The Early Days--1949 to 1966

The Early Days—1949 to 1966
20080106

Looking through a box of papers today I found this letter by my cousin, Lucinda [Rogers] Myers, handwritten in 1985. She writes as though it was written by Arlene, but occasionally forgets and uses the third person. I have purposely copied it as she wrote it so there are many events that have not been included. I tried to note recognizable errors. The date is established by Jon’s graduation from high school.
[The picture shows Lucinda and Victor Myers and Vic’s children from his first marriage. His first wife died]

“After graduation from B.J.U. in Greenville, S.C. in June 1949, we went home to Alexandria for the summer. Arlene was pregnant with their first baby. In September we moved to Winona Lake where Roy enrolled in Grace Seminary. Rick was born in December of 1949. Roy worked at Arnolt Corp. most of his Seminary years. It took him four years to get through and two little girls were added to the family, Ardith Diane in[1951] and Joy Elaine [in 1953] who arrived during exam week in Roy’s final year. The dreams Roy and Arlene had of going to Brazil as missionaries ended that August at Conference when they found out the Foreign Mission Board would not permit them to go. They even were told later that because Arlene had had difficulty with the birth of the two girls, the Board didn’t feel they should go to the wilds of Brazil.

[This picture was taken just before graduation from Grace. We recieved a hood when we graduated. The picture was taken at the side of our house on Roosevelt Ave in Warsaw--just one block behind Walgreens and toward town one block.]

So, later that Fall they left Winona for Cumberland, MD. to start a Brethren Church. The East District said they would help. The nucleus of people reported to be interested turned out to be one couple with a teenage daughter. Arlene began a Child Evangelism class in their kitchen [had about 25 kids, mostly Mennonites] and Roy tried to sell Fuller Brushes and go door to door inviting people to our “church” which met in a Knights of Columbus Hall. We struggled from October until May, and when little Rick [5] said “Aren’t we ever going to Sunday school anymore?” Roy informed the District that our relationship was at an end. Their “help” consisted of a one-time Sunday afternoon rally in October and an offering of $90.00. Roy began to work at Radio Station WDYK in Cumberland. We began to attend the nearest church which was Mennonite—and what a warm welcome we received! Arlene had taught most of their children in C.E. classes. The church later asked Roy to pastor a small work at Glade, about 40 miles up the mountain near Frostburg. We took off our wedding rings, which hurt a little, but having an opportunity to serve the Lord meant so much more. The church gave us an offering once a month so Roy worked at WKYR in Keyser W. Va.
[The picture shows our home in Pinto, MD, while living in the Cumberland area. Pinto was half way between Cumberland and Keyser WV].

We still wanted to serve the Lord in a Brethren Church, so when Arlene’s grandmother died in the winter of 1956-57, we made contacts in Altoona. Roy began a job at WVAM, and the family moved in with Arlene’s mother. Susie and Dick had come to live with them [1] after Roy, Sr.’s death in June 1955. In May 1955, Roy Edgar Glass III was born. We became active in the Juniata GBC, and when Tressler resigned in 1959, Roy was called to be pastor. He preached his heart out that first year, using Romans 12:1-2, as a basis for motivating people to get their lives straightened out and really get active for the Lord. Thirty of the church leaders left! So Roy resigned! But he later reconsidered at the urging of a few, and remained at Juniata seeing real church growth until 1966. Satan again became active and Roy felt the church could handle the situation better if he were not a part of it. [Our hearts ached for many years over the trials and tribulations the Juniata church had to endure in the ensuing years.

In an effort to keep my blog a reasonable length, I’ll continue her letter tomorrow.

Thanks for reading our history. This would be good to file with our Christmas letters for an on going chronicle of the Glass family.

Gpa G

[1]. Mom and Dick bought a house at 715 Second St in Juniata. She was not living with us at this time.