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188l |
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Grand View School was built near Watson
and Southwest (1 room )
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1880
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5 tracts of land development began
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1885 |
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Dr. Benjamin Fry purchased the southwest
corner of one tract. A man
by the name of Julius Pitzman laid out the plans for the streets and
homes and made a sink hole in Clifton Lake Park.
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1891 |
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The first Sunday School was held on
July 26th, 1891.
The first Church session consisted of C. H. Burch, George McCrae, and
William H. McCormic.
Oct. 26th 1891: A congregation was organized and had 33 charter
members.
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1892 |
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John Allen Gallaher was the first Pastor
to receive a salary. His
pay was $41.50 a month. Rev. Gallaher was very instrumental in
selecting a suitable location for the Church.
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1893 |
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Rev. Gallaher was asked to set up a fund
for purchasing a lot for
the church to be build on. In that same year, he chose the northwest
corner of Columbia and Clifton. The owner was J. W. Mclntyre who sold
the lot for $625.00. He was paid $125.00 down. The Ladies Aid Society
put up $200.00 and the rest was paid by the members over a period of
time.
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1895 |
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A building committee was formed. The
church incorporated in order
to obtain a $1000.00 mortgage. The church building was erected by July
1895.
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1896 |
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The congregation voted Rev. Gallaher to
stay as pastor. He received
54 yes votes and 9 no votes.
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1898 |
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Rev. Gallaher left Clifton Heights
Church. When he left the church
owed him $300.00. Dr. W. S Knight was selected as pastor for one
year.
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1900 |
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Dr. W. S. Knight left the church.
Rev. E. J. Brown was installed as pastor when Dr. Knight left. The
church building was dedicated debt free on Sunday, October 7, 1900.
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1901 |
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The basement of the church was
finished.
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1901-1965 |
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Clifton Heights Church had about 20
pastors filling the pulpit.
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1965 |
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Rev. Paul E. Johnson was pastor until
1968.
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1968 |
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Rev. Donald W. Sherman became the pastor.
Rev. Sherman was pastor until September 1977. He then received a
pastoral call in Hamilton, Ohio. In looking back and reading a little
more about Clifton Heights Church, I found an article that seemed
interesting. The 1960s brought a lot of grief and sorrow to the
church. A lot of judgements and decision were being made by the
Presbytery, and Saint Louis and Washington Universities' Urban
Program. When all the confusion and mistrust got back to the church,
the congregation did not approve and the church lost about half of its
members. Rev. Paul Johnson
was pastor at this time. The doors of the church were about to be
closed. Rev. Donald W. Sherman was very instrumental in keeping the
church doors open. He became pastor of the church October 1, 1968 and
it too all of his hard work and all the hard work of the congregation
which was 123 members at that time. Rev. Sherman speaks of a lot of
good things in his bringing up in the church. He
talks about remembering spending a lot of time with Joe Gutjahr
digging out the new addition which is the area under the front of the
sanctuary.
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1953-1955 |
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Seemed to be alteration time. Plans were
drawn up to start doing things around the church. In those 3 years a
lot of renovation took place. The church was blessed with lots of
talent. They had 2 architects, a consulting engineer, a general
contractor, carpenters, painters, and others that were skilled in
electricity, cabinet workers, furniture repair, and other talents. And
there was lots of volunteer labor from the members themselves.
The church celebrated the renovation on October 2nd, 1956 with new
rooms, a new study, new classrooms and rest rooms downstairsm and the
turning of the sanctuary to face north instead of west. From all
indications, Rev. Andrew B. Smithers was pastor at this time.
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1977 |
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Dr. Ted Smylie became pastor after Rev.
Sherman left the church.
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1978 |
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Rev. Will Tabb was called to the church
and his ordination was on
November 5th, 1978.
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1988 |
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After Rev. Will Tabb left the church, Dr.
Robert Falconer became
our pastor.
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1993 |
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Brandt and Clifton Heights Church held a
congregational meeting. It
was held at Brandt Church. The purpose of the meeting was to vote on
Rev. Wesley M. Cummins to become our new minister. There were 48
people at the meeting. And it was an unanimous vote with 48 yes
votes.
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1999 |
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And here it is almost the year 2000 and
Rev. Wesley M. Cummins is
still with us. His installation was June 6th, 1993. And I for one
hopes he will be around for a while longer.
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1988 |
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After Rev. Will Tabb left the church, Dr.
Robert Falconer became
our pastor.
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