Westminster Presbyterian Church Centennial Books

Now, it ’ s time for our part of the story. It was in the summer of 1914 that the Bluefield Presbyterian Church, established something like a long range planning committee – they couldn ’ t help but see the new rapid growth of another part of the city -- South Bluefield -- as a residential area, so they decided to act, and bought three real estate lots at the corner of Washington and Albemarle with a vision, a plan, a dream of starting a Sunday School - not a church - but a Sunday School . (I don ’ t know about you, but I ’ ve never heard of a church plant before that started with a Sunday School. They always seem to start with worship services.) And this is only two years after they have built their own impressive brick church downtown. South Bluefield ’ s growth continued at a rapid pace and on March 27, 1921, the downtown church authorized the construction of a Sunday School building on the property they had wisely purchased seven years before. first building, the one directly behind the sanctuary, was completed in 1922. This new brick building was a perfect place for Sunday School classes. It even had a gymnasium on the second floor for social or athletic events, but, there was no sanctuary. Certainly, individuals started dreaming of a space dedicated to the worship of God. If you think about it, the side entrance by the Pastor ’ s Office is a pretty impressive entrance, and at one time, this was the main entrance to that Sunday School building. Under the expert design of highly - respected Bluefield architects, Garry and Sheffey, the building was started in August 1921, and April of the following year saw its completion. So our

I am filled with overwhelming gratitude as I think back over the last 50+ years of the saints who modeled a zealous love for Jesus, who invested in my knowledge and growth, who sang joyously, gave generously, loved deeply, forgave willingly, and prayed fervently. My love of worship, music, hospitality and serving was, and is still, fostered by my WPC family.

Julie Hartzog Hurley

We never see the side of the building when we ’ re driving through the alley, but doesn ’ t it have a distinctive style to it, too? All this beautiful detail, just for the back of the building that faces an alley. It ’ s likely that the other side of the building, facing Albemarle, would have had this same impressive style to it.

How I wish we had a photograph when it was just this, just the Sunday School building. We ’ ve looked, and I haven ’ t given up hope. We know that photos would have been taken. They would have been so excited about this. More than likely, this building would have had a cornerstone, too. My guess is that it was on the side of the structure that was eliminated when the

Christ grew our appreciation for His Body, the church, during our time at WPC. The Lord filled the void we felt at the loss of family be revealing to us the “ family ” He was providing us with at WPC.

sanctuary portion was added, since a cornerstone on the original building is nowhere to be seen now. Appropriately enough, the South Bluefield Sunday School was officially organized on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1922, with the encouraging enrollment of 147 . In a few months, attendance was averaging 200 each Sunday. It was easy for the downtown church to see that they had truly made a wise decision that this new church plant was going to work, and indeed, work very well. By the fall of 1922, it became apparent that steps should be taken to expand the work to include regular preaching services, and not just a Sunday School.

Dwain and Janet Harwick

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