Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

Price family took out two membersanother Sabbath evening. Thank you,folks, for your kindness.Now we have some sad news to report: Mrs. Ella Purvis fell while visiting with relatives in Mars, Pa., andbroke her arm. She is still in St. John'shospital, and Mrs. Emma Porter Robbfell backwards in a chair and injuredher back. Both are improving we areglad to say.MissPress Committee.WESTCHESTER, KANSASBarbara Huston attended theCrusaders Training School this summerand was chosen to be on one of the several teams which held Vavation BibleSchools in different congregations.Miss Eva Mitchel, 71 years of age,passed away at Queen's Hospital in Hawaii, on May 16, 1955. She was born inWinchester and has always remained interested in the congregation since sheand her sister, Miss Jennie, went toHawaii in the '20's. Services were heldon the island and following cremationburial will be in Winchester at a laterdate.Mr. and Mrs. Keith Fletcher, Cheryl,Debbie, and Jachie visited Bettys' mother, Mrs. Beth O'Neill and other relativesbefore leaving for Hawaii where Mr.Fletcher will be stationed.Mr. and Mrs. Richard O'Neill are theproud parents of a son, Richard Mark,born June 11.Mrs. Nannie French, the oldest member of the Winchester congregation,passed away July 14. She was born October 29, 1857 near Sharon, Iowa. Shewas a dedicated Christian and alwaysserved the Lord with the strength andopportunities presented to her.Mrs. Ida Hensleigh is quite ill at herhome.On the night of July 1, Miss EthelWatson of Oskaloosa and Leland Milroyof Winchester were united in marriageat a lovelyservice at the Methodistchurch in Oskaloosa. They plan to maketheir home in Topeka.Mrs. Lura O'Neill underwent surgeryJuly 21. She is home and doing quitewell.The Annual Sabbath School picnicwas enjoyed bypark in Holton on July 27.a good crowd at theTOPEKA DAILY VACATIONBD3LE SCHOOLTopeka congregation felt that itsDaily Vacation Bible School this yearwas differentmore successfuland perhaps a littlethan those held in previous years, due to several reasons. Forone thing, the neighborhood in which142we have been worshiping for the lasteight months had more possibilities insecuring students than our former territory on Clay Street which was principally Catholic. Then we had a wonderfulorganizer and helper in Lie. Donald McClurkin who had had experience in theSan Diego D.V.B.S. His enthusiasm andhard work was an inspiration to us all.When he told us that he thought weshould get 100 children into the school,we thought he was overly optimistic.However, when we closed, there were 99on the roll.A week or so before our opening date,which was May 31, we went out inteams of two to canvas the neighborhood. Some of the women went in theafternoon and some of the men at night.This was a real experience to those ofus who had never done much of thiskind of work before. Temporary listsof prospects were made,and these children were called by phone, or a secondpersonal call was made on them a dayor two previous to the opening day.The theme of our course this year was"Sailing With Christ," so to work upinterest and enthusiasm, we staged aparade in the neighborhood on Saturdaybefore the school opened on Tuesday.This involved a lot of work and planning, but we felt that our efforts werewell repaid. A hayrack, decorated torepresent a boat, with sails, cardboardsailors, and blue crepe-paper fringearound the bottom for the sea,washitched on the back of a car and wasthe nucleus of the parade. A group ofabout twenty children, some from ourown church and some from the neighborhood, wearing sailor hats and carrying life-preservers, fishing rods withcardboard fish attached, and balloonswith D.V.B.S. printed on them, rode onthe hayrack. We also had two flagbearersholding the American andChristian flags on the back of the float.Two trumpeters played "Onward Christian Soldiers" at intervals alongtheparade route. Following along behindwas a group of children wearing signsadvertising the Daily Vacation BibleSchool and also Mr. McClurkin with alarge megaphone announcing the place,date, etc. Several people told us afterwards that the parade attracted theirattention and made them want to sendtheir children to our school.The decorations throughout thechurch building carried out the themeof "Sailing With Christ" and addedmuch to the interest of the children. Atthe program on the closing night, weawarded 50prizes for perfect attendance and about 15 more for thosemissing only one day, so we felt that theinterest was pretty steady.Among the more tangible results ofour D.V.B.S. are quite a few new children from the neighborhood in ourJunior Sabbath School. We also thinkour own church children received a iotof benefit from it.The pictures of the Topeka Vacation-Bible School on the opposite page aregiven as a public service, hoping that theymay have a suggestion for other schoolsas to how they might increase the attendance and effectiveness of their efforts. Thecost of this page was contributedby theTopeka Sabbath School, as was the expense of the School itself.Pictures numbered 1 and 2 are a partof the parade.No. 3, the general assembly.Nos. 5 and 6 are classes doing handwork.No. 4 and No. 7 are interesting as showing the amount of work down in preparation to make the "Sailing With Christ"the fishing nets hung up tomore realisticdry. life preservers, pilot wheel, and in thebackground a mural of the sky-line of theport city.SANTA ANAThe Santa Ana Congregation of theReformed Presbyterian Church cordiallyinvites you to attend a celebration ofthe 50th anniversary of organization onFriday, August twenty-sixth, at eighto'clock in the evening. Corner of Myrtleand Hickory, Santa Ana, California.Session meetings are held each month.In May the elders and their wives metin the home of Mr. and Mrs. H. F. McCrum, in June at the manse, and inJuly with Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Betts.Miss Barbara Huston and Mr. WayneSpear of the Leadership Training Schoolspoke at the July 10 morning service.The Lintons opened their home onJuly 11 for the young people to be hoststo the Los Angeles young people. Barbara Huston and Wayne Spear werepresent that evening. On August 11 ouryoung people went to Los Angeleswhere they were enetrtained inhome of Tom and Fern Kerr.theDr. Bruce Willson combined a visit inhis mother's home with speaking engagements in Santa Ana. On July 31 Dr.Willson gave the address of the eveningat the union service held in the UnitedPresbyterian Church. On August 2 hespoke in our own church concerning theseminary and showed colored slides. Thenext day Dr. Willson talked duringV. B. S. closing exercises.Miles that separate Santa Ana fromother congregations seem shortenedwhen we hear reports of conferences.These have shared with us some of theblessings received: Synod reports fromRev. Glenn McFarland and Mr. and Mrs.B. B. Linton, Hume Lake reports fromMrs. Myrtle Connery for the W. M. S.and Mr. J. G. Betts for Presbytery. Im-COVENANTER WITNESS