[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 131 (Monday, August 7, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1695-E1696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   BETHEL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: A CENTURY OF CARING CONGREGATIONS

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                          HON. JAMES A. BARCIA

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, August 7, 1995
  Mr. BARCIA. Mr. Speaker, August 13 will mark the 100th anniversary of 
the Bethel United Methodist Church of Akron, MI. This event provides 
another opportunity for the celebration of congregation and community 
that has been the hallmark of this place of faith.
  I say the celebration of congregation and community because that is 
precisely how Bethel Church started. From a group of neighbors who met 
to sing Christian hymns under the leadership of William Parker and 
became known as the ``Lend A Hand Society.'' With the services of a 
Methodist minister, Mr. and Mrs. Monroe Highley, Mr. and Mrs. Philander 
Shaver, Mr. and Mrs. James Irish, two Sherman brothers, and Miss Bessie 
Fairbanks were baptized, becoming the charter members of Bethel Church.
  With the support, donations, and labor of the congregation, Bethel 
Church was dedicated on Sunday, August 15, 1895. Over the years it 
operated in different fashions, sharing a minister with the Akron 
Methodist Church in Saginaw, and then in 1932 becoming part of a three-
point charge with Akron and Fairgrove for 4 years, then returning to 
its affiliation with Akron. A minister was shared with Akron and 
Unionville in 1969. And finally in 1972 the Detroit conference aligned 
Bethel Church with the Sutton-Sunshine United Methodist Church in the 
Port Huron district.
  The building itself received many modifications over the years, again 
from the contributions and labors of its congregation, including some 
most memorable carpentry work done by Gerald Dunham, a 50-year member 
of the church. Today, with its 33 members, Bethel United Methodist 
Church remains as viable and reverent as ever. These members continue 
to look out for the best for their community and their neighbors. In 
fact, Carson and Loris Dunham joined a group of lay people that went to 
Guatemala earlier this year to help build a home in Guatemala City, 
again showing how love and devotion can manifest themselves in 
wonderfully simple but life-impacting ways.
  As Bethel United Methodist Church looks past its centennial to its 
activities for its second 100 years, it welcomes its new pastor, the 
Rev. Don Gotham, as he replaces the interim pastor, the Rev. Douglas 
Lefler. Mr. Speaker, when consistency and faith can be most important 
guides for our lives, I believe it is very appropriate to honor those 
institutions and individuals who have shown us the way by their

                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                
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[[Page E 1696]]

life practices. I urge you and all of my colleagues to join me in 
wishing Bethel United Methodist Church a most joyful and rewarding 
100th anniversary, and all of the blessings for many, many more 
successful years.


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