The First 50 Years - Rev. Webber

THE REVEREND JEROME EARL WEBBER

At the same meeting at which the resignation of the Reverend Mr. Blocher was accepted, Mr. Clifford Edwards was appointed chairman of a pulpit committee to select a successor. During the interim, at the request of the congregation, Presbytery appointed the ever reliable Dr. Jaquess to act as moderator of the Session and perform other ministerial duties.

It would appear that the committee proceeded with dispatch, as a congregational meeting was called for February 11, 1917, to hear the report of the committee. An energetic young minister who had been serving the church in Northville, the Reverend Jerome E. Webber, had attracted the attention of the committee. The committee's recommendation as to Mr. Webber was so strong that at the same meeting at which the report was given, it was moved and carried "that the Rev. Jerome Earl Webber of Northville be called at an annual salary of $1,800 with a yearly vacation of one month". Mr. Edwards and Mr. Hullinger were appointed to prosecute the call at Presbytery.

Mr. Webber, a graduate of our Synodical college at Alma and of the McCormick Theological Seminary, accepted the call and arrived in Royal Oak in time to take part in the annual meeting of the congregation held on April 11, at which meeting it was reported that the church then had 146 communicants.

It was about this time that World War I reached America, and many of the young men of the church found their way into service. The records of the Session tell of the tragic passing of several sons of the church, and of the patriotic contributions of the individual members and the organizations within the congregation in the war effort.

About this time, difficulty with one of our neighbors further aggravated the officers of the church. As has been previously mentioned, the church property was accessible at this time only from Fourth Street, by way of Maple Court. At first the size of the congregation was so small that it did not present too great a problem, but as the membership increased, the usage of Maple Court increased proportionately. Complaints by the residents on the court caused the subdivider, Mr. Richards, to take steps against the continued use of the court by those attending the church.

At the south end of Maple Court , where it abuts our present property, the subdivider had retained a small parcel, ten feet by twenty-five feet, which was platted as Lot 7 of Richards Subdivision. It was across this lot that it was necessary to walk in order to reach the church, so that those crossing it were unquestionably trespassers. Under pressure from the complaints , Richards now threatened to erect a board fence at the south end of the court, thus blocking t h e entrance to the church property from Fourth Street by "the much-used rear way," as one of the trustees described it. This possibility had been foreseen by one of the astute officers of t h e church even before the building had been completed, but lack of funds and other more pressing problems attendant upon the completion of the building resulted in no action being taken at that time. Now under threat of the fence, the necessity of meeting the problem was most urgent. For over a year negotiations were carried on with the subdivider, and finally, in 1919, the church purchased this narrow strip for about one hundred dollars. But this did not end the matter. It was later necessary to obtain permission of the property owners on the court to extend the sidewalk to the church property line, and permit vehicular traffic to the church property. As a concession for these privileges the church Trustees voted to offer the residents the right to drive across the church property to reach Hendrie Boulevard and Oakland Avenue.

It was also at this time that the growth of Detroit was reflected in a comparable growth in its suburbs, including Royal Oak. The population explosion experienced by the entire North Woodward area, coupled with the energetic ministry of the Reverend Mr. Webber, resulted in the rapid growth of the congregation, and it soon became apparent that the new church edifice, constructed a few short years before, was already too small. An interesting commentary on the growth of the membership is seen in a minute of the Session meeting of May 13, 1920, when the clerk was authorized "to purchase two additional collection plates." The membership of the Session was increased at this time from six to nine members, and a Board of Deaconesses was also authorized. We illustrate in Fig. 10 a good picture of the original church, together with the Sunday School pupils and teachers in 1920.

Fig. 10

The necessity of increasing the size of the church building precipitated a lively controversy within the congregation. The building committee had reported to a congregational meeting held on May 4, 1920, that the cost of a suitable addition would be approximately $ 24, 000. The original sketch of the architect, which hung for years in the foyer of the chapel, showed the completed church, of which the present building was only the first unit. After sounding out the congregation as to possible contributions toward the cost of a new building, it was reported at a meeting held two months later that there was not enough money in sight for additional building activity. The feasibility of putting up partitions in the balcony, or even of erecting a temporary structure, was considered.

On the 26th of March, 1922, the fifth year of the pastorate of the Reverend Mr. Webber was celebrated by the congregation, and music for the event had the benefit of a new organ that had been installed the previous summer. For the anniversary service we read that "the church was crowded, every available seating space being occupied, including portions of the aisles, latecomers also standing in vestibules and staircases." Mr. Webber preached "a powerful and moving sermon which forms one of the permanent records of the church-------- At the conclusion of the service the entire congregation filed past the rostrum and shook hands with the pastor and his wife."

The agitation to build an addition to the church was again renewed. It was at this point of the controversy that a new suggestion entered the discussion. There was considerable sentiment, at least among the officers of the church and probably the view held by the minister, too, that the present location was not of the best, and that if the congregation were to grow to its full potential a "downtown" site should be selected. All of the other churches of the community were located on or near the principal traffic arteries, where public transportation was available. The country had not yet reached the "family car" era, to say nothing of the present day two car family.

Inquiries were therefore made, and it was reported that a corner of Washington and First Streets could be purchased for $10,500. After due consideration, however, it was decided that it would be inexpedient to purchase a new site until the present building was sold, a decision which, in retrospect, was a most fortunate one.

A meeting was called for December 13, 1922 , then postponed until January 7 following, to consider the sale of the present building and the purchase of a new location. There was some reason for entertaining such a suggestion. Although Royal Oak was experiencing a healthy growth, the church site was actually on the perimeter of activity and not at all centrally located. Hendrie Boulevard, past the church property, still was not open for traffic, nor was it practical to reach the church by way of Pleasant Street. The vast majority of those attending services arrived byway of Fourth Street and Maple Court, about which we have spoken previously. Rarely did anyone arrive by any other route. Then, too, many members of the congregation were without automobiles, and came by interurban cars, alighting at Fourth and Washington and walking the several blocks to the church. In inclement weather it was really a trying experience.

At the congregational meeting called for January 7, 1923 , the pastor was asked to explain the reasons that had been set forth for desiring a change of location. We have no record of the specific reasons given in answer to such request, but it was apparent the congregation was not ready to act, and a committee of five was appointed to make a further study and report.

The committee proceeded promptly to fulfill its assignment, and soon was ready to give its report. A congregational meeting was therefore called for February 27 following. After a thorough discussion of all phases of the matter, the members present, "by a large majority ," opposed the sale of the present church property. This ended the controversy as to change of location.

But it did not settle the continuing inadequacy of the facilities available for church worship and the Sunday School. The Longfellow School gymnasium was rented for one evening a week, to permit some physical activity for the church groups, but it was only a partial solution to the problem. Presbytery was consulted, and the report came back that Presbytery approved the disposal of some of the land owned by the church, which at the time appeared to be surplus property. In February of 1924 , it was decided to submit to the congregation new plans for an addition to the church. John Stahl, architect of the original building, was consulted and he submitted plans for an addition to the east side of the building, and a choir loft on the west. The cost of this improvement was estimated to be between $28,000 and $30,000.

Although an entirely different set of plans was submitted by an architect member of the congregation, Mr. Stahl's plans were finally accepted as the more practical, but the suggested sale of part of the land was at first rejected. A building committee was appointed to explore other methods of financing, and during the following August, authority was given the officers of the church to borrow $ 25,000 from a local bank and from one of the Detroit banks. Again there was agitation to sell some of the lands to the west of the church building, considered by some to be excess land, with the result that at a meeting of the congregation held in December of 1924, approval was given for the sale of not more than 270 feet frontage on Hendrie Boulevard for not less than $7,000.

Again, wiser counsel prevailed. The money for the addition to the building was raised in another manner, and fortunately, we still have our present ideal location and all of the original land. A picture showing the major addition on the east side of the church is shown in Fig. 11.

Fig. 11

By 1923 there was sufficient traffic from Sixth Street to cause the Trustees "to attend to details of laying two plank walks from Sixth Street to church entrances." But as late as 1926 there was still extensive use of Maple Court and the Trustees instructed the janitor to "construct a walk to be built of 2 by 8 feet lumber, said walk to extend from the south end of the west sidewalk on Maple Court to the north church steps leading to the main auditorium of the church."

Money was voted in 1931 to help gravel Maple Court, and the continued use of this street by the general public, which continued across the church property to Sixth Street, created so many problems that in 1940, the Board of Trustees took action to close this street to public use. Posts were set, and a chain and lock installed, with instructions to the janitor to close this route except on Sunday.

In May, 1924, the tenth anniversary of the founding of the church was observed with appropriate ceremonies extending through two Sundays. We illustrate a page from the Souvenir Program (Fig. 12), detailing the special events of the week, together with "A Tenth Anniversary Message" (Fig. 13).

Fig. 12

Fig. 13

A combination of unfortunate circumstances clouded the closing years of the pastorate of the Reverend Mr. Webber, which had covered a decade of unselfish service to the church. The constant problem of insufficient finances had created the feeling in some of the members of the church that it was the pastor, not the members, that was causing the dwindling financial support for the program. Also, Mr. Webber, being always public-spirited and popular in the c i t y, had been elected to the school board, and some members of the church felt that he should not have engaged in affairs that had political involvements.

At this same time a fraternal organization, to which many members of the church belonged, was conducting a carnival in the city, and it was reported that games of chance were involved. The Reverend Mr. Webber, having the courage of his convictions and not being afraid to voice those convictions, spoke out vigorously in opposition to this affair. It resulted in much public criticism and abuse of our pastor, and some members of the church actually withdrew from the church.

Mr. Webber also built a house or two in Royal Oak, a practice indulged in by almost everyone who had money available for such purpose, and again he was criticized unfairly for this secular activity.

At a meeting of the Session held on March 3, 1927, the resignation of the pastor was presented and accepted, although at a congregational meeting held shortly thereafter the Reverend Mr. Webber stated that his earlier resignation had been practically demanded of him. A resolution strongly commendatory of our pastor was adopted at the congregational meeting, as follows:

"Resolved, that the Congregation assembled in regularly called meeting do place on record its appreciation of the work of the Rev. J. E. Webber for the ten years of his pastorate, during which time he has faithfully and diligently performed his ministerial duties and sincerely set forth to his people the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Further: That if the dissolution of the pastoral tie be deemed necessary at this time, the Rev. Mr. Webber will carry with him the sincere good wishes of his former people and their earnest prayers for blessing upon him in whatever sphere of service he may choose."

Despite the unpleasant events which led up to his leaving, Mr. Webber retained the affection, esteem and respect of a large part of the membership of the church and the community as well. When, some years later, an educational building of the church was erected, it was the unanimous opinion of those responsible that it should be named "Webber Hall" in honor of the former minister. At the dedicatory ceremonies for this building, both the son and daughter of Mr. Webber were in attendance as honored guests.

The Reverend Mr. Webber was called back to the church to preach and to participate in church functions on several other occasions. At the time of his death some years later, the morning service was designated as a memorial service to his memory.