History of First Congregational Church, Montclair NJ

In memory of Mildred Batchelder Baird, May 24, 1896 to August 12, 1986. August 15, 1986 Noted in the memorial pamphlet, a direct descendant of William Brewster, Secy of ABCFM Park P. Dickerson, Minister Kathryn Peterson, Organist Also includes remembrance cards, Mildred B. Baird and David G. Baird (deceased June 4, 1986). A note of thanks from the family of Mildred B. Baird. A PDF of these items is available by clicking here .

HAROLD    BERRY Every church is blessed with special people who make their various talents available for the good of the entire congregation. This is certainly  true  of  Harold  Berry. The boys he taught in Sunday School will never forget his classes, not only for the lessons learned there, but for his sharing of outside activities with them. He made a point of taking each class to the Yankee Stadium at least once each season. We have an alumnus of one of  Harold's  classes  in  our  own  Steve  Cutaia. Harold has always been ready to add his business expertise to church needs, and has served as President of the Church, as a Trustee, on Pastoral Search Committees, and on the Nominating Committee. Even when he was not actively in office he was often consulted for his sound  advice. When the church was considering the purchase of a new manse Harold was about to move from Montclair, and he made his home on Plymo...

CLARA    L.    DEBOER Ever since joining First Congregational Church in March of 1967, Clara DeBoer has made herself known to us by her dedication to the Christian principle of caring for others as exemplified by her service both in this parish and also at the municipal and county levels of the Church Universal. Whether working among the church's archives or providing able leadership for both the Woman's Guild and Church Women United, she  has  given  of  herself  in  a  most  generous  and  unassuming  manner. Clara, the mother of three (John, Catherine, and David) graduated Phi Beta Kappa and first in her class from the University of Vermont after David, her youngest child, was seven years old. She next earned a PhD from Rutgers University in American History (her dissertation being on Black History). She has since taught at Montclair State, Kean College and  Rutgers. Serving as the archivist since ...

PAUL    R.    GREGORY Paul was born and raised in Pennsylvania and was graduated from Lehigh University at the early age of 18. He worked as a chemical engineer at Bethlehem Steel before making his decision to attend Lancaster Seminary  and  enter  the  ministry. He met and married Kit while serving at his first church at Montville, Pennsylvania. Soon after this he was challenged by the Mission Board to take an assignment in China. In preparation for this call, they and their daughter spent time at Yale and Cornell pursuing intensive study of Chinese. Paul then ministered in Yuanling City, Hunan Provence for almost two years before having to depart due to the Communist  take  over. In 1947, now with two little daughters, he and Kit were reassigned to Morioka, Japan, a very depressed area. The winters were so cold- that the rice in the fields would freeze before maturing, and there was much starvation. Over 8 1/2 years Pa...

The following items are contained in this packet: Agenda Building Renewal Projects Progress Report Report of the Church President (Marston Ames) Report of the Senior Minister (Park P. Dickerson) Annual Report of the Woman's Guild (Betty S. Dallery) The Learning Center and the Youth Group Program (Don Wray) Mother's Morning Out (Eileen Frances) The Membership Department (Harold Thomas) The Department of Mission (C. Davis Sproule) The Parish Life Department (Jane Carpenter) Friends of Music Report (Nixon Bicknell) The Department of Physical Properties (Hillar Palango) Handwritten note Biography of Clara L. DeBoer Biography of Paul R. Gregory Biography of Harold Berry This packet is available as a PDF by clicking here . 

HISTORIAN'S REPORT May 1, 1985 - April 30, 1986 With Park Dickerson's firm and reassuring hand at the helm, and under the continuing presidency of Marston Ames, First Congregational Church maintained a steady course during the year just past. The gains made during the previous year, especially the success of the Building Renewal Fund drive, were consolidated as the Church moved forward. That drive, with a stated goal of $160,000, was heartwarmingly over-subscribed, with pledges and gifts totaling better than $231,000; and this proved fortunate, because some costs went well beyond the original estimates. The stewardship pledge drive for the '86 - '87 year, setting its sights on $115,000, has nearly reached that goal. The Church's progress was aided immensely, as always, by the inspiring enthusiasm of Steve Cutaia and many other devoted volunteers. To list them all by name would be to risk the inadvertent omission of some who richly deserve mention. Suffice it to...

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ARCHIVIST -  1986 Your archivist has had to labor under adverse conditions this past year. First, the pastor held out the promise that the Archives would be moved back to the old Trustees' Room in the tower - with the proviso this time around that it would be heated, lighted, cleaned, painted, supplied with cupboards and (most important) freed of pigeons. That hasn't happened yet. What has happened is that the Archives workroom has had a pull-down ladder put into its ceiling. You can rest assured that this was not at my urging. In the process, about a ton of plaster dust has been deposited over my desk, everything on the desk, and on the table given by Virginia Cambreleng, as well as on the stacks of archive boxes. The large pictures that were moved out of the room were moved into the Archive display room, effectively blocking access to  files  and  cupboards  there. Under these conditions I have prepared an address for one Forum sessio...