Counting Down the Decades of SBPC — The 60s

Posted on June 10, 2012

This year is the 60^th anniversary of Spring Branch Presbyterian Church. 
Each month we will be including “fun facts” that happened in the United States and in our church throughout the decades.

Do you know what was happening in the early 1960s?

1. Per the 1960 Census, the U.S. population is 179,323,175, an increase of 18.5 since 1950.  Houston is the 7^th largest U.S. city.
2. In 1960 the cost of a gallon of gas was 31 cents, and a first-class postage stamp was 4 cents.
3. The average salary was $4,743.
4. Chubby Checker introduced the Twist on American Band Stand in 1961, and a new craze was born with dancing becoming something where a partner was optional.
5. During the early 60’s, women wore miniskirts and leather boots, and men wore paisley shirts and velvet trousers.
6. John Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in the presidential election of 1960—the first election in which televised debates between presidential candidates played a major role.
7. The Houston Oilers were one of the founding members of the AFL in 1960, and they had immediate success becoming the AFL Champions in 1960 and 1961.
8. Major League Baseball sanctioned both the Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets as new National League franchises in 1962.
9. U.S. involvement in Vietnam escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962.
10. Many believe the closest the world has come to a World Wide Nuclear War was in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

And, in the early 1960s at Spring Branch Presbyterian Church …

1. In January 1960, the Lions Club asked permission to ring our church bell at regular intervals to remind people to pay their poll tax.  The request was granted by the Session.
2. In September 1960 the congregation agreed to a proposal to purchase the 4-acre property adjoining the church on the south side of the building.  Because space was needed as the membership had continued to grow, they made plans to pave the front section for parking.
3. On March 6, 1962, the Session made plans to celebrate the “Decennial Observance” of the church on July 15.
4. The church extended a call to Margaret Cater to serve as Director of Christian Education (DCE) on April 10, 1962.
5. In May 1962 our church hosted the meeting of Presbytery and soon took part in the “One Great Hour of Sharing.”
6. In September the Revised Standard Version of the Bible was chosen to be used in all church services.
7. In 1962 the Session earmarked money for the Contingency Fund for the use of neighbor churches in financial distress.
8. Membership was 725 at the end of 1962.
9. Because of the increasing membership, on Easter of 1963, three worship services were held.
10. On September 15, 1963, the congregation accepted the recommendations of the Planning Committee for a new sanctuary and additional education space.  Floyd Clark was named chairman of the Building Committee.

In the mid 1960s…

1. In August 1963 more than 200,000 Americans marched on Washington, D.C., to demand equal rights. The audience heard Martin Luther King, Jr. explain his dream of brotherhood, freedom, justice, and nonviolence.
2. John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 at Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald.
3. At Kennedy’s death, his vice president, Lyndon Johnson, became president.  In July 1964 he proposed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, enacted in memory of Kennedy.
4. The 1963 – 1964 basketball season came to a stop just before All-Star Game as the owners and players fought over wages and pensions. Owners agreed to players’ demands allowing match to continue.
5. The Beatles arrive in America in February 1964, spearheading the British Invasion.
6. In 1964 the first successful Minicomputer, Digital Equipment Corporation’s 12-bit PDP-8, is marketed.  Also, the programming language BASIC was created.
7. March 23, 1965, NASA launches the United States’ first 2-person crew (Gus Grissom and John Young) into Earth’s orbit with the Gemini 3.
8. April 9, 1965, the Harris County Domed Stadium (more commonly known as the Astrodome) opens.
9. By 1966, the women’s liberation movement was beginning to grow in size and power and feminists founded the National Organization for Women.
10. Walt Disney, owner of Walt Disney Co., died on December 15, 1966 from a major tumor in his left lung.

And, in the mid 1960s at Spring Branch Presbyterian Church (SBPC)…

1. On June 28, 1964, the congregation voted to authorize a contract with Koetter, Tharp, and Cowell, architects.
2. In 1964 David Goodrum was given scholarship money to begin full-time study for Christian service.
3. Late in 1964 the first women were elected to serve as church officers.  Lois Chappell and Margaret Stinson began serving as elders and Lillie Anderson and Edith Clark as deacons in January of 1965.
4. On February 14, 1965 a ground-breaking service was held with over 200 members present.
5. The new building was finished in late September, and on October  31, 1965, Dr. Thomas W. Currie led the dedication at 3pm.
6. In mid-1965, it was decided there was a need for an Assistant Minister instead of a DCE.  Margaret Cater resigned June 30, 1965, and Reverend David A. Sharp was called as Assistant Minister in January 1966.
7. Various properties were looked at for a home for Mr. Sharp, his wife Nancy, and their two daughters.  The house and tract of land south of church, which served as a manse and then The Gathering Place, was purchased at end of 1965.
8. Thirty-eight young people who had completed the Communicates Class were received into the full fellowship of the church in March 1966.
9. In August of 1966 there was a Family Vacation Church School held in the evenings for a week, and various classes were held both for children and adults.
10. On November 20, 1966 permission was granted to the Women of the Church to organize and operate on the premises of a Mother’s-Day-Out Nursery.  This activity was successful for many years.

And, in the late 1960s…

1. Later 60’s started the introduction of psychedelic clothes with bright colors for both men and women, and the age of the “Hippie” is born. Men started to wear hair longer, women wore skirts and dresses longer, often known as Maxis, and anything and everything had color including the body.
2. Texas Instruments created the portable calculator in 1967.
3. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee.
4. June 5, 1968, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, United States Senator, was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles, California.
5. In 1968 was the first public demonstration of the computer mouse, video and teleconferencing, and email.
6. In November 1968 Richard M. Nixon is elected defeating Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey.  President Nixon is inaugurated in January 1969 where he promises “peace with honor” to end the Vietnam War.
7. The space race between the US and USSR to land a man on the moon and bring him back ended on July 20, 1969 when America’s Apollo 11 landed Neil Alden Armstrong and Edwin Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Jr. on the moon.  The first words spoken by Armstrong were, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
8. Hurricane Camille, the strongest hurricane ever recorded at landfall, hits the Gulf Coast at Category 5 status on the night of August 17, 1969. It is one of only three hurricanes in the Atlantic to ever
   make landfall at Category 5 Status and one of only four hurricanes worldwide to reach a maximum sustained wind speed of 190 mph.
9. The Manson Murders took place on August 8–10, 1969 when pregnant Sharon Tate and 4 others were killed.
10. On October 29, 1969, the first message is sent over ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet, by US military.

In the late 1960s at SBPC…

1. On March 5, 1967 at a special meeting of Session at 3pm, 44 young people joined the church.
2. In April 1967 the first African-American applied for membership and was received into the full fellowship of the church.
3. On January 14, 1968, Mr. Wells announced that he had been invited by First Presbyterian Church of Bryan to be their pastor.  Then, on February 18, 1968, Mr. Sharp advised that a call had been extended to him by First Presbyterian Church of Houston to serve as one of their pastors.  Dr. Charles King served as Interim Supply Minister beginning April 28 and served as moderator of the Session.
4. On April 7, 1968, at a special meeting of the Session, 25 members of the Communicates Class were introduced and received into the full fellowship of the church.
5. On April 28, 1968 the Senior High Fellowship planned and presented the first Folk Mass at a Folk Vesper Service in the Sanctuary under the supervision of the Worship Committee.
6. Rev. Robert L. (Bob) Ferguson was called as pastor on July 7, 1968, and Rev. Walter B. Funk was called as associated pastor on October 15, 1968.
7. On January 12, the church sponsored Dr. Walter Hull as a medical missionary to a hospital in the Congo, along with his wife Nancy and their children.
8. On January 21, Reed Montgomery was interviewed as a candidate for the ministry, and the Session recommended him to Brazos Presbytery.
9. In May 1969 the Prayer Chain began operation with forty members.
10. Membership at the end of 1969 was 942 with 518 enrolled in Church School.