The Church Needs to Expand

Our First Presbyterian Church of 1966 was not the church we know today. Entry was still made from the 103rd Avenue Narthex. The enclosed gallery still led south to the restrooms, the new Fellowship Hall and the kitchen. The Fellowship Hall was 38 by 59 feet, half the size we enjoy today. There were no stage, entrance, restrooms nor storage areas; entrance was made from the door west of the window wall or from the gallery.

Along the gallery, in the area of the present kitchenette, was the choir room and, south of it, the mechanical room. The Fireside Room was just as it is today, our present Library was an office, and the adjoining office was a study. A tiny little kitchenette conveniently opened into the Fireside Room.

The Nave of the sanctuary had seating for 255, with the interior of the building ending at the junction where the roof expands to cover the present “Penalty Box” (as the Transept seating area is sometimes referred to), the Chancel and Choir Loft. The Chancel was on the east so worshippers faced Jerusalem, as the architect had planned, with the Choir Loft and organ along the south side. The First Presbyterian Church of 1966 was well planned and compact.

In March 1969 the Rev. Surber requested that he be allowed to accept a position as pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Florence, Arizona, where he would also serve as

pastor at the prison. The first church pictorial directory was published during Rev. Surber’s term as pastor.

On Nov. 2, 1969, the Rev. George Christie Swain, D.D., was installed as the second pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Peter DeBeer began serving as assistant Pastor of Visitation in December 1969. Church membership had grown to 444 at the end of 1969, to 657 by the end of 1970, 902 by the end of 1971 and 1058 by the close of 1972 under Dr. Swain’s leadership. It was becoming increasingly evident that the facilities were inadequate to accommodate the growing membership and weekly activities of the church.

 ~Donna Roth