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 A
Brief History of Plymouth Park UMC
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SENIOR
PASTORS:
Dr. William E. La Barr
appointed June, 2005
Rev. Ben Shinn
2001 to 2005
Dr. Daniel L. Hoke
1995 to 2001
Rev. DeForrest Wiksten
1990 to 1995
Rev. R. David Shawver
1979 to 1990
Rev. John E. Taylor
1975 to 1979
Rev. Donald W. Waddell
1970 to 1975
Rev. Charles V. Denman
1966 to 1970
Rev. John W. McGee
1957 to 1966
Rev. A. Bailey Duncan
1956 to 1957
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In 1955, motorists driving down two-lane
Highway 183, which skirted the northern edge of Irving, might have
noticed a small sign on a piece of bare, treeless land which proclaimed
''Future Site of a Methodist Church.''
The Board of Church Extension of the North
Texas Conference had purchased five acres of this former farm land
with the vision that this largely undeveloped area of Irving would
expand. Shortly thereafter prominent members of First Methodist
Church, Irving encouraged several young couples in the church to
begin organization of a new congregation. Those couples started
meeting in homes in early 1956 and chose Plymouth Park as the name
for the proposed new church. The Bishop and Conference approved
their organization and plans and issued a charter for the new church.
At the annual conference in June 1956, the first minister was appointed.
Meeting first in Haley Elementary School
and later in Crockett Junior High School, Plymouth Park Methodist
Church was off and running with 145 members on the rolls by the
end of that first "charter" year.
The decades to follow were filled with
challenges to meet the needs of the growing congregation and the
community as a whole. Major building programs were undertaken, from
the completion of the first unit on the church property in 1959,
completion of the present sanctuary in 1986, and addition of the
educational wing in 1998. All programs of the church had to be expanded
including the addition of full-time staff members. The children's
division, youth division, and adult outreach were all undergoing
rapid growth. Programs such as a kindergarten (because the public
schools did not yet offer kindergarten), a CARE CORPS (organized
under the leadership of the UMW), a food pantry, day care services,
a well-baby clinic, volunteer drivers for Meals On Wheels, recycling
and major leadership in establishing Irving Cares have all been
ministries of the local church.
The vision, enthusiasm, dedication, and
Christian spirit of those early members, developed and carried faithfully
through 45+ years, allows us to celebrate what we know today as
Plymouth Park United Methodist Church: a membership of over 1400,
an impressive sanctuary and related facilities, an outstanding music
ministry, a youth ministry which is a model for the North Texas
Conference, Sunday School programs for every age level, a Christian
outreach to the community through many programs, and a warm, friendly,
caring fellowship that strives to be an example for the glory of
God by following the teaching of Jesus Christ.
Today, under the enthusiastic spiritual
leadership of Dr. William E. La Barr, Senior Pastor, and the Rev.
Keith L. Head, Associate Pastor, we look forward to another successful
year as we approach our FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY on June 4, 2006. It
is a time to appreciate the past, celebrate the present, and look
forward to the future with a strong and renewed faith.
Come,
help us celebrate our Fiftieth Anniversary year
on our FLASHBACK SUNDAYS!
Written by Charles and Jewell Parr; updated by Art Rubeck
The
new roof is now finished and many other improvements are being made
following a successful capital funds campaign to prepare for our
Fiftieth Anniversary in 2006:
Here's the church and here's the new steeple,
our doors are open for lots of new people!
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