THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 27, 1995 TAG: 9510260173
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
In 1940, during a meeting of young people at First Presbyterian Church of South Norfolk, George Mott fingered the $8 engagement ring he had been carrying around in his pocket. Every week, for 16 weeks, he had made 50 cent payments on the ring.
``We were just cutting up when he slipped a ring on my finger and asked me to marry him,'' Eunice Mott remembered. ``That was about it. He didn't get down on his knees.''
Right there in the church social hall, she said yes.
On Oct. 12, the couple celebrated their 55th anniversary. The following Sunday, the Rev. Jan Anaimo Scully, left the podium, as is her custom, to acknowledge the Motts' anniversary.
The church celebrated an anniversary of its own on Oct. 22, its 75th.
``We had a good time and a wonderful turnout,'' Scully said. ``It was a really beautiful service. A couple of people talked about coming home. The proof of the pudding will be if any of the lost sheep do come home.''
Vickie Thomason, a church elder, said that 98 people attended the anniversary observance.
She was happy about renewing an old acquaintance.
``The most memorable thing that happened was seeing Mary Jo Pearce,'' Thomason said. ``The first time I went to the church was to attend my daughter's Bible school commencement. Mary Jo was the very first person I met.''
The closeness shared by church members means a lot to Thomason.
``Because we're a small church, we're more like family,'' Thomason said. ``Everyone keeps a watch out for everyone else and keeps in touch.''
As long as she can remember, the First Presbyterian of South Norfolk has been important to Peggy Williams.
When she was a child, her older sister took Williams and her siblings to church.
``There were 12 of us,'' Williams said. ``Our church was our life. We were there on Wednesday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night and at extra weeknight prayer meetings, which were held in different homes.
``We children sat on the steps, and we listened,'' she said. ``There was not enough room in the house.
``We've had some hard times at this church, and I've been out to other churches. But to have a church, we all have to work together. We don't have a lot of money, but we're happy.''
When he was a boy, Vernon Wilder's grandmother took him to church.
``The church has become my whole life,'' Wilder said. ``It's the biggest thing I have now.''
He hopes to see the church revitalized and again support a full-time pastor. Scully is part-time.
Perhaps Scully's enthusiastic approach to ministry will give the church the boost its members hope for. She does not waste time on negative conversation, she said. She does concentrate on the strong points of her church.
``It's their belief in the church family, their faith in the face of adversity and their openness which sets this church apart,'' she said. ``They are open to new ideas. They're open to new people and open to sharing their faith. There are gremlins in every church, but I haven't seen them yet.
``They've had a lot of personal tragedy and a lot of disappointment as a church,'' said Scully, who came to the South Norfolk church in January. ``They're still stubborn and determined to make a viable church in this place.''
Scully's short-term goal is to rebuild the self-confidence of the members of the church.
``I want them to see themselves as I see them,'' she said.
Her long-term goals include having a greater participation by members, more of an outreach in the community and bringing the church back to a full-time status.
``In the church, there should be a reciprocal relationship,'' she said. ``Every day the church needs its members. It is by faith and tenacity and obviously hard-core giving on the part of the members that has kept the church going.''
In 1919, Armstrong Memorial Presbyterian Church rented a store building for $5 a month in which to hold Sunday school. The building was on Bainbridge Boulevard across the street from the present church.
When the group outgrew that meeting place, a four-room house, which was located in what is now known as Lakeside Park, was purchased.
By 1921, 223 people were enrolled in the Sunday school, which was called the Geneva Presbyterian Mission. In addition to religious teachings, sewing classes were offered for girls, and handwork classes were available for boys.
Between 1928 and 1934, attendance dropped severely while the church was without a regular pastor.
A sanctuary had been erected, but in 1936 that building burned.
During the 1940s, the congregation voted to change the name of the church to First Presbyterian Church of South Norfolk.
In 1948 a second sanctuary was built, and by 1957, there was a new education building.
Doris Creekmore, 75, has been in the church all her life and was married there.
``We were one of the first churches in the area to have Vacation Bible School,'' said Creekmore, who still treasures a New Testament she received during a Bible School commencement.''
Creekmore, who taught children in Sunday School and was three times president of Presbyterian Women, recalls lawn parties, fund-raisers and ice cream socials at the church.
``I'd love to see this be a working church again,'' she said. ``There are not very many new people in South Norfolk. But we're trying to get some of our old members back.''
Earnest Mohler said the anniversary gave him a chance to shake a few hands and ask former members about their ailments and their children.
Mohler, who has belonged to the church 24 years, remembers when the young people fished next door at Lakeside Park. He recalls, too, when five or six churches got together for vesper services. The pastors took turns preaching.
``If it started to rain, we'd run to one the churches,'' he said.
Sailors off foreign vessels used to attend services at the church.
``They couldn't speak English, but they had a Bible and were Christians, and that's all it took,'' he said.
Mohler foresees that the church may have to get involved in a soup kitchen or serve the community in other ways.
He hopes the church will once again be self-supporting. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
The Rev. Jan Anaimo Scully is the part-time pastor of First
Presbyterian Church of South Norfolk.
by CNB