Dr. Milton Loyer, Conference Archivist
November – 100 years ago
On November 1, 1920, Dr. Joseph M.M. Gray was transferred from the Grand Avenue Church in Kansas City MO to the Elm Park Church in Scranton. He would serve there until 1928, when he was transferred to the Detroit Central Church in Michigan. In those years it was common practice to rotate Methodist preachers who had national reputations as great orators among the denomination’s flagship congregations in major cities. Before retiring in 1950, Dr. Gray (1877-1957) would go on to serve as chancellor of American University in Washington DC and senior pastor of the prestigious Bexley Church in Columbus OH.
It so happens that Dr. Gray’s 1920 Pennsylvania appointment was actually a return home. The son of charter member of the Central Pennsylvania Conference Rev. Joseph Gray (1840-1918), Dr. Gray was born in Montgomery PA, recommended for the ministry by Littlestown Centenary, and ordained by the Central Pennsylvania Conference in 1901.
December – 50 years ago
December 13, 1970, marked the first charge conference and a time of planning for the newly formed Paxton United Methodist Church. A merger of the Harrisburg Trinity, Harrisburg Sixth Street and Paxton churches, the united congregation was meeting at the Paxton location, described as “only partially satisfactory” and inadequate “when necessary to bring the entire congregation together” and “between the worship hours and the church school hour.” A site committee had been formed and was looking at “virtually every possible area along Linglestown Road and North Progress Avenue.”
The Trinity building (former Methodist) on North 17th Street was dedicated in 1923 and now houses the Harris AMEZ congregation. The Sixth Street building (former United Brethren) at Sixth and Seneca was dedicated in 1913 is now home to the Macedonia Baptist Church. The original Paxton building (former Methodist) was erected in 1860 and now houses an independent congregation. The merged Paxton UM congregation moved into its present building on North Progress Avenue in 1974.
