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A BRIEF HISTORY
THE DRAYTON AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Inspired by a group of devoted women, informally teaching children Bible stories in a grove of trees on summer Sunday afternoons, the Drayton Avenue
Presbyterian Church had its formal beginning with the organization of a
Community Sunday School on July 25, 1920. Sessions
were held in the Roosevelt School frame annex, and the initial membership was
forty-eight. Following the decision
to affiliate with the Presbyterian denomination, the Sunday School and the
church that evolved from it became a mission of the First Presbyterian Church of
Detroit. The Reverend William Bryant
began preaching services for this new organization on April 17, 1921.
The need for a church
building led to the purchase of a lot 80 x 95 feet at the corner of Pinecrest
Drive and Drayton Avenue. The first
unit of the present church facilities was constructed there and was dedicated
November 9, 1924. Later that month,
on November 23, 1924, the Presbytery of Detroit organized the Drayton Avenue
Presbyterian Church Society with 137 charter members.
On February 26, 1925, Dr. Bryant was installed as the first pastor,
serving until his resignation on May 25, 1927.
He was succeeded by The Reverend Llewelyn L. Evans, who began a
seventeen-year ministry at Drayton Avenue on December 4, 1927.
By the time he left on September 18, 1944, the church membership had
grown to 535.
The Reverend Harold Paul Sloan, Jr., became the third pastor of Drayton
Avenue when he was installed on January 3, 1945.
During the eighteen years of his ministry, which ended abruptly with his
death on October 9, 1963, the church experienced dramatic growth.
In the twelve-year period from 1945 to 1957, the membership doubled and
nearly doubled again. Enlarged
facilities became an obvious necessity. In
the summer of 1948, the existing sanctuary was remodeled and equipped with more
permanent furnishings. On May 15,
1949, ground was broken for a new Church House.
It was completed and occupied in March of the following year, providing
more adequate room for the growing Christian education program and for a variety
of other activities, both youth and adult. Groundbreaking
ceremonies for a new sanctuary were held April 7, 1957, culminating years of
anticipation and preparation. The
first service of worship in the new sanctuary was a service of Holy Communion on
June 8, 1958, and the formal service of dedication took place September 28,
1958.
The Reverend Sloan was followed by The Reverend John A. Hoyt, who was
installed on
November 8, 1964
. Mr. Hoyt served as pastor until
April 30, 1968, when he left to accept a call to another church.
The Reverend Chase
S. Hunt began his ministry at Drayton Avenue on February 1, 1969, having served
previously at The Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City.
The entire clergy staff changed during the year 1979 with retirement and
calls to other areas of service.
The Reverend Peter
C. Bower began his ministry at
Drayton Avenue
on
March 1, 1981
, having served previously as Director of Admissions and Lecturer in Church
Polity at McCormick Theological Seminary in
Chicago
,
Illinois
. Bower served as pastor until
November 30, 1993, when he left to accept a call to another church.
The
Reverend James Faile became Drayton’s 7th pastor on
October 1, 1995
after serving as Associate Pastor of The Presbyterian Church at
Pluckemin
,
New Jersey
. A former self-employed carpenter, Jim graduated from Moravian Theological
Seminary and was ordained by Lehigh Presbytery in September 1990.
Faile served as pastor until December 2001, when he left to pursue
interests outside the church.
The Reverend J. Lawrence
Ainsworth assumed the role of interim pastor in June 2001 until July 2002.
The Rev. Dr. J. Scott Miller became the pastor of Drayton Avenue Presbyterian
Church on December 1, 2002. Before coming to Drayton Avenue, he served as pastor
of the Lincroft Presbyterian Church in Lincroft, NJ, and as associate pastor of
the North Presbyterian Church in Elmira, NY. Scott has a Master of Divinity
degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He did his undergraduate work at Thiel
College in Greenville, PA, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish.
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