Page 3 - April Spire 2013

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150th Anniversary Celebration
In 1940, just a year after the Parish House was built, Dr.
George Montgomery retired at age 70, after 15 years
of service to the congregation. When he left, NPC’s
membership stood at 300 and average Sunday School
attendance was 197. He was replaced that same year
by Rev. Lawrence MacColl Horton, who would serve as
Senior Pastor at NPC until 1976, a period of time that
marked dramatic growth in the church’s membership.
In 1943, (at the urging, one might think, of the three
Trustees who co-signed the note) church leaders were
determined to pay off the $12,000 remaining on the
Parish House mortgage. A Debt Retirement Committee,
chaired by Roger Hull, was formed. Special drives were
held at Christmas the next two years, and the mortgage
was publicly burned at a Loyalty Service on March 4, 1945.
With church membership approaching 440 and Sunday
School attendance north of 320, The Debt Retirement
Committee was immediately re-characterized as the
Church Planning Committee, still chaired by Mr. Hull.
The new committee was charged with determining the
future needs of NPC and the physical plant necessary to
meet those needs. From 1945 though 1947, as veterans
streamed home from the war fronts in Europe and Asia,
the committee sought to determine the answers to those
questions.
In the meantime,
NPC benefited from
another generous
gift by a member.
On December 31,
1946, Mrs. Carrie
Bruggerhof Hodges,
who owned and
was living in the
house the Doll
family now calls
home, presented to NPC as the site of a future church,
a large lot on the corner of Noroton Avenue and the
Post Road. This lot was immediately adjacent to the land
the Chapel and Parish House stood on. A year later,
in December, 1947, the Church Planning Committee
presented plans to the congregation for a new NPC
campus, with buildings dedicated to worship, education
and fellowship. The plan was widely praised and approved
NPC will continue the
celebration of its 150th
year with the return of former
Associate Pastor, Nancy Becker,
on Sunday April 7, 2013. From
1981-84 Reverend Becker
was Minister of Discipleship Development which
encompassed Christian Education with ministry to
women as her major focus. She was the third woman
ordained to ministry at NPC, but the first to be called as
minister to the congregation.
Nancy, her husband, Mike, and their three young
children Tom, Laura and Meredith, moved to Darien
in 1972. A friend and neighbor invited them to NPC
where the Beckers found an “open, friendly, and loving
church”. They joined the church in 1974. While
working on their old house on Middlesex Rd. Nancy
began to consider Christian ministry. In 1977 she
enrolled part time in Union Theological Seminary in
New York City. Four years later she graduated. During
this time Mike and the children supported her by doing
household tasks. Each child was responsible for taking
turns cooking dinner, even though they were 14, 12 and
8 when she was ordained in June 1981.
After leaving Noroton, Nancy served the First
Presbyterian Church of Glen Ellyn, IL as Associate Pastor
from 1984-1987 and then served as Senior Pastor of the
Ogden Dunes Community Church in Indiana for sixteen
years where she is now Pastor Emerita.
Nancy and Mike enjoy nine grandchildren. Their son,
Tom, is a missionary in the Czech Republic. His ministry
is supported by NPC. Their grandson, Matthew,
recently became a missionary in Thailand. We are
looking forward to a joyful welcome of Nancy and Mike
on April 7, 2013.
Dealing with Rapid Growth
Nancy Becker
continued on page 4...