Nagumo were launching their infamous attack on Pearl Harbor over a year later on December 7, 1941, a day proclaimed by Roosevelt to “live in infamy”.

Here in South Portland, Ferry Village was to witness a transformation that would radically change the landscape. During World War I, a stretch of Front Street had been converted to a shipyard to build “Ocean class” cargo vessels. The size of that yard was miniscule in comparison to what was about to happen. In December 1940, ground was broken at Spring Point on a shipyard that was authorized to build thirty vessels for the British much like what had been built in World War I. The East Yard as it was referred to was known as the Todd-Bath Shipbuilding Corporation. Later in 1941 another shipyard was developed by the South Portland Shipbuilding Corporation and was often referred to as the West Yard. Eventually both were combined and known as the New England Shipbuilding Corporation. Over the course of the next five years the combined output of the two yards was 266 Liberty ships for American use and the thirty that were originally built for the British. At the peak of production 30,000 workers were employed on three shifts. Most of the folks who worked there had had no previous training (85%) and their total amount of preparation before going on line amounted to about 30 hours. The first ship built in 1941 took 279 days to build, but two years later the Liberty Ships were ready to go in about 52 days.

As an aside many of these new vessels were captained and crewed by graduates of the Maine Maritime Academy that was founded in 1941.

The effect of the shipyards is many fold. An increase in population as a result of shipyard needs led to the building of Stanwood Park, temporary housing on outer Highland Avenue, a development where the High School and its facilities stand today, Sunset Park in Thornton Heights, Redbank and Cape Elizabeth Park. A few apartment homes that were built in the vicinity of Margaret and Mussey Streets were the total amount of building that took place in the eastern part of the city.

The effect on life in Ferry Village, however, was markedly different. In order to make way for the shipyard and its sprawl all of the homes on streets between Preble and Cushing’s Point were razed or moved to locations away from the area. Between 170 and 180 homes fell into these categories. When the shipyards were built it was necessary to run a railroad line to the yards from Rigby. That line would be used for not only the shipyard, but also oil shipments. The land was taken by eminent domain. Once the rail cars arrived in the shipyard it was necessary to have several rails for sidings. The impact of this “rail yard” was that it caused Preble Street to be reconfigured. No longer would Preble cross Broadway and head for High Street directly, but instead would merge with Broadway and head South where it would them loop around the southern end of the yard and continue passed the new end of High Street and merge with Front Street.

Membership at Peoples Church located at the long-held corner of School and High Streets began to seriously decline as many people moved away from their traditional family locations. The whole of Ferry Village was changed forever. The theater closed as did the hardware store. Auto sales were gone from the Village and the schools in the area also closed. Coles’ Market came to an end and the remaining homes began to lose their luster. The Village was home originally to three schools, two of which were closed and either torn down or boarded up before the end of the war. The Pleasant Street school, later named the Hutchins school, would remain open until the late 1950’s, but eventually all of the students from the Village would find the Henley school, that once served as a high school serving all of the children in the area as an elementary school.

By the time World War II was over and the shipyards were closed only a few businesses of significance remained at the center of the Village. Campbell’s Market, Louis Rich and Sons, Dow Drugstore and Anderson’s Market served as the center focus of economic activity. The trolly system that connected South Portland with Portland came to an end in the 1930’s and was replaced by the Portland Transportation System. Even more transportation became more personal with the advent of automobiles. The small stores of the village would have difficulty competing with larger supermarkets and the first of the strip malls and as the owners died so did their businesses. Today, the Village houses none of those businesses and is for the most part strictly residential.

With all of the aforementioned changes it was felt that Peoples Church could not survive in the village. The walls of the structure had stood the ravages of time, but the trustees and members in general realized that it would cost more to repair the building than to build anew. They realized that the base of population had shifted and it would be difficult to continue with the small base that the Village provided.

Part 25 The Methodist Church is formed: Effects nationally, statewide and locally

Before and after World War I many church leaders of several denominations took on a pacifist sentiment. The Methodist Church had been divided in America into four major bodies’ The Methodist Episcopal Church, The Methodist Protestant Church, The Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the African American Methodist by the effects of the Civil War. Even earlier the more evangelical arms of Methodism had split, but in the year 1922 were rejoined within their own framework. All of these constituencies advocated pacifism, but were certainly interrupted when America had entered World War I.
Having seen the devastation and destruction of the “Great War” many church leaders and members advocated for a world that would never go to war again. A great hope and desire that we all know was superseded in its destructive power of property and lives only a few short years later.

One of the major causes that the various Methodist bodies took up was the cause of abstinence. Not exclusively, but with a great deal of enthusiasm against the evils of alcohol, Methodists were among the leaders that led this nation into the pronouncement of Prohibition. While alcoholic beverages had been around since time immemorial it seems that certain religious forces felt unsafe in the 1840’s by the cultural practices of certain refugee groups that also seemed to be of a different religious persuasion. These refugees from hunger were thought to imbibe more heavily because of their plight. Several states then prohibited the making, delivering or partaking of alcohol. One of the leaders of this movement we have already discussed was Neal Dow of Portland, Maine. Eventually proposed on December 18, 1917 and ratified by Congress on January 16, 1919 the Prohibition Amendment, Number 18, prohibited the manufacture, sale and transporting of “intoxicating liquors” anywhere in the United States. This went into effect one year to the day after the ratification. The impetus at this time was that many felt that “The War” had changed men and that alcohol would make them dangerous to others, especially women. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union was very active in the state of Maine in supporting this. Many good Methodist women and later men were active members of this organization not excepting members of Peoples. Even after prohibition was lifted by the passage of Amendment 21 the remnants of prohibition remained in many Maine towns until well into the 1950’s, often due to the efforts of the WCTU. At the time that this episode in Peoples history was being written, November of 2004 recent local elections in some of the small towns of western and northern Maine still were successfully voting down permission to sell liquor within the confines of those locations.

Doctrinal disputes took on the characteristics of “spiritual politics” in this same period. Division within the administrative arms of the Methodist bodies and within churches was often hot and divisive. Liberal, Fundamentalist and Neo-orthodox camps were formed and much argument pervaded conference discussions. Episcopacy was one of those areas of controversy that was especially difficult for the Methodist Protestant Church to swallow since they had never operated under that type of organization. There also was continued controversy over what was called the “Central Jurisdiction” even after merger occurred in 1939. The “Central Jurisdiction” was that arm of the Methodist Church that had been known as African-American. This segregationist policy showed that Americans and yes, Methodists, were not ready in some parts of the country to consider everyone equal. Central Jurisdiction was the only jurisdiction that was not based on geographic lines. This separation that was authorized at the onset of the Methodist Church did not come to an end until 1967 when the merger between the Methodist Church and the United Brethren took place. We will include more about that merger in a later part of this history.

While the Methodist churches were merging in 1939 with still unresolved issues, the Evangelical United Brethren Church was formed in the early 1950’s after more than 20 years of negotiating. One of the practices that was questioned before this merger occurred centered on the ordination of women. The United Brethren had accepted ordination of women since 1889, but in order for merger with the Evangelical Church that right of ordination was rescinded. Obviously in the civil rights activities of the 1960’s and before merger with the Methodist church, not only the ordination of women, but also their right to ascend to the episcopacy would have to be allowed.

These changes that were taking place in the administrative structure of the church nationally and beyond were influenced by the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Not exclusively American, the depression was felt worldwide. The cost of the First World War, punishment to the defeated nations, and the struggle of moving from a war time economy to a peacetime economy had a resounding effect on trade, society and politics.
Some nations struggled at the hands of others as the storm clouds of war loomed over the world landscape. The discovery of “nations without” around the world led to an increase in missionary work overseas as well as the poverty stricken areas most prevalent in America. Local churches raised goods, money, and food to help those in greater need in spite of the fact that most folks were suffering in ways they had never experienced before.

The national merger of Methodist elements in 1939 had an immediate impact on Methodism in Maine. One of the first accomplishments of the Maine Conference had a major effect on the emphasis on youth. Junior High Youth even before Senior High saw change through its organization at a camping session held in East Waterboro in 1939. Interestingly the group was named “Metchuwana”. In time the camp that was eventually bought and purchased on Lake Narrows in Winthrop, in 1947 later carried that same name minus the T. A Camping Commission resulted for all Methodist camping experiences in Maine and in time the experiences provided opportunities in the out doors year round for all ages, young and old.

In order to have a conforming name for all youth groups within the merged bodies of Methodism the name ” Epworth League” was dropped in favor of Methodist Youth Fellowship. Epworth League had been used as a name in the Methodist Episcopal Church, but not in the other arms of Methodism.

At a special meeting of the Maine Conference held in the same year it was voted to close the Eastern Maine Seminary. That institution had been the primary educational institution
of learning for Pastors “down east” until this time, as Kents Hill or the Wesleyan Seminary was the principle location for training pastors in western Maine until about that same time. For pastoral training it seemed that Boston University’s School of Theology was becoming the primary choice for Methodist training in the New England area.

Ladies Aids Societies had their conversion to Women’s Societies of Christian Service (WSCS) in 1945.

A much-needed Pension fund was established for the entire Maine Conference in 1948 and a companion fund for Camp Development was established at this time as well.

Reverend Alfred Ives was appointed in 1951 to become the Youth Director of the Conference. Reverend Ives was well known and some years later finished his pastoral placements at First Church in South Portland. He also was the father of two well-known pastors of later years. Christopher Ives served a number of churches in central and southern Maine and Cliff Ives after serving at a number of locations became the Bishop for the West Virginia Conference.

As an aside the conference records show that in 1961 among pastors of Peoples Church in South Portland, Charles O. Perry 1930-38, the father of Elsie Hoyt, passed away. Lawrence Porter, 1949-53 and later a district superintendent retired from the ministry. F. William Schuster who would be pastor from 1996-99 was entering his first year of ministry.

In the next edition of this continuing history we will back track to look at the impact of World War II on South Portland and the need for Peoples to move its base.

Part 24 Owning Property and its Ramifications

While it seems that the inheritance of property and its management by a church might be an answer to long term financial stability the examples of such incidents from the 1920’s and 1930’s might lead one to a different conclusion.

The primary inheritance came from the will of Ms. Julia Boltonhouse who had been a long time active member of the parish. Her father, Edward, had willed the family properties to her and she in turn willed those properties to the church. One of the properties was located at 155 High Street and was considered the family home. The house is still located at that spot today. Its location is between Dyer Street and Pine Street. The first mention of these properties was as early as 1918 in the church records. The church trustees, once Julia died, managed this house. They decided that it could serve as a rental property. Initially work was done on the property to make it a rental property for three families. Each of those families would pay $25 a month for their apartments. Remember that late in the 1920’s that the country and therefore, South Portland as well suffered from the Great Depression. The folks who rented these apartments were not always able to keep up payment and were often in arrears. Being a Christian institution it was difficult for the church to follow procedures of removal and frequently had to absorb the cost of housing these folks (who were also parishioners). Before the church was out of the rental business and because our own payments to the banks was at least 8 months in arrears a collection agency, E. C. Dyer Company was hired. Things were so bad in January 1937 that a credit we had with the Dyer Company was used to pay interest at the bank on the loans. Rather than pay what they owed some of the renters moved out leaving nothing on what they owed. Collections were made, new tenants paid their rents, yet the church was so far behind the Official Board at the request of the trustees gave them permission to refinance the loans providing additional monies to make needed repairs of that building. At the time of the refinancing with the South Portland Building and Loan Association the mortgage of the Boltonhouse property was separated from that of the parsonage for perhaps obvious reasons, especially if the Association instead decided to foreclose on what was owed them.

Additional financial effects of the time were the reduction of general property values due to the deterioration in the village. The reduction in values included the church, the parsonage and the Boltonhouse property in the village.

While not collecting the rent that they should have, the church through the trustees still had to maintain the property even though they were not collecting the rent to pay for the cost of upkeep. On some occasions the general budget had to find room for the cost of paying some of the expenses which included taxes. While the normal properties of churches such as the church building and parsonage were considered tax exempt any other properties owned by churches were not. Granted when looking at taxes of that day versus today they seemed to be much lower they still were an expense that needed to be paid through church ownership.

The second property that had come into the possession of the church was also through Julia Boltonhouse’s will. This property was a cottage at Old Orchard. There is some confusion in the records as to whether this property was in Old Orchard or at Pine Point in Scarborough. This cottage and land had been where the Boltonhouses had invited church groups for picnics and retreats for many years. There was one reference in the records to a Sunday School Picnic that had been held there early in the century. The excursion by available land means would have been impossible except by way of the train. The train would cross the Fore River from Portland via a trestle that linked the Portland waterfront with Turner’s Island. The train would proceed to the “Cape Elizabeth” station in Pleasantdale located at the crossroads of Broadway and Evans Street. There the picnickers would board the train with all of their summer gear and proceed through Scarborough and across the marsh through Pine Point to either the Old Orchard Beach Station or the Pine Point Depot, where the able-bodied would disembark and walk to the Boltonhouse Cottage. Those who were less firm would ride in horse drawn carriages to the same location. Late in the afternoon all would head back to the Northbound and retrace the rail they had been on that morning.

Those were happy days for the Pine Point cottage and its relationship to the church, however, once the property was inherited and the trustees thought to use it as rental property they found some of the same issues that they encountered with the house in the village. They found that the property at Pine Point needed to be refurbushed and due to the distance it was easier for them to hire someone from the area to do the work even though by this time cars and trucks were available for transport. A second issue that they contended with was payment from the renters some of whom were slow in making full payment, which was not always asked for up front. A third issue was contending with the way some renters used the property and finally the fourth issue was finding people who could afford to rent the property during this time of economic calamity anyway. A fifth issue that arose was in paying the taxes on that property to the town of Old Orchard or Scarborough. Finally in 1937 there was an attempt to sell the cottage to a George Jackson who also had some difficulties making payments to take over the mortgage. The last payment of $53.38 was made in the form of a check. David Hoyt then instructed the official board that it was the desire of the trustees to pay off the remainder of the loan to the South Portland Building and Loan Association finally ridding the church of this property.

To afford the upkeep and reconditioning of both properties the trustees gave themselves permission to borrow what was needed. It appears that the Boltonhouse Estate also came with tax liens against both properties. Here again this placed the church into something of a dilemma that they did not wish to have. Turmoil in the banking world caused a number of pains to be faced by the church relative to the above loans and regular operating expenses. The loans above were first accepted with the Fidelity Trust in 1931, one of the largest banks in Maine. Financial turmoil led the trustees and the treasurer of the church, Mr. Oscar Emerson, to shift all financial responsibilities and obligations to the South Portland Loan and Building Association in a timely fashion as the Fidelity Trust went out of business in the following year. Again funds and loan obligations were shifted to Casco Bank and Trust Company. As you can see banking was extremely volatile during this period of time.

At about the same time Mrs. Edith B. Brett willed the “Brett Property” on Jefferson Street, to the church. Rather than getting involved with the complications of ownership experienced above, the trustees chose to sell the property and apply the proceeds to the sagging budget. The property was sold for a net of $1202.96.

To conclude the saga of property ownership with properties willed to the church, both Boltonhouse properties were eventually sold, not to anyone connected with the church. The church netted around $8000.00 for both properties. One would think that would conclude this church’s forays into the rental business, however, there is still one episode in Peoples as a rental institution.

When Charles O. Perry became the pastor he and his family began their stay by living in the parsonage at 94 Broadway. Within a year after his appointment he had the opportunity to live rent-free in a home at Cushing’s Point owned by Mr. Guy A. Braun.
The trustees and the rest of the church membership agreed with and praised his opportunity, to live in such an ideally located home, but what to do with the parsonage. Pastor Perry serving Peoples from 1930-1938 lived in this home for most of that time. The trustees even though they had had some difficulties with rental properties decided they would see if someone would be interested in renting the parsonage. The parsonage was rented under strict guidelines based on lessons already learned and with the stipulation that the parsonage might be available when another pastor were appointed to the parish. In the meantime, the trustees discovered updates of equipment especially in the kitchen and bathroom needed to be afforded and taxes now that it was rental property needed to be paid.

Interestingly the management of property had become so great and so much of it had fallen on the shoulders of Oscar Emerson that he asked to be relieved of his duties at money management. This was granted and eventually the trustees and the church as stated above sold those properties that had caused many financial headaches. In 1938, when Reverend Perry left, to serve the Methodist churches in Old Orchard and Saco before retirement from the ministry. The parsonage was returned to become a pastor’s refuge when it became the home of Reverend Walter H. Cass in 1938.

Part 23 Long-term Ministerial Concerns/ 75th Anniversary of the Church

According to the written records very little had been provided for pastors who actually reached retirement age before the late 1920’s. Certainly that was also the case for people who worked in the business and service world as well. No Social Security existed before 1935 and very few companies had provided any savings opportunity for their employees before this time. The only companies that seemed to do relatively well in that category were the railroads since some railroads had experienced some rather violent strikes that led to significant railroad management/labor negotiations earlier in the century.

It was not uncommon for ministers to not even think of retirement since they expected to preach until the Lord called them home. Life expectancy for all was much shorter than it is today, but it is known that there were some pastors that seemed to defy age and continue in their role of shepherd of their flocks until well into their 70’s and sometimes beyond.

The concern of extended age led the Maine Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church to place more emphasis on the aging issue and the need to provide Ministerial Support on a more formal basis than had been the case. It was not exactly easy on a salary of $2000 and an additional sum of money of $200 for housing expense for a pastor to save for a future retirement. The above figures were approved at a meeting of the Official Board in June 1927. At a Special Meeting called by the board on September 12, 1927. District Superintendent A. E. Goddard addressed members of the congregation in attendance about the need to support the Ministerial Retirement Fund of the Maine Conference. Peoples Church was commended by DS Goddard when Mr. John Woodbury said that this church was already building a fund that would help to pay our portion of that fund. Our portion over a six-year period would be $2000.00, which as might be noted was equal to the present salary of the minister. Later it would be necessary to extend the payments over a longer period of time it seems due to the effects of the Great Depression that hit locally in the early 1930’s.

Before the Depression hit as a result of national and international economic chaos beginning in 1929, again it was time for the people of Peoples to celebrate. 1928 was to be celebrated as the 75th anniversary of the church. October was chosen as the month for the actual celebration. Repairs to the auditorium including a new floor, a new lighting system and general redecorating were completed by that time. A banquet, pageant and public speakers would be a part of the celebration. President Marsh of Boston University was the primary speaker at this major fete. Etta Robinson was in charge of preparing the meal and the room. The floor of the auditorium was covered with “Brown Jasper” battleship grade linoleum. This was laid at a cost of .$25 a square foot. The total cost of redecorating the auditorium authorized was not to exceed $1000. Lighting added
an additional $150. Alterations were also to made at the back of the auditorium to accommodate three additional classrooms. Mr. Tenny had been placed in charge of coordinating the event of the celebration and passed on the message to Mrs. Robinson that good judgement be used in selecting the food for the event, as if Mrs. Robinson would use anything but “good judgement”!

The celebration, which began in October of 1928, was used as a launching pad for an Evangelistic Crusade, which would follow over the next several weeks. Dr. Frederick Winslow Adams and Rev. Lewis Smith were the two Methodist Evangelists that made themselves known to the community during this period of time. To pay for the expenses of the Crusade a silver collection became a part of each service that was held. The church committee also sold 75th Anniversary calendars to help defray the costs incurred during the Crusade. Eventually in 1929, the pastor did publish an anniversary booklet including the names of parishioners, significant events in the history of the church among other memorabilia.

Pastor Brooks perhaps was the first pastor who had an automobile. In 1929 the trustees voted to purchase or build a garage. Since barn or stable was not used in the description of this item we can assume an auto was what needed to be housed. The house behind the parsonage on Grand Street had a wooden garage that they were willing to sell for $75. The trustees voted to buy the garage and pay a professional to move it on to the parsonage property. The records indicate that the total cost of buying and moving the garage was $325. The trustees voted to pay $5 a month to the mover until it was paid for.

A practice established either by Pastor Brooks or the Maine Conference was that the Pastor would head the Official Board. John Woodbury who had been the elected President or Chair of the Board became Vice Chairman. Many of the meetings continued, however, to be lead by Mr. Woodbury. This practice continued when Pastor Brooks left and he was succeeded by Reverend Leonard March.

One of the innovations in soliciting funds that was proposed by Pastor March in February 1930 was the introduction of an Every Member Canvas. This was approved by the Official Board with the intent that “when the weather improved” that teams of parishioners would go to each of the homes of members talking about the church and its needs and then asking for an annual pledge of money from each. The feeling was that with pledges church officers would have a more accurate method of determining what the possibilities were for meeting an annual budget.

Shockingly, Pastor March resigned abruptly before October of 1930 and left the parish. For several weeks supply pastors served the church. That stretched the supply account to the limits.

In November it was noted at an Official Board meeting that it was presided over by Pastor Charles O. Perry. Whether he came as an interim or not Pastor Perry would serve Peoples until 1938. This was the most tumultuous period in American History regarding financial disaster and impending war elsewhere in the world. A degree of that chaos could be felt among the members of Peoples as well. This time called for a strong, loving, caring and understanding pastor. It appeared that Pastor Perry fulfilled those needs at Peoples at this time. Pledgers had failed to meet their financial responsibility. Extra letters were sent out requesting payment. The amount of indebtedness had risen to over $5000. Those who were faithful givers were asked to give more. For a few years before the onset of war there just wasn’t anything to give in some people’s pockets. Those that still were living financially comfortable lives gave more and Peoples continued to serve its members without looking down on those who just couldn’t make the financial obligations they had pledged.

Tough times often lead to people more willing to ask for the Lord’s help for themselves and for others. The Lord often provides in rather interesting ways. A prayer/praise service was started on Sunday evenings and was well attended. Since a silver collection was always taken, additional monies for church operation were found. While money isn’t all-important having it certainly allows for more activities to continue. A long-standing member, L.C. Martin, died leaving a gift of $2000 to the church. Another piece of property was deeded to the church by the Brett family and two properties, one at 55 High Street and another at Pine Point in Scarborough also became the property of the church.

Some might think that these monies and property values were an answer to the prayers and praise that had been started in 1931 but we will tell you more about the complications that come from these types of inheritance in the next edition of Roots.

Part 23 Long-term Ministerial Concerns/ 75th Anniversary of the Church

According to the written records very little had been provided for pastors who actually reached retirement age before the late 1920’s. Certainly that was also the case for people who worked in the business and service world as well. No Social Security existed before 1935 and very few companies had provided any savings opportunity for their employees before this time. The only companies that seemed to do relatively well in that category were the railroads since some railroads had experienced some rather violent strikes that led to significant railroad management/labor negotiations earlier in the century.

It was not uncommon for ministers to not even think of retirement since they expected to preach until the Lord called them home. Life expectancy for all was much shorter than it is today, but it is known that there were some pastors that seemed to defy age and continue in their role of shepherd of their flocks until well into their 70’s and sometimes beyond.

The concern of extended age led the Maine Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church to place more emphasis on the aging issue and the need to provide Ministerial Support on a more formal basis than had been the case. It was not exactly easy on a salary of $2000 and an additional sum of money of $200 for housing expense for a pastor to save for a future retirement. The above figures were approved at a meeting of the Official Board in June 1927. At a Special Meeting called by the board on September 12, 1927. District Superintendent A. E. Goddard addressed members of the congregation in attendance about the need to support the Ministerial Retirement Fund of the Maine Conference. Peoples Church was commended by DS Goddard when Mr. John Woodbury said that this church was already building a fund that would help to pay our portion of that fund. Our portion over a six-year period would be $2000.00, which as might be noted was equal to the present salary of the minister. Later it would be necessary to extend the payments over a longer period of time it seems due to the effects of the Great Depression that hit locally in the early 1930’s.

Before the Depression hit as a result of national and international economic chaos beginning in 1929, again it was time for the people of Peoples to celebrate. 1928 was to be celebrated as the 75th anniversary of the church. October was chosen as the month for the actual celebration. Repairs to the auditorium including a new floor, a new lighting system and general redecorating were completed by that time. A banquet, pageant and public speakers would be a part of the celebration. President Marsh of Boston University was the primary speaker at this major fete. Etta Robinson was in charge of preparing the meal and the room. The floor of the auditorium was covered with “Brown Jasper” battleship grade linoleum. This was laid at a cost of .$25 a square foot. The total cost of redecorating the auditorium authorized was not to exceed $1000. Lighting added
an additional $150. Alterations were also to made at the back of the auditorium to accommodate three additional classrooms. Mr. Tenny had been placed in charge of coordinating the event of the celebration and passed on the message to Mrs. Robinson that good judgement be used in selecting the food for the event, as if Mrs. Robinson would use anything but “good judgement”!

The celebration, which began in October of 1928, was used as a launching pad for an Evangelistic Crusade, which would follow over the next several weeks. Dr. Frederick Winslow Adams and Rev. Lewis Smith were the two Methodist Evangelists that made themselves known to the community during this period of time. To pay for the expenses of the Crusade a silver collection became a part of each service that was held. The church committee also sold 75th Anniversary calendars to help defray the costs incurred during the Crusade. Eventually in 1929, the pastor did publish an anniversary booklet including the names of parishioners, significant events in the history of the church among other memorabilia.

Pastor Brooks perhaps was the first pastor who had an automobile. In 1929 the trustees voted to purchase or build a garage. Since barn or stable was not used in the description of this item we can assume an auto was what needed to be housed. The house behind the parsonage on Grand Street had a wooden garage that they were willing to sell for $75. The trustees voted to buy the garage and pay a professional to move it on to the parsonage property. The records indicate that the total cost of buying and moving the garage was $325. The trustees voted to pay $5 a month to the mover until it was paid for.

A practice established either by Pastor Brooks or the Maine Conference was that the Pastor would head the Official Board. John Woodbury who had been the elected President or Chair of the Board became Vice Chairman. Many of the meetings continued, however, to be lead by Mr. Woodbury. This practice continued when Pastor Brooks left and he was succeeded by Reverend Leonard March.

One of the innovations in soliciting funds that was proposed by Pastor March in February 1930 was the introduction of an Every Member Canvas. This was approved by the Official Board with the intent that “when the weather improved” that teams of parishioners would go to each of the homes of members talking about the church and its needs and then asking for an annual pledge of money from each. The feeling was that with pledges church officers would have a more accurate method of determining what the possibilities were for meeting an annual budget.

Shockingly, Pastor March resigned abruptly before October of 1930 and left the parish. For several weeks supply pastors served the church. That stretched the supply account to the limits.

In November it was noted at an Official Board meeting that it was presided over by Pastor Charles O. Perry. Whether he came as an interim or not Pastor Perry would serve Peoples until 1938. This was the most tumultuous period in American History regarding financial disaster and impending war elsewhere in the world. A degree of that chaos could be felt among the members of Peoples as well. This time called for a strong, loving, caring and understanding pastor. It appeared that Pastor Perry fulfilled those needs at Peoples at this time. Pledgers had failed to meet their financial responsibility. Extra letters were sent out requesting payment. The amount of indebtedness had risen to over $5000. Those who were faithful givers were asked to give more. For a few years before the onset of war there just wasn’t anything to give in some people’s pockets. Those that still were living financially comfortable lives gave more and Peoples continued to serve its members without looking down on those who just couldn’t make the financial obligations they had pledged.

Tough times often lead to people more willing to ask for the Lord’s help for themselves and for others. The Lord often provides in rather interesting ways. A prayer/praise service was started on Sunday evenings and was well attended. Since a silver collection was always taken, additional monies for church operation were found. While money isn’t all-important having it certainly allows for more activities to continue. A long-standing member, L.C. Martin, died leaving a gift of $2000 to the church. Another piece of property was deeded to the church by the Brett family and two properties, one at 55 High Street and another at Pine Point in Scarborough also became the property of the church.

Some might think that these monies and property values were an answer to the prayers and praise that had been started in 1931 but we will tell you more about the complications that come from these types of inheritance in the next edition of Roots.

Part 22 Growth in Sunday School, Pain in the Pocketbook

The Sunday school of the late 1920’s was maintained at about 300 members although numbers were diminished during the summer months. The trustees accepted a request to rework some of the inner space in the parish hall and vestry to accommodate the expanding need for classroom space as well as offices. The Ladies Parlor for example had to go as well as that space that had formerly been a kitchen. The architect responsible for redesigning the spaces was none other than Oscar T. Emerson who also served as the Secretary of the Trustees. J.H. Webster, a local contractor, was awarded the bid for renovations. The painting contractor was James Sutherland. Mr. Sutherland was a member of the official board. The project of renovations cost around $5000 and the members of the various church-sponsored organizations assisted in the final cleanup of the newly renovated spaces. The various organizations were also asked to raise the funds to pay the bill rather than indebting the church.

The Sunday School for example developed a “Mile of Pennies” project. The Ladies Aid Circle developed a “Friendship Quilt”. Mrs. Sutherland led this project. Mr. Emerson secured dime banks for adult giving. While this project didn’t work out, Christmas Banks followed it up and proved to be much more successful at gathering additional funds. 50 banks were acquired and distributed. Most of those 50 banks were returned at Christmas time.

When the late spring rolled around the women and other bodies within the church would put on a lawn party on the church property. This was probably the precursor to summer fairs, Strawberry festivals and Yard Sales that would be used as money earners in the future. Another moneymaker came via a British Evangelist by the name of Mr. Stafford, an eminent British divine who preached in the Peoples auditorium. Part of a silver collection would be gathered for his expenses and the rest went to budget matters.

These, like so many times in the life of the church were “penny-pinching” times. Because the cost of fuel had become so expensive the Official Board authorized all Bible classes to be held in private homes. This would allow for great savings of fuel. From recent examples of Bible study away from the church this experience probably led to greater community building than otherwise might have been possible.

It seemed as if once one major project was completed that others immediately popped up. Chimney reconstruction, water delivery problems, shingling of the church roof, the safety of the belfry, adding the veranda and enclosing it were all issues that had hit by the mid’1920’s.

It was reported on January 11, 1923 that the membership officially stood at 217 with 6 probationers. Sadness was experienced when longtime leader of all major committees and boards, C. A. Tilton passed away. As much as his passing saddened the congregation John W. Woodbury capably filled his role as President of the Official Board. Mr. Walter Campbell, a prominent local grocer became the leader of the usher corps.

Mr. Files, the longtime janitor, having been asked to do more than he had before because of the changing configuration of the church property demanded that he be paid $25 a month for the next 6 months and then $30 thereafter. If these changes were not agreed to, Mr. Files indicated he would have to leave and seek employment elsewhere. Since the records indicate that Mr. Files is there for more than 5 additional years it appears that the church voted to retain him at the new demanded rate.

While most times in the history of the church were hard financially there was always a need to celebrate. Celebration was met with additional expense, but there seemed to always be someone or some way of meeting those needs. In April of 1926, Peoples Church heard that their pastor of 10 years, Frederic Olson would be moving on. Ten years was a rather remarkable period of time to have served one parish. This length of time was a year longer than Pastor Lord had served earlier in the century. In the lengthy history of Peoples the only Pastor who will have served longer would be Reverend Lynwood Arnold who would serve 17 years from the 1970’s into the 1990’s. The Official Board authorized a farewell reception, to be held later in the month, to celebrate the ministry of this beloved pastor. This event was held on a Thursday evening as a public supper. A silver collection paid for the festivities and the event was well attended by parishioners of all ages. The period of Pastor Olson’s ministry corresponded with a long period of growth in the membership and the activities sponsored by the church. It had been a period of reaching out to the community and finding that not only member organizations but also community organizations could use the facilities.

Shortly after the farewell reception for Pastor Olson was held, a welcome reception was held for the new pastor, Charles F. Brooks and his family. This event was held on the night of May 20, 1926. As the reader may discern the Maine Conference at that time was held in late March or early April as opposed to early June as it is today. Before the new pastor could move in to the parsonage at 94 Broadway a number of updates had to take place on the property that could have added to the expenses and debt of the parish. Choosing to raise money to make these changes, the trustees chose to ask for special collections that were for the most part forthcoming and therefore added little to the debt. Using “in-house” labor three bedrooms were repapered and painted and the study was papered and varnished. A new rug was also laid in the parlor. All of this was done for a reported cost of $291.79. Additionally the house was fully electrified, water pipes were upgraded and new shelves were added to the kitchen. At first report it seemed that all of these items that were included were taken care of in the previously mentioned figure. It seems the first report was somewhat misguided and later, in June, another bill for these services was submitted for a figure of $300. While these figures may be laughed at by today’s costs remember that the American dollar today is valued at no more than $.25 of what the dollar was able to buy in 1926.

Under John Woodbury as head of Official Board the financial work of the parish was divided into two roles. Many other parishes had begun the practice before Peoples. The first person serving as Financial Secretary was Arthur Blake and the first person serving exclusively as Treasurer was L.C. Bubier. The division of these two financial functions followed the death of Albert Thurrill. Mr. Thurrill, the local druggest, had served in the expanded role of Treasurer for more than 30 years.

The year 1926 was concluded with a Memorial Service on December 31 that was planned by Reverend Brooks, Mrs. Sutherland and Ms. Emily York. Those members of the congregation who had passed from our midst were memorialized and duly mentioned before the service was concluded with communion. While the event was somber, Reverend A.C. Goddard, District Superintendent spoke of the accomplishments of the mentioned folks and the church and how their passing should be inspirational to those who now lead.

Under Pastor Brooks leadership the church continued to serve the community of Ferry Village which in those days had expanded to some extent beyond the parameters of the immediate village. The parsonage that had been purchased in 1914 was located at 94 Broadway near where Preble Street meets Broadway. At that time Preble extended across Broadway and met Front Street where High intersected. Many other streets and houses could be found in that area also. The original configuration of streets was disrupted and torn asunder when the shipyards were built at the beginning of World War II.

Because of the distance from the church and the increased cost of fuel, Pastor Brooks often used a room in the parsonage as the office, not for just his own needs, but for those of the parish as well. Two items that were requested and eventually installed in the parsonage were a typewriter and a mimeograph. It would appear that part of the ministerial duties of the pastor were to provide all communication via his own hand and his own cranking power on the mimeograph. Parishioners could tell on Sunday morning when the bulletins were printed based on the black ink that stained the hands of the pastor if he was late in reproducing the bulletin.