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Continued from page 3.
World War II began in
December, 1941, and this is reflected in the records of the church. The
Women of the Church engaged in Red Cross activities; a service flag was
made by a member of the church, Christmas packages were sent to each
young man from the church; another member presented the church with a
framed Roll of Honor, listing the name of each church member serving
his country. Fifty-two young men from Bethel served in the War, with
only one casualty, Ernest L. Flanagan. Rev. David Coblentz became our
fourteenth pastor in 1951. During his tenure, new pews were installed,
a communion table and flower stands were added to the church. He
instituted a regular choir and acted as choir director. A church
bulletin was begun by Rev. Coblentz. He resigned in 1961 to accept a
position in Williamsburg, Virginia. Rev. Kenneth I. Newman was
installed April 15, 1962 as our fifteenth pastor. This was his first
pastorate. He was instrumental in the building of our church tennis
court. Rev. Newman resigned effective December 31, 1966 to accept
another post. In 1967, a call was sent to
Rev. James Moss. Prior to his tenure here at Bethel, Rev. Moss was a
missionary in Brazil. In September, 1967, Sunday night services were
begun jointly with Scherer Memorial Church. During 1971, the old manse
was moved and construction began on a new manse in the same location.
Prior to the completion of this building project, Rev. Moss accepted a
call to pastor a church in Manning, South Carolina. In 1972, Rev. Vernon West
became our seventeenth pastor. During his years at Bethel, improvements
to the church building and grounds including installation of
air-conditioning in the sanctuary, paved driveways, shrubbery around
the church and educational building. On July 1, 1973, Bethel Church
voted unanimously to withdraw from the Presbyterian Church US and to
join a new holding Presbytery called the Calvary Presbytery, which
included other South Carolina churches of like faith, creed, and
purpose in fulfilling the primary mission given by our Lord, Jesus
Christ. This division became known as the Presbyterian Church in
America (PCA) which has grown substantially since its inception in
1973. In June, 1985, we hired our first intern pastor, Grover Timms.
Since that time, we continued that tradition until our last intern, Bob
Bates was called as our assistant pastor in 1993, and then as associate
pastor in November, 1994. Bob resigned in September, 1994 to organize a
PCA church in Meridian, Mississippi. In the summer of 1986, with
the retirement of Rev. West, our present pastor, Rev. John A. Gess
accepted our call. He and his family came here from Narrows, Virginia.
In 1991, with the Session's recommendation, Bethel began its most
ambitious building project, a 6000 square foot Family Life Center. The
Center was dedicated in September, 1991. Also, during 1991, renovations
to the sanctuary were completed. Additional seating in the balcony was
provided with the removal of the partitions and the addition of pews in
the rear balcony. |
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