Church Events 1960 -1969

 

 

Across The Nation:

 

The time period of the 1960s was the setting for tremendous social turmoil and technological advances.  The quest for racial equality and the Vietnam Conflict polarized Americans; the assassinations of JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy shattered us.  The space program began the decade with "mere minutes long" launchings and ended with placing mankind on the moon.  The Beatles were a pop phenomena, 1967 was the Summer Of Love, recreational use of drugs exploded and 1950s innocence turned into apathy, mistrust and disgust. 

New inventions in this time period included hand-held calculators, bar code scanners, permanent press fabrics, artificial turfs, and a computer network.  The first open heart transplant was performed in 1967 by Christian Barnard.

 

At Verona First Presbyterian:

 

            Rev. F. David Pudsell served from July 1959 until November 1961

 

            Rev. John R. Paust served from July 1962 until February 1966

 

            A pastor’s study was established in the Christian Education Building in the early sixties

 

               Membership reached a modern day high of 200 members in 1964

 

            A $25,000.00 law suit for negligence was awarded to one Myra O. Jones in 1964 due to falling on a poorly maintained sidewalk

 

            The church began generating a multi-page monthly (church) newsletter called “The Lamplighter” in 1964

 

          The Presbyterian Youth Fellowship sponsored an American Indian child in the mid sixties

 

            Rev. Clifford C. Weber served from July 1966 until March 1970

 

            A Nursery Roll Sunday School class was established in 1967    

 

 

Bicentennial Moment:

 

 

Miss Margaret Elizabeth Dodge, a member of a very important family in Verona First's history, was married in the church in 1963 to Richard Donald Hillman.  The bride and groom received customary premarital counseling.  In this counseling, the pastor, who would also preside at the wedding ceremony, related "Those that I marry, stay married"!  True to the words, Peggy's marriage endured   -   but the pastor's marriage ended in divorce not too long thereafter.