Dorranceton United Methodist Church

Memories by Harry Williams

October 2019

When I was nine years old, my family moved to Kingston and we joined the Dorranceton Methodist Church. The early church was on the corner of West Dorrance St. and Schuyler Ave., where there is now a playground. I remember the church and the Sunday school being packed. (This was the late 40’s and early 50’s.) My favorite Sunday School teacher was Mr. Harold Stevens. A wonderful person, Mr. Stevens was a candy salesman and after Sunday School we went to his car to choose a candy bar. Needless to say, I never missed Sunday School

We outgrew the Dorrance St. church and our present church was built by Mr. Russell Ide, a church member. The front window was donated by Dr. Ellsworth at a cost of $8,000 at the time. We had many generous benefactors belonging to the church at that time. If something needed to be done, it was taken care of immediately. There was a donated church van to assist getting members to the church.

I am now 80 years old and often I think about many of those church members who were role models to me. They had a positive influence on my life. One of the best was the late Jack Thomas. Jack used to say, “God gives us 168 hours a week. Can’t we just give him one back on Sunday?” I still try to do that.