The Church B Its History

The Church – Its History

1904-2003

compiled for the 2003 Mission Study by Melissa Norton

First seventy-five years condensed from

Pocatello Presbyterian Church History by H. Leigh Gittins.

First Presbyterian Church, Pocatello, was born out of the circumstances of a railroad town. Founded as a railroad center in 1882, Pocatello was incorporated in 1893. But already in 1888, when an ecumenical congregation was established under the auspices of the Congregational Church, Pocatello was divided into west and east sides by railroad tracks dangerous to cross. The west side congregation attempted to supply the spiritual needs of the east side by establishing a Mission Sunday School there in March 1891, but without adequate facilities it was forced to close at the end of six months. Thus it was that Presbyterians from the east side began to press the Rev. Dr. S. E. Wishard, executive of the Board of Home Missions for Utah and Idaho, for a Presbyterian Church to serve the east side of Pocatello. Dr. Wishard was able to respond in the summer of 1904. Together with the Synodical Sunday School Missionary, the Rev. Mr. H. W. Rankin, Dr. Wishard conducted a series of tent meetings in Mr. Rankin=s Gospel Tent, pitched at the corner of 5^th Ave and Center St, with a view toward establishing a Presbyterian congregation and raising funds to erect a church building. These tent meetings, running from 22 June through 17 July, were so successful that on 3 July a Sunday School with fifty members was organized, and Mr. Norman Belcher elected first Superintendent, a position Mrs. E. C. White would soon take over. First Presbyterian Church, Pocatello, was formally established at the closing meeting on Sunday 17 July 1904, with eleven charter members and Dr. Wishard as founding pastor. $1000 were already pledged toward construction of a church building, and until construction was completed, meetings were held in Wedekind Hall at the northeast corner of 3^rd and Center. Participants in the original tent meetings had included Miss Amelia Frost, Home Missionary to the Indians of the Fort Hall Reservation, with elders of First Presbyterian Church of Fort Hall, who sang hymns in the Shoshone language. Miss Frost=s work with native Americans had begun in 1887, and by 1899 a Presbyterian church had been organized at Fort Hall as a result of her efforts. Fort Hall elders contributed the first $5 toward the construction of the Pocatello church.

Following the establishment of First Presbyterian Church, Pocatello (FPC), Dr. Wishard returned regularly to preach until December, when the Rev. Mr. James A. Hedges arrived from the Walla Walla mission field, conducting his first services in December 1904. Meanwhile efforts were continuing under the leadership of Norman Belcher and Earle (E.C.) White to collect funds for a church building. A contract was awarded on 4 January 1905 for the construction of a Presbyterian Chapel at the corner of 5^th Ave and Lewis St at the cost of $2500. In February a Young People=s Society of Christian Endeavor was formed with thirty members under the leadership of Mr. Hedges and Professor Cheney of the four year old Academy of Idaho (precursor of Idaho State University). The Chapel was sufficiently complete that Sunday School and Easter services could be held in it on 23 April 1905. The choir program was under the direction of Prof. and Mrs. Ed Carlton. Through 1905 the new church--AThe Little White Church in The Vale@--hosted meetings of Kendall Presbytery, the Synod of Utah, and the Women=s Presbyterial Society, and in 1908, the first Annual Christian Endeavor Union Convention with FPC=s own W. P. (Percy) Havenor as President. Music was important from the start in the young church=s life as Dr. Wishard had brought a pump organ to the early tent meetings to accompany the singing. Easter 1906 was celebrated with a cantata, AThe Nazarene,@ under the direction of Prof. and Mrs. Carlton. Pump organ remained the main form of accompaniment until 1918, when the decision was made to rent, and in 1919, to purchase a piano for $160.

Meanwhile in the fall of 1907 Mr. Hedges decided to move on, and FPC was fortunate almost immediately to obtain the services of the Rev. Mr. Henry Addison Mullen. Mr. Mullen was successful both in Pocatello and also in Kendall Presbytery which he served as moderator. In September 1909 he took President Taft to task in the local paper for having allowed the official activities associated with the President=s visit to Pocatello to intrude into the hours on Sunday evening normally dedicated to church activities. At the close of 1911 Mr. Mullen announced his intention to seek another call, but he remained long enough to organize, in June 1912, a local association for young men who had missed a college education. During his tenure the Ladies Aid Society financed a bell for the church tower partially by means of an eighty plate Bell Banquet on 14 November 1910. Pocatello=s Presbyterian Church was now commonly called AThe Church of the Open Door@.

Following Mr. Mullen=s departure, the Session extended a call in September 1912 to the Rev. Mr. Clyde E. van der Maaten. W. P. Havenor assisted Mr. van der Maaten in the publication of a monthly newsletter The Presbyterian Messenger, and under van der Maaten=s leadership, the Sunday School grew to a membership of 156. In 1913, on 13 and 14 September, FPC sponsored a unified Sunday School convention with speakers of national and international repute. In October 1913 FPC completed paying the debt on the church building, and in the following year, the congregation voted both to build a gallery onto the rear of the church in order to expand the seating capacity, and to build a manse which the Ladies Aid Society led the way in financing. During this period FPC also built and operated a Mission Sunday School on Rio Vista Road, four miles northwest of Pocatello, on land donated by W. P. Havenor. The building was dedicated in April 1915 and in the same month Mr. van der Maaten ended his ministry in Pocatello in order to return to work with Christian Endeavor.

The Rev. Mr. Marcus E. Lindsay, called in May 1915 and installed in December, came at a time of accelerated growth of Pocatello=s population and economy. Life was changing and Mr. Lindsay was authorized by the Session to protest before the City Council the request to show motion pictures on Sundays. The Lindsays were the first to occupy the new manse in the 300 block of S 5^th, and as early as May 1916, a new church building was being proposed. Attendance at Sunday School was consistently running 150-60 members, and in April 1918, a Brotherhood was established under the leadership of F. C. McGowan. In the next month FPC was again looking for a new pastor as Mr. Lindsay left to take up an appointment as YMCA Secretary for army work.

It fell to the new minister, the Rev. Dr. R. J. Phipps, who began to serve the congregation in the spring of 1919, to oversee the plans for a new church building. A committee was formed to proceed with plans for construction of a building at the cost of $50,000, and by July 1920 the motion made to the quarterly congregational meeting to raise the expenditure to $75,000 passed. The church and its Sunday School had continued to grow. Its financial condition was good and the now fifteen-year-old building was no longer adequate. When Dr. Phipps left in June 1923, plans for the new building were well under way.

The Rev. Mr. G. William Barnum of Boise, installed in December1923, followed Dr. Phipps in leading the way toward a new church building. Under his dynamic leadership the men=s Brotherhood was revitalized, the Ladies Aid Society took over some overdue notes against the manse, and committees for church planning and for a financial plan were constituted. A new building site was selected on S 7^th Ave, a few blocks from the then Idaho Technical Institute (formerly the Academy of Idaho), and the Ladies Aid bought two lots on the corner of 7^th and Lewis. Mr. E. C. White traded two lots he owned for two lots adjacent to those purchased by the Ladies Aid and gave them to the church. (His own house stood across 7^th Ave to the west, on the corner of 7^th and Lewis.) There was now a site for the new facility. The Church Building Fund Drive was held in May 1926, and the $32,023 it secured, together with $10,000 from the Board of Church Erection, was sufficient to set things in motion. Plans were commissioned from the Church architects, Charles W. Bolton and Son of Philadelphia, and the contract for construction was awarded to Charles A. Baldwin for $40,153. Ground breaking day was 3 May 1927, complete with community singing led by Choir Director Mrs. Norma Masterson Smith and prayers offered by Mr. Barnum. Everyone present turned a shovel of dirt, beginning with Mrs. E. C. White, the only charter member remaining on the church roll. On 23 July the cornerstone was laid, complete with a copper time capsule.

One of our present members, Robert Shaw, lived just a block down on 6^th Ave during the years the new church building was under construction. He remembers very well seeing the new building going up, but neither he nor his little friends could understand at the time why the workmen didn=t want small boys playing on the plank they used to walk up from 7^th Ave to the second story window. As construction progressed the old church building and the 5^th Ave lots were sold to different parties, and the last services were held in the ALittle White Church in The Vale@ in November 1928. Mr. E. C. White offered the use of the White Building on 2^nd and Center for services and this space was utilized until the Session received permission to use the old Franklin Jr. High (now Bonneville Elementary School) on N 8^th Ave. By July 1929 the first Communion service could be held in the basement of the new church building in celebration of the church=s twenty fifth anniversary, and almost a year later Mr. Barnum presided at the Dedication Ceremonies on 22 June 1930. The sermon was given by the Rev. Dr. William J. Boone, President of what had now become the College of Idaho. The new church building was graced by a beautiful rose window financed by the Northern Star Club and executed by Presbyterians Herman and Oscar Pearson, employees of Idaho Glass and Paint. The Pearsons also created the stained glass for the north and south windows of the Sanctuary.

Mr. Barnum had been an active church leader in other respects during the period of construction. In the summer of 1928 he was a delegate to General Assembly. With the dedication of the new building a month away, in May 1930 Mr. Barnum requested to resign as pastor in order to move on to new responsibilities in Kalispell MT. In September 1930 the Rev. Mr. Claude Richmond of St. Anthony began to act as stated supply Pastor with the understanding that if all were satisfied he would be installed after one year. He was subsequently installed as planned. But the Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash late in 1929, was a difficult time for FPC as it was for the rest of the country, and the church struggled to keep up with new bills at the same time as it paid off its construction loans. The Ladies Aid Society took over the interest on the church loan, and held rummage sales and dinners, and sold cook books, to keep the church afloat. But exciting developments were taking place as well. The Deacons were able to clothe two families, and the Ladies Aid helped to finance a wheelchair for an invalid. A second unit of the Ladies Aid Society was established, and in June 1932, shortly after General Assembly amended its constitution in 1930 to allow for women elders, Mrs. E. C. White was elected the first woman elder of FPC. Thomas R. Cox writes, in his Centennial Essays, that

“[a]s a capstone to her long career of service to the church, Mrs. White served as a commissioner (delegate) to General Assembly held in Denver in 1933, to which she traveled by car with the Rev. Joseph Cook, the Nez Perce minister at Fort Hall (who was Kendall Presbytery=s other commissioner), and his wife. During the trip, Mrs. White repeatedly sought out restaurants and lodgings that would serve her traveling companions in spite of the widespread discrimination against American Indians at that time.”

Mr. Richmond resigned his pastorate in June 1935 to accept a call in Watsonville CA, and later that same year the Rev. Mr. John E. Spencer came to us from Lake City IA to serve FPC at a salary much reduced by the depression. His Church Loyalty Campaign was of great service to the church and forty new members were received by April 1936. However Mr. Spencer=s tenure was short lived, as he resigned in March 1937, to be succeeded in October by the Rev. Mr. Ebenezer T. Ferry. Mr. Ferry began his tenure by immediately undertaking a membership drive. He and Mrs. (Isobel) Ferry were beloved leaders of the church, bringing it much of the way through World War II. During the war Mrs. Ferry organized an all-girl choir when most of the men had been drafted and gone to war. The Young Matrons purchased robes and the Ladies Aid raised most of the funds for purchase of an Organ-Tron electric organ which was in place by April 1942. The Manse property was sold in March 1943. When Mr. Ferry was forced by poor health to resign in order to move to California in October 1944, he was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. J. Willis Hamblin of Sheridan WY.

Dr. Hamblin saw FPC through its fiftieth anniversary celebration. His great interest, and that of his wife, was youth work. The church now boasted over 300 members and funds were donated to build a pastor=s study and to renovate the kitchen and restroom facilities. In 1952 new hearing aids were installed. When Dr. Hamblin presided over the anniversary services on Sunday and Monday, 18 and 19 July 1954, Mrs. E. C. White, the only charter member present, was guest of honor. In May 1955 the now failing Organ-Tron organ was replaced with a Hammond electric organ, thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Evelyn Turner. At the console was the young James Drake, who served as organist from 1954 through the fall of 1957. (Drake, now Professor of Music at Utah State University, has remained a good friend of FPC.) When Dr. Hamblin retired in June 1956, the church still owed a mortgage of $12,200.

In 1955, a year before Dr. Hamblin=s retirement, a Mariners Club was formed at FPC. Many of our current members remember this as a significant organization in the life of the church. The previous year the church had learned of this national organization which was spreading rapidly in Presbyterian churches throughout the country. Its purpose was to organize married couples into a service club to provide support for their church and to promote sociability. Upon organization each club would receive a charter, a set of by-laws, and guidance from an officer in the National Mariners. Officers would be husband-wife teams. At the time FPC was in need of such a group, and in 1955, under the guidance of Elder Elwood Becker of Soda Springs (then a national officer of Mariners, and now Stated Clerk of Kendall Presbytery) a large meeting of enthusiastic couples elected Knox and Ila Boring as the first skippers of FPC=s Flagship Mariners. At that time the choir was short of members, so expansion of the choir became one of the club=s first cargos. To accomplish this, several of the women took turns serving the choir members refreshments after practice each Wednesday night. Enthusiasm abounded. Average attendance at choir practice grew and held at twenty plus for several years. Other cargos included cleaning, painting, and repairing of the church facility, and programs such as a Minstrel Show and a hilarious play called AAaron Slick from Pumpkin Creek@. There were business meetings, pot lucks, square dancing parties, and progressive dinners. Later the Club membership grew so large that a second club, Buoys and Belles, was organized. It is believed that the existence of these Mariners Clubs attracted many new people to the church as well.

Dr. Hamblin was succeeded in September 1956 by the Rev. Dr. Jo Austin Lininger, a pastor with whom many of our present members are still in touch. He began his work at FPC by emphasizing the responsibility of all church members to work for the best interests of the church. The Ladies Aid was already working on a Pew Fund to replace the pews and folding chairs which had first been used in the original church building in 1905. By February 1957 new pews were paid for and installed, and in this year also our still beloved coffee hours were instituted with a view toward helping congregation members become acquainted with each other. In these early days the coffee hours were held only once a month, and were considerably fancier events than the weekly affairs they have become. In his first year Dr. Lininger also led the first of several fall retreats for elders.

By 1959 church membership had grown to 500 members with a Church School enrollment of 325. FPC was desperately in need of an educational and social facility. The inadequate nature of the kitchen and dining facilities, for instance, was highlighted by a spaghetti dinner sponsored by the Mariners: on the scheduled evening a torrential rainstorm occurred and church members still reminisce about carrying out pots of water from sinks backed up from the storm sewers. By summer 1959 the congregation voted unanimously to undertake a $150,000 expansion of the church facility and began fund raising with support from the Board of National Missions. The building architect, Morgan Tovey, Jr., was retained in 1961, and the construction contract awarded to Vernon Hershberger in February 1962. Meanwhile a new church publication, Westminster Chimes, kept the congregation informed about the establishment of United Presbyterian Women=s organization in 1958, the inauguration of a Memorial Fund in 1961, the elimination of our Board of Trustees in favor of a Unicameral Session in 1962, and the activities of Westminster Foundation at what had been, since 1947, Idaho State College, and was soon to become Idaho State University (ISU) in 1963. The church was also undertaking the purchase of a new manse. In January 1963 the educational and social addition, though still with an incomplete third floor, was dedicated. It included expanded teaching facilities, dining and kitchen facilities, a heating facility, and a custodian=s apartment. The chapel of the new education wing was built by master carpenter and now Elder James Stitt. All this came none too soon, as active membership had grown to 620.

In 1964 two laymen of the congregation were honored on the regional level: Merritt Greeling was elected Moderator of Kendall Presbytery, and Thomas H. Norris was chosen as delegate to General Assembly. FPC=s national interests were reflected in 1966 as members pledged $10,163 toward the National United Presbyterian Church=s AFifty-Million-Dollar Campaign@, headed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Locally the church was finishing paying the debts for the new addition, installing new sidewalks, and celebrating Dr. Lininger=s tenth anniversary as pastor. In 1967 it turned toward finishing the third floor of the addition and began the first of several summer combined services rotating among the Presbyterian, Congregational, and Baptist Churches. Thomas Norris was elected Moderator of Kendall Presbytery. The third floor was completed in 1971 by means of refinancing the Manse and attention turned to the Chancel. Choir seating was in disarray, and an artist was commissioned to draw plans. The remodeling was carried out over the summer of 1973 as the congregation worshiped with the Congregationalists in their church. October saw the dedication of the remodeled chancel complete with reredos, choir benches, pulpit, lectern, and carpeting.

First Presbyterian Church, Pocatello was clearly flourishing when, in January 1974, Dr. Lininger announced that he had accepted a call to serve as Southern Area Representative for the Board of Pensions. His service over his 18 years with FPC had been exemplary. That service was not only to the local church. He served as president of Pocatello Rotary Club, and with Session=s permission he was elected to and served on the local School Board for several years. In his time with FPC he was Moderator of Presbytery and of the Synod of Idaho. He also brought several Moderators of the national church to Pocatello as visiting speakers. The job of finding his replacement was not an easy one, but the Pastor Nominating Committee brought FPC the Rev. Mr. John F. (Jack) Wells by September. In the interim the Rev. Mr. Arthur Bezanson, newly returned from duty in Thailand, served FPC from April through August 1974.

The success of the Sunday School program at FPC during the 1970s, under both Dr. Lininger and Mr. Wells, was largely the result of the leadership and dedication of Hilma and Ron Reed, who gave unstintingly and generously of their time to the Sunday School program. Hilma was Sunday School Superintendent for a number of years, and is particularly remembered for mentoring many younger women in leadership roles for the church. A flourishing adult Sunday School program also grew in the 1970s under the leadership of Dr. Ed House of ISU. He was succeeded in the late 1970s by Jerry Younkin, and then by Harald Wyndham through 2000. By then the tradition of adult Bible study had become well entrenched in the congregation, and other leaders had stepped forward to teach or facilitate classes. Dr. House also established a breakfast Bible Study class in the 1970s which still continues to be active.

The 1970s also saw the revitalization of the tradition of scouting in FPC. Boy Scout Troop 13, which was active in the 1930s, traced its origin back to the first Troop organized in Pocatello as Troop number 1. It had become inactive for some years, but became active again in 1950 with a revival of Boy Scout Troop 13 and Cub Pack 13 under Ardell Smiley as Scoutmaster and Knox Boring as Cub Master. Summer camping was a highlight. Scouts Ted Fricke, Bill Smiley, and Peter Nichols earned Eagle rank, and over the years several adult leaders, including Percy Havenor, Ardell Smiley, Jo Lininger, Glen Kunkel, and Ray Rubel were awarded the Silver Beaver. Ray Rubel, assisted by Earl Hollenbeck, served as Scoutmaster for Scout Troop 313 in the 1960s, and under his leadership the Troop worked on civic and church projects, participated in winter camping, and made two fifty mile hikes. Eleven Scouts earned Eagle rank, including Robert Hollenbeck, the Rubel boys, Skyler, Robert, and Scott, and Steve Skaggs. In 1969 Ray and Bob Rubel and Matt Kelly attended the National Scout Jambouree in Faragut, ID. Meanwhile during the late 1960s Cub Scout Pack 13 continued with John Falk as Cub Master until 1969. Jerry Skaggs became Assistant Cub Master in 1968 and took over Boy Scout Troop 313 in 1970. He was Scout Master until 1976. Under his leadership Daniel Skaggs, Bob Lerch, and Jeff Milheisler earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Troop 313 went through another transition in 1976, first as Cub Pack 313 and later as Troop 313, both under the leadership of Harald Wyndham with the assistance of Bill Kluckhohn. The Troop remained active until 1985 and produced two Eagle Scouts, Jonathon Wyndham and Robert Schiers.

Meanwhile when Mr. Wells assumed the role of pastor at FPC in 1974, he preferred to invest in a home of his own, so the Manse was sold and a housing allowance was added to the pastor=s salary. A real milestone was reached when, in June 1976, the church mortgage was burned. But even before that point a significant addition to the setting of worship was in the works: a pipe organ. An Organ Committee was formed in September 1975 with the enviable task of traveling to other cities to listen to organs in other churches. The lucky Committee members were Wesley Harris (Choir Director), Keith Forrest (Organist), Chilton Phoenix, and Bob Shaw. Their recommendation was for a Wicks Organ with a projected cost (including installation) of $42,000. A fund-raising committee was formed with the understanding that organ funds come from donations and not from regular church financing. A major financial drive was authorized in December 1977 and was so successful that the organ was installed in October 1978, with many former choir members returning to participate in the Service of Dedication and former church organist Dr. James Drake performing a dedicatory recital. As FPC approached its seventy-fifth anniversary in 1979, its finances were in good shape and the emphasis turned toward Mission giving, inspired by Atwo ladies of the congregation@ who brought home to the congregation the desperate need to combat world hunger. (Unfortunately Leigh Gittins failed to identify these ladies. Mary Dahlquist, who, everyone agrees, should know who they are, said immediately that they must be Magda Stocker and Evelyn Turner. However suggestions from other long time church members included Mary Dahlquist herself, Mary Echo, and Scotty Whaley. Leona and Jerry Skaggs report that Scotty was very Afocused on mission@. And Janne Goldbeck remembers how on Session Mary Echo kept calling the church back to what it was really about, reminding us what our purpose was when we were in danger of being obsessed with practicalities. This is graciously confirmed by Ron McCune, who was Chair of Finance at that time and responsible for taking care of the practicalities.) The anniversary year saw a series of celebrations culminating in an All-Church Banquet on 22 September held in the Ballroom of ISU Student Union. Many present members recall this as a very significant event in the life of our church. The anniversary was also marked by the publication of H. Leigh Gittins= Pocatello Presbyterian Church History, from which much of the present work is condensed. The year of celebration was also marked, however, by the death of Thomas Norris. Session passed a resolution at its 29 October meeting declaring him AMr. Presbyterian@ and noted that he had faithfully served our church though two thirds of our history. Present members recall the dedication he and his wife Mattie devoted to youth work, and relate that he was always the elder to assist in the baptism of babies. Their devotion to the church was celebrated further when, in September 1980, new choir robes purchased with memorial gifts in their honor were dedicated.

Last twenty-five years based on Annual Reports,

Session Minutes, and personal interviews.

The last quarter of First Presbyterian Church=s first century began with successes in its past and challenges on its horizon. In January 1980 receipts were still in progress for the national church=s Major Mission effort, but FPC had already exceeded its $15,000 goal by over $2500. The church was suffering chronic furnace problems however, and in 1979 boiler renovations were performed by members of the congregation. In August 1979 Dr. Larry Anderson began his association with the Chancel Choir by accepting a one year position to fill in for Choir Director Wes Harris, with the understanding that Organist Keith Forrest would occasionally direct and allow Anderson to play the new organ in his place. Forrest had taken over the position of organist in 1957, following his mentor, James Drake, and continued in the position through 1987. Anderson continued to serve the Choir as Director and/or Organist for 11 years. In October 1979 a Men=s Club was activated under the leadership of Art Carlson. The Congregational Meeting of January 1981 reported 425 members with Church School attendance (including teachers) at 182. Over 95% of the organ debt had been paid.

In1980 a succession of Christian Education (CE) Directors served on staff at FPC, including, from March to October, the Rev. Mrs. Judy Walther who accepted a call to serve as half time Assistant Pastor with special responsibilities for Christian Ed and Youth. Unfortunately Mrs. Walther was forced to resign her position when her husband took a job in California, and in December the position of CE Director was offered to Susan Fisher. FPC continued over several years to explore the possibility of obtaining another Assistant Pastor, but sufficient funds were never generated. Meanwhile Fisher resigned as CE Director in October 1981, charging that a more contemporary service was needed and that the needs of children and youth were not being met. These criticisms were taken very seriously by Mr. Wells and the Session, which spoke of a Aspiritual crisis@, and various strategies were tried to address them. The outlook was not wholly negative, as there were vibrant and energetic Jr. and Sr. High fellowship groups under the leadership of Jack and Shirley Wells. 15 young people had attended Camp Sawtooth over the summer, and the previous year 3 youth were proposed to Presbytery and 2, Shauna and Scott Bare, were accepted to attend Triennium. Shauna Bare was subsequently nominated as a Youth Advisory Delegate (YAD) to General Assembly, and also served as the first Counselor-in-Training (CIA) at Camp Sawtooth. She was also the first student from FPC, and also from Kendall Presbytery and the Synod of the Pacific, to receive an academic scholarship to Presbyterian-related Whitworth College in Spokane WA. 1981 also marked the presentation to the church by the 5 circles of Presbyterian Women of 5 banners symbolizing 5 historical creeds of the Presbyterian Church.

Problems with the furnace continued, and energy costs were high. Various parts of the building were in need of maintenance or renovation, and, under the leadership of Art Carlson, the newly constituted Men=s Club took on this challenge by beginning to sponsor Work Parties. By 1985 it was suggested that the Work Parties take place on a monthly basis, not only for repairs and beautification but also for the fellowship of the members. The Men=s Club itself died a natural death by attrition, but the Work Parties have continued under the auspices of Building and Grounds, and both women and men share in the work. No job is ever undertaken by a single individual, so that members are bound together and feel personal investment in service of the church, with the result that the seventy-five year old facility is in excellent condition. In latter years Allan and Kathy Priddy have provided significant leadership for these events, with Allan serving as cook, organizer and vocal inspiration. Members of the congregation have come to look forward to his imaginative announcements at the beginning of worship services, and the Work Parties look forward to his delicious breakfasts.

A new CE Director, Charlotte Mallet, was hired in September 1982, and at the September Session meeting a motion passed to request Presbytery to reconsider its decision to discontinue its funding to Idaho State University Ecumenical Ministries (ISUEM). FPC had struggled with its outreach to University students, and ISUEM was high on its list of mission allotments. But the financial situation of ISUEM was not good, and in subsequent years it too was struggling to find a model of ministry that worked in a predominately L.D.S. population. October 1982 saw the arrival of two octaves of handbells purchased with money specially donated for that purpose by Leigh and Virginia Gittins. This ended a debate over whether bells should be procured, and a Bell Choir was formed, though tensions with the Chancel Choir persisted for some years. Initially the Bell Choir was directed by Jean Coapman, followed soon by Claudia Hasselquist. In September 1984, the Bell Choir=s current Director, Betta Sharp, assumed her position. 150 people attended the CE Christmas Party in December 1982, and the Work Parties began renovation of a Jr. High room. Session nominated 3 more youth, Kathy Sharp, Jenni Wyndham, and Cheryl Brown, to attend Triennium, and all 3 were approved by Presbytery in 1983. A third octave of hand bells was added in January 1983, and the new year also saw Mr. Wells serving as Moderator of Kendall Presbytery. In April the FPC Presbyterian Women received visits from their National President Kathryn Dean, and their Synodical President Esther Peck. FPC=s Mary Dahlquist was serving at the time as Kendall Presbyterial President and Leedice Kissane as Vice President. April also saw one of Sessions=s own members, Mr. Joe Coulter, considering a call to pastoral ministry. In May Session took him under care, and in the fall Mr. Coulter gave up his law practice and moved his family to Louisville to commence his studies at Louisville Theological Seminary. Mr. Wells subsequently attended his Aexit interview@ in the summer of 1985. Coulter eventually left the pastoral ministry, but not before serving in several churches. 1983 also saw the establishment of two important and on-going missions of FPC. In October Session voted to allow an Al Anon Group to meet in the church facility. And late in the year God=s Fund was established to be administered by the Deacons as a response to the economically depressed state of many people in Pocatello.

1984 saw FPC go through two CE Directors, though Charlotte Mallet and Sally Barr resigned due to changes in their own circumstances rather than dissatisfaction with the church. The following January the position was accepted by Milo Coladonato, who also worked half time for Intervarsity Fellowship. In March 1984 Session determined there was a need for lay leadership in worship, and by the following January 40 lay leaders had participated in leadership of Sunday morning worship services. In 1985 Boy Scout Troop 313 lost its adult leadership and disbanded. The Handbell Choir was performing once a month by fall 1984. Mr. Wells, who had announced in the fall of 1983 that he would be retiring in July 1986, was elected in January 1985 as Presbytery=s Ministerial Delegate to General Assembly.

1985 is best remembered, however, as the AYear of the Boiler Breakdown@. In January the boiler self-destructed when it was allowed by the custodian to run out of water and the low water switch failed to work. The Central Christian Church offered its hospitality to FPC while the old boiler was cut into pieces, removed, and replaced. The winter was exceptionally cold, running to sub-zero temperatures, and it was a constant battle to keep the pipes from freezing. The eventual cost of a new heating system was $27,000, and the church was drawn into lengthy and ultimately unsatisfactory negotiations with the insurance company, resulting a year later in a settlement of just under $4800. On a more positive note, Mr. Wells was invited to offer the invocation and benediction for the 1985 ISU graduation ceremonies. A whirlwind attorney by the name of Alberta Phillips joined the church in March, and by May she was instrumental in forming a Peacemaking Committee which was extremely active over the next five years. Many present members recall their involvement in this Committee as a significant part of their life in the church. The Deacons were also extremely active in 1985, organizing a meeting of Deacons from 7 Pocatello churches resulting in a heightened awareness of the number of homes in the city lacking adequate heating. A resulting letter to the United Way Campaign went far toward resolving the crisis, and by the year=s end the homes of 50 Pocatello families were heated. The Deacons also began a long-term collaboration with Salvation Army by arranging to ring the bell and accept donations at a local grocery store one Saturday in November 1985, and another in December 1986.

In the spring of 1986 FPC again saw 3 of its youth, Alice Barnett, Naomi House, and Jon Wyndham, chosen as delegates to Triennium, and Mr. Wells presented the Session with information on the New Zealand parish he had been asked to serve after his retirement from FPC. Members of FPC profited from this association later, as in 1993 and again in 1997 Mr. Wells led groups of members of the churches he had served in Pocatello, Kearney Nebraska, and Billings Montana, to visit parishes he served in New Zealand and Australia. Many of our present members treasure their memories of staying in the homes of New Zealand church members, and of the coffee hours and pot lucks given in honor of their visit. Meanwhile, in May 1986 the Bell Choir requested donations for purchase of a fifth octave, and plans began for FPC members to build a new cabin at Camp Sawtooth in the following year. Milo Coladonato resigned as Director of CE to seek full time employment, and in August the position was offered to FPC member and ISU Psychology Professor Victor Joe. Meanwhile the Pastor Nominating Committee had been busy, and at a Congregational Meeting in July 1986 Coke McClure was unanimously elected as Pastor. The long-standing concern over ministry to youth was a priority for both McClure and Joe, and in the 1986 Annual Report Joe reported good progress on three concerns: to reinvolve youth in the life of the church, to provide Sunday School teachers with a sense of community and appreciation, and to work closely with staff to present a unified and integrated ministry and mutual support. FPC also leant its support in the form of regular donations to an organization called Aid for Friends which was raising money to establish a shelter.

In 1987 the Camp Sawtooth Project came to fruition as congregation members gathered over Memorial Day weekend to build a new cabin. 72 people on the work crew shared lunch on Saturday. Allan Priddy served as general foreman, Jim Stitt as master carpenter, and Mary Echo ran the kitchen. FPC not only provided the labor, but donated all the building materials. Those involved felt the experience to be a valuable one, and it paved the way for the congregation=s later consideration of involvement in Habitat for Humanity. Over the summer McClure served as Dean for the week-long Sr. High Camp. 1987 was also the year that the church acquired its first computer, a Kaypro PC-30. Maundy Thursday saw the institution of a Paschal Seder, with Elder Paul Link serving as rabbi and help on hand from Pocatello=s Temple Emmanuel. This Seder meal was celebrated for three years. Another FPC elder, Jean Joe, was appointed ethnic representative for the Synod of the Pacific. Jean and Victor Joe were running a Jr. High Fellowship, and the Sr. High Fellowship was led by Coke and Trudy McClure. Donations to the Deacon=s God=s Fund were up nearly 100% over the previous year, and the Deacon=s Pantry distributed 80 bags of groceries to people in need. The Peacemaking Committee was concentrating its attention on the situation in Latin America. The monthly Work Parties adopted a motto: If it=s broken, fix it. If it=s dirty, clean it. If it doesn=t move, paint it.

In 1988 FPC turned to the problem of handicapped access. An elevator was considered, but the cost was considered prohibitive, and as an alternative a chair lift was purchased and installed for access from the street entrance to the sanctuary level. A second chair lift was installed in 1992 to provide access from the street entrance to the basement level; at present the second floor is still inaccessible to disabled persons. The Peacemaking Committee produced the first of a series of annual Lenten devotional books, and sponsored a 5 session study on violence. 1988 also saw the reestablishment of a Mariner=s Club under the leadership of Jack and Olah Rucker and Jim and Grace Stitt. 7 youth from FPC attended a regional youth conference in Reno, and Elder Harald Wyndham attended a Presbytery workshop at the College of Idaho for training related to the new Presbyterian Hymnal. Coke McClure served as a delegate to General Assembly.

Things seemed to be going well for FPC when in 1989 it suffered a shock as Coke and Trudy McClure informed Session in August of their pending divorce proceedings. McClure desired to continue as minister, and Session voted to retain him with a positive statement regarding his ministry. This was confirmed later in the month by a secret ballot of the Congregational Meeting. On other fronts FPC continued its work. The second floor was made into a Jr./Sr. High activity area and 8 youth attended Triennium. The Joes resigned at the end of the spring as CE Directors, as Jean Joe was elected as Moderator of the Synod of the Pacific and installed in November. FPC received a donation allowing it to purchase a tile in the Pocatello History Museum Mural, and the theme of the rose window was approved in commemoration of the role played by the church in the history of the area. McClure initiated a new College and Career Fellowship. Still, repercussions from McClure=s situation were felt when a few congregation members left for other churches, and the proposed budget for 1990 had to be cut when pledges failed to meet expectations.

In 1990 Joy Doctor, who had volunteered in September 1989 to begin a drama in worship group, introduced a program of liturgical dramas (proclo dramas) in Lent. 1990 also saw the Hymnal Selection Committee under Harald Wyndham, recommend purchase of a complete set of new Presbyterian Hymnals. FPC saw its former pastor, Mr. Jack Wells, designated Pastor Emeritus, an honor which was later extended to Dr. Jo Lininger as well. Kerry Williamson (then Robison) joined the FPC staff in as CoDirector of Christian Education with Jenny Neurath, and continued as sole Director when Neurath stepped aside in the fall. Williamson continued to do an excellent job of supervising the Christian Education program until she left in 2001 to take a position at ISU as Coordinator of the Early Learning Center. 1990 was marked by the visit in September of Dr. Arlo Duba, Dean of Dubuque Theological Seminary, which emphasizes training of native Americans for the gospel ministry. In honor of the occasion he was presented by Herman and Joy Doctor with a hand-made beaded medallion, Shoshone artist Sandy Ariwite=s interpretation of the Presbyterian symbol of the cross and flames. The major project of Building and Grounds for the year was the tuck pointing of the church building. According to the Annual Report, A[t]he theme for 1990 was the concept of living stone and sick mortar. Fortunately the sick mortar was cured by the laying on of hands and trowels, elbow grease and application of capital@Bin excess of $34,000, but the mortar should last for 70 years. The Peacemaking Committee sponsored a class taught by Jean Joe on her family=s experience of WWII internment and redress. At Thanksgiving the Deacons reestablished their collaboration with the Salvation Army by assisting with their Thanksgiving Dinner. This was followed in subsequent years by Saturday lunches which FPC Deacons would cook and serve out of the Salvation Army Kitchen. In 1991 the Deacons took on this responsibility twice, and they gradually increased their commitment until by 1997 they were providing lunch one Saturday every 4-6 weeks, serving up to 40 people. This is a continuing commitment for the Deacons of FPC.

A Long Range Planning Committee had been established in September 1987, and its work came to fruition in 1991 as Session accepted its recommendations to enhance the relational ministry of the church and to develop significant relational groups where people=s spiritual, educational, and social needs are met. FPC also confronted a thorny issue head on by forming an AAmen Committee@ to make recommendations on when it would be appropriate to supply the AAmens@ which the new hymnal had omitted. A musical milestone was reached when the Bell Choir, Celebration Ringers, in January performed the musical Jonah and the Whale under director Betta Sharp with Jennifer Drew as narrator. Under Kerry Williamson=s leadership the Session approved the establishment of a Girl Scout Troop sponsored by FPC, and a new interdenominational singles ministry was formed with Coke McClure as one of its leaders. Jean Joe, past moderator of the Synod of the Pacific, was elected by the 203^rd General Assembly to serve on the Committee on Representation. It seemed that the church was recovering from the difficulties precipitated by McClure=s divorce, as pledges increased significantly in both number and amount. However there were also signs of continuing difficulties as Session met in the spring with a representative from Kendall Presbytery=s Committee on Ministry (COM) regarding Adifficulties surrounding the separation and divorce of Coke and Trudy McClure@. The resolution of the problem was not finalized, and a letter was sent to members of the congregation in May regarding the ministerial and general health of the church.

An important development coming out of the fall of 1991 was the interest on the part of several church members, including Gracia Bare, Leona Skaggs, and Jane Wyndham, in the Stephens Ministers program of one-on-one caring. Several members had attended an informational meeting in Ketchum in October 1991, and in March 1992, when Session determined that the present professional church staff was not able to meet all the ongoing spiritual, emotional, and social needs of church members, it was decided that a Stephen Ministry group would be a better alternative than an Associate Pastor to assist in ministering to families suffering crises. The program was presented to the congregation in May, and 90% of the ballots were favorable. It was determined that Victor Joe, Coke McClure, and Sandy Loyer (then Drew) would attend the leader=s training course at UC Berkeley. Joe and Loyer subsequently began training Stephens Ministers from the congregation in 1993. This plan came to fruition, and in June 1993 10 Stephens Ministers were commissioned. 1992 saw FPC=s Jeffrey Joe attend the 204^th General Assembly as a YAD It also saw the Aretirement@ of Clerk of Session Clarence Green after 22 2 years of service. The church continued to be in good financial shape, and God=s Fund made its largest distribution ever, in the amount of $3465.30. 13 new adult members joined the Church over the course of 1992. Another work party of FPC members built a second cabin for Camp Sawtooth in May. Materials, this time, were purchased by a Boise family who donated materials for two cabins with the proviso that work be completed over a single weekend. FPC built one cabin and a team from Boise built the second with help from FPC members. Elder Corinne Horton conducted a parenting class for church members. Despite all the signs of health, however, a crisis was brewing, and early in December Session was informed that on the recommendation of COM, Kendall Presbytery was appointing an Administrative Commission to inquire into and settle the difficulties at FPC. It would be given the power to dissolve the pastoral relationship and/or set aside the Session.

The Session Minutes reveal that 1993 was a very long year for everyone at FPC. The February Session meeting saw the resignation of 4 ruling elders. In March Session accepted the recommendation of the Administrative Commission to retain a church conflict management consultant, George D. Parsons of The Alban Institute. As this process was getting under way, letters were received by Session opposing the hiring of a consultant and complaining about the secrecy of Session=s deliberations. Such complaints continued for months, but Session was not at liberty to discuss many confidential issues. Parsons moved swiftly to conduct interviews, and at the beginning of April was able to present a report to Session and the Administrative Commission. On his recommendation a negotiating team was elected consisting of equal numbers of supporters and critics of McClure. In the meantime another member of Session resigned. At the May Session meeting the resignations of all 5 session members were rescinded by Session, but 2 persisted in their resignations. Parsons reported that the negotiating team had been unable to reach a consensus. A majority of the team proposed that the pastoral relationship be dissolved, and a minority proposed that a pastoral and congregational change process be pursued over the course of a year, with the pastor working with an oversight team to resolve the difficulties which had been identified. Many parties made recommendations in person and by letter. After all representations had been made, Session voted to accept the minority proposal to undertake a pastor and congregational change process. The Oversight Team was formed in June, and over the course of the summer Session tried to grapple with a budget shortfall and the loss of 30 members of the congregation. In August an attempt was made to reconsider the pastor and congregational change process, but the motion failed to pass. In September, however, despite all the efforts that had been made, the Chair of the Administrative Commission reported that the Commission had dissolved the pastoral relationship effective 30 September with the resignation of Coke McClure.

The Presbytery had a recommendation for Stated Supply waiting in the wings for such a contingency, and before September ended Session had heard the Rev. Mr. Don Wright preach and invited him to serve as Stated Supply. His service began effective 1 October. Wright came to FPC with considerable experience with churches in crisis. It was the third time he had been sent to work amid a people who had suffered the loss of a pastor, and he made the task of reconciliation his priority. 150 people attended the Christmas Open House which he and wife Dorothy hosted in their home. Other staff changes also took place in FPC over the course of 1993. Catherine Mailliard had taken over as Church Secretary in April, and in December Maryanne Beery took over as Choir Director and Gerald Hughes as Organist. In 1996 Hughes also replaced Mailliard as Church Secretary, and continues to serve FPC in both capacities. It should also be noted that amidst all the anguish of 1993 Session approved the agreement to sponsor a Brownie Troop under the leadership of Kerry Williamson and Heather Murray.

Another sign of hope in 1993 was the purchase of a new dishwasher for the basement kitchen. Presbyterian Women (PW) raised funds for this special project in activities throughout the year, and continued to work in 1994 to fund its installation. This major gift to the church was only a more extreme example of the ongoing support of the church provided by PW. And not of FPC only. The report submitted by PW for the 1989 Annual Report (on 1988) records that A[i]t was a source of pride to the members that through PW we have contributed over $2000.00 to mission (more than the mission amount in the congregational budget.)@ This situation is not unusual. Often when FPC was experiencing hard times and struggling to meet pared down budgets, PW forged ahead in its contributions to mission. Each year it fulfills a substantial pledge (in 2004 amounting to $1100) to support mission of the church worldwide, and provides per capita support for the work of PW on the Presbytery and Synod levels. Circle members regularly contribute to projects of the United Presbyterian Women (UPW), the national organization, through the Birthday Offering, Thank Offering, and Least Coin Offering, and in addition each year PW of FPC makes contributions to local charities such as Aid for Friends and Feeding the 5000 Families, to national missions such Sheldon Jackson College and the work of native American Presbyterian churches, and to world missions such as the Heifer Project. Often the aid given is material as well as monetary in nature. Through sewing projects members have made layettes, leper bandages, hospital gowns, and rolled bandages to send away. In 2001 PW sewed 39 quilts for its mission program, and more in subsequent years. Within FPC itself PW has a long record of supporting youth programs, and individual youth by means of scholarships for camp and for Triennium, and also the work of the Deacons. And PW members are likely to be the first to know when there is need for new equipment and furnishings. Through the late 1990s and early 2000s PW purchased pitchers, serving platters, and a new coffee pot for the downstairs kitchen, and PW member Peg Thompson contributed funds for good silverware. In 2003 PW suggested and provided the research on 11 large round tables for use in the Whitman Room downstairs, purchased with funds from the Memorial and Endowments Committee. PW also contributed good table cloths for the new tables.

1994 was marked, in April, by the visit of General Assembly Moderator David Dobler. FPC hosted a Presbytery reception for him and the Wrights hosted a luncheon for him in their home. On the youth front, Elder Leona Skaggs was appointed to the board of Camp Sawtooth, and Don Wright and Harald Wyndham sponsored a monthly ecumenical youth fellowship, OASIS, involving Presbyterian, Methodist, Central Christian, Episcopal, and Congregational youth. Session also approved the sponsorship of a third Girl Scout Troop under Kerry Williamson. However the longstanding positions of Youth Elder and Deacon were eliminated in 1994, and replaced in the latter case by a Youth Affiliate to the Board of Deacons. The confirmation class for 1994 prepared 8 young people to join the church. A substantial donation from Leigh and Virginia Gittins allowed plans to be made for expanding the organ by the addition of 8 ranks of pipes; when the work was completed in September 1985, FPC was in possession of the largest instrument in Pocatello with a total of 13 ranks. Organist Gerald Hughes performed the inaugural recital, and followed this up in October by leading an organ seminar sponsored by the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists. In May of 1994 FPC for the first time supported the Portneuf Greenway Program by offering ducks for adoption; this quickly became an annual tradition. A highlight of the summer 1994 was a party in celebration of Jo and Virginia Lininger=s 50^th wedding anniversary, and over the course of the summer Elder Harald Wyndham led an 8 week prayer workshop. By the end of the year plans were under way for a Parenting Class in January 1995 to be taught by Elder Cindi Coffland. November 1994 was marked by the celebration of a Hebrew Heritage Sunday. Dr. Noah Klein, rabbi of Temple Emmanuel, graciously agreed to serve as lay leader and to read the scripture from the Hebrew text.

FPC had had a hard time making ends meet in 1994, and in 1995 a Challenge Fund was instituted to address the budget shortfall and also the need for a new office computer. In February 1995 Don Wright announced that Dr. Clive Swansbourne of the ISU Music Department had graciously offered to house his 9 ft concert grand piano in FPC=s sanctuary, giving as his reason that the church has the finest acoustics in the area. Needless to say, the church leapt at this opportunity, and later in the year also approved the use of this sanctuary for monthly recitals given by Swansbourne and other ISU musicians. For the next four years FPC enjoyed not only Swansbourne=s piano but also his brilliant recitals. The Stephen Ministry Team reported in March that they were ready to recruit members to train for a second Team. Don Wright was invited to give the invocation and benediction at the ISU graduation ceremony in May, and in June Heather McCune served as YAD to General Assembly. June also saw the Session considering three possible mission opportunities: the establishment of a Food Bank, a Habitat for Humanity Chapter, or a Day Care Center. In August FPC featured in the annual History Walk. A Jr. Church program, running during the Sunday worship service, had been instituted over the summer and proved to be successful. It was continued in the fall. To close the year congregation member Kate Fornarotto adapted a Christmas Pageant from a book, The Three Trees, and directed the children of the church in performing it.

At the end of March 1996 FPC suffered a shock as Don Wright suffered a heart attack. Fortunately his recovery was rapid, and he was back in the saddle in time to moderate the April Session meeting. The heart attack did not seem to slow him down noticeably as he assumed the Chairmanship of Kendall Presbytery=s COM and of the ISUEM Board. One important project undertaken in 1996 was the provision of bathroom facilities for the disabled on the main level of the church in the women=s restroom. 1996 was also marked by the 100^th Anniversary Celebration of the America Guild of Organists. The celebratory recital was held in FPC, and was the largest recital in the church=s history. Habitat for Humanity became a major focus of FPC=s mission in 1996. Under Allan Priddy and Pete Oslund=s leadership, the church committed in March to funding and raising the roof for the Pocatello Chapter=s first house. Fund raising continued both in the church and in the community over the next year, and FPC was able to put the roof on the house in June 1997. Planning for two further houses to be raised in 1998 began in September. Also in June 1997 the planning for a Christian Day Care Center came to fruition as the church determined it would fill a need in the community and committed to it as a mission. Charlene Corbett took the lead in the planning process and was appointed Director later that month. After the basement of the church was furnished with new carpet, floor tile, and fresh paint, the Center opened in September with a staff of four. 19 children were enrolled, and the aim was to raise the enrollment to 50. Earlier in the year FPC received a visit from Dr. and Mrs. Phil Gates, interpreters of Presbyterian Boarder Ministry. Dr. Gates filled the pulpit on 6 April and FPC=s Naomi House, who had served as a Volunteer in Mission with Border Ministries, acted as lay leader. April also saw the Work Party undertake the job of installing a handicapped entrance for FPC member Florence Malmberg=s home, and plans in the works to establish a LOGOS ministry with the youth of the Church. 4 people were funded for training in Salt Lake City. Despite the ambitious projects it was undertaking, FPC was having budget difficulties in both 1996 and 1997. Stewardship ran a very successful Summer Challenge Campaign in the latter year. In October FPC was represented in Crop Walk; this became an annual commitment. By the end of 1997 a PNC was constituted, and Don Wright resigned as Stated Supply effective 31 December. He was immediately asked to serve as Interim until a new pastor could be selected. The Necrology Report for 1997 records the loss of two leaders of the church, Mary Echo and Alberta Phillips. Neither of them resided any more in Pocatello, but still their passing was felt.

1998 was also marked by loss as Deacon Carmen Hunter died completely unexpectedly at the beginning of March as the result of surgery. A new roof was needed for the Sanctuary and FPC member and marine engineer Pete Oslund undertook the job, and was almost immediately injured in a fall from the roof. This left Building and Grounds with the tasks both of making alternate arrangements for the roof and of providing practical support for the Oslund family during his convalescence, including the installation of a handicapped entrance for his home. In March a new ecumenical mission in Pocatello, the Feeding the 5000 Food Drive in support of the local chapter of the Idaho Food Bank, was promoted by Elder Elinor Kline; this has become an annual commitment of the church. In April Session acted at the request of the Episcopal Diocese to apply for a General Assembly Grant for Native American Education to support the Lillian Valley Christian School at Fort Hall. The application was successful and funds were received in March 1999. The new LOGOS Program was up and running weekly in the spring and fall under the leadership of Debbie Salles (formerly Robinson). Budgetary difficulties prompted two midyear Stewardship Campaigns, both of which were successful. One problem was that the Child Care Center was not running in the black. Session committed to keeping it open for at least another year as a mission and ministry of the church. And there were benefits; grants applied for on behalf of the Center provided, between 1997 and 2000, a commercial refrigerator for the basement kitchen, storm windows, a wrought iron fence and gate, and remodeled downstairs men=s and women=s bathrooms. Meanwhile the PNC was working away at its task. In August 1998 Don Wright resigned as Interim Pastor to begin as Stated Supply at Idaho Falls. Worship and Music, under the able leadership of Ray Hunter, geared up to fill the pulpit, predominantly with members of the Congregation. In October and November three Elders were trained and authorized to serve Communion. Session organized a schedule of Elders for hospital visits. In November the PNC interviewed 3 candidates, and in December Session voted to call a Congregational Meeting after worship on 10 January for the purpose of electing the Rev. Dr. James E. Cramer as pastor. Cramer was elected unanimously and took up his appointment effective 1 March 1999. A portion of the congregation welcomed Cramer=s exegetical style of preaching, but controversies also emerged quickly in areas ranging from worship leadership to administrative protocol.

In addition, at approximately the same time that Jim Cramer began as FPC=s pastor, ISU graduate student Paul Elison began to serve as Chancel Choir Director. Elison=s appointment followed an unsuccessful attempt by a subcommittee of the Worship and Music Committee to locate a qualified Choir Director with a background in the Reformed tradition. While Elison=s background and church affiliation were L.D.S., he was recommended by a member of the subcommittee, Dr. Scott Anderson, Choral Director at ISU (and himself a Presbyterian). However Elison=s appointment renewed a past dissatisfaction with hiring L.D.S. music leaders which had been expressed privately by some members. The Chancel Choir had flourished in past years, both in terms of morale and in terms of the caliber of music they offered during services, under a number of L.D.S. Choir Directors and Organists, including James Drake, Keith Forrest, and Larry Anderson. However their responsibilities in their own churches had occasionally interrupted their service to FPC, and some members of FPC had felt that worship leadership should be assumed only by those whose doctrines were compatible with those of the Reformed tradition. On the occasion of Elison=s appointment a letter of disapproval was sent to Session. However Session chose to support the subcommittee, and to Elison=s credit he worked hard to learn and respect the Reformed traditions and customs of the church. When he resigned in the summer of 2000 to leave for a doctoral program in Oregon, the subcommittee was again unable to locate a qualified Director of the Reformed faith. At the end of the summer, with the resumption of the Chancel Choir=s participation in worship services in view, Dr. Anderson recommended two of his top students, both of whom were L.D.S. The Choir auditioned both and chose Dan Childs, who was subsequently interviewed by the subcommittee, hired by Personnel, and approved by Session. Another letter of disapproval was sent to Session, stressing, according to the Minutes, that the Achoir director, as any church leader, should share our doctrines and faith@. It further contended that the Ahiring of the choir director was handled inappropriately@, and that a priority should be Amaking [the] church more attractive to university students and families with young children@. Session first voted to table this letter permanently, and then that its previous motion had been out of order, and that the matter should be discussed at the January 2001 meeting. Childs did continue as Director through the spring of 2001, and followed Elison=s example in working hard to educate himself in and adhere to Reformed traditions in his selection of music and leadership of the choir. On Childs= graduation in spring 2001, another search for a Choir Director was instituted, and this time the subcommittee was able to locate a candidate from an Anabaptist background, ISU Music Professor David Gonzol. Gonzol was FPC=s Choir Director through spring 2004, and followed in a line of other ISU faculty who have served FPC, including T. R. Nielson in the 20s, Donald Kissane in the 30s, Rudolph Goranson in the 50s (for whom the Idaho State Civic Symphony=s concert hall is named), Wesley Harris in the 60s and again in the 70s, and Randy Earles (currently the Chair of the ISU Music Department) in the early 90s.

1999 found the Child Care Center continuing to run in the red; in April Session passed a vote of confidence in the Center with the stipulation that a review of the program and its feasibility take place on or before 1 May 2000. In May 1999 Aid for Friends and Pocatello Interfaith Fellowship (PIF, now Portneuf Valley Interfaith Fellowship, or PVIF) proposed a plan to network the groups in Pocatello granting assistance; the thought was that donations be made to a Fellowship Fund and that one central resource center to administer these funds be run out of Aid for Friends. PIF churches generally supported this plan, which was eventually implemented in 2002. Also in May PFC suffered the loss of long time Clerk of Session Clarence Green; Deacons served the dinner following his funeral. Over the summer of 1999 FPC=s Virginia Barnett served as YAD to General Assembly, and in September Dr. Janne Goldbeck, Elder and ISU English Professor, expressed interest in training to be a Commissioned Lay Pastor for Kendall Presbytery. In August Clive Swansbourne left ISU to take up a faculty position at a Texas university. Needless to say, his splendid grand piano went with him, and FPC immediately began exploring the feasibility of replacing it. Also in August signs were emerging that there might be a problem of fit between the church and its new pastor. In his six month assessment Jim Cramer requested the congregation=s prayers for guidance and strength, particularly as he concentrated on listening. The church suffered a blow in September when long time member, and author of Pocatello Presbyterian Church History, Leigh Gittins died. In yet another instance of the Gittins= great generosity to the church, the family asked that a memorial fund for a new grand piano be established in his name. The fall of 1999 saw FPC raise the roof on the Pocatello Chapter=s third Habitat house, and plans were made to institute an Evensong worship service early in 2000 to provide an alternative style of worship for those in the congregation who desired a more contemporary service. Leadership for this ministry was provided by Nancy Krehbiel and Alison Hamm, with support from Pastor Jim Cramer and Organist Gerald Hughes.

In addition to the new Evensong services, the spring of 2000 saw FPC add a pilot program for 4th-6th graders to its LOGOS schedule. Keith Whaley, who had served as Church Treasurer since at least 1972, resigned his post due to health reasons in May. In June FPC collaborated with the local United Methodist congregation on AUnder Construction: A Habitat for Humanity Vacation Bible School@. Also in June Charlene Corbett resigned as Child Care Center Director, and the Corbetts transferred to the Methodist Church. Current FPC Custodian Brickert Cook was hired in July 2000, and in August Session completed the process of endorsing Janne Goldbeck for the Commissioned Lay Pastor Program. Throughout the year the Personnel Committee had been engaged in on-going discussions with Jim Cramer concerning his performance as pastor, and in November concerns were expressed at the Session meeting about low Church attendance. In December Personnel recommended that Kendall Presbytery be asked to participate in a process of evaluation of the Pastor, and the motion carried with two dissenting votes. The General Presbyter, David Carlson, and the Chair of COM, Lucretia Chew, made plans to begin interviews with church leaders.

It is difficult to fully reconstruct the events of 2001, for several sets of Session Minutes and the Minutes of the Annual Congregational Meeting at the beginning of 2002 are lacking. The Annual Report for 2001 reports that the evaluation process carried out in January 2001 resulted in suggestions for 3 areas of improvement in pastoral effectiveness: leadership, communication, and sermons. Monthly meetings between Cramer and Personnel were scheduled, and a weekly sermon forum was instituted, moderated by members of Session, to give congregation members an opportunity to discuss sermons with Cramer, but by August enthusiasm for these conversations waned. The Evangelism and Fellowship/Membership Committees merged in March, with a goal of bringing disaffected members back to the church. The Child Care Center was doing somewhat better with enrollment and was close to being on budget. In July it was actually in the black, but at the same time questions were being raised about its feasibility, as the situation in Pocatello was changing. More Pocatello churches were opening up such facilities, and without ability to offer transportation or infant care, FPC was at a disadvantage competing with churches that could offer these services. It was with great reluctance that, following a meeting to solicit comments from interested members of the congregation, Session voted in October to close the Center. Meanwhile the church was having considerable difficulty meeting its budget, and by December was borrowing from some of its standing funds to avoid being unable to pay basic obligations; fortunately it was able to repay this internal debt in the following year. In the September Session meeting (for which there are no Minutes) the attempt to salvage the pastoral relationship came to an end as Jim Cramer resigned contingent on finding a new pastoral position. In his letter to the congregation for the 2001 Annual Report, Cramer spoke of a Astate of disarray and division, perhaps the result of our own sin@, and recommended that Aall members should turn to God in prayer (sic) of repentance and seek reconciliation with one another in Christ@.

Fall 2001 saw FPC clearly demoralized. Jim Cramer continued to serve as pastor, but beginning in late December he began to be away for substantial periods to interview for new positions. Session was committed to allowing the time he needed to find a satisfactory position, and hence Session, and Worship and Music, under Bob Shaw, resumed the responsibility of arranging pulpit supply, orders of service, and pastoral support for congregational needs. Presbytery representatives Carlson and Chew impressed on Session the need for conflict resolution and frank discussion of the church=s mission before a new PNC could be formed. Some hopeful signs were apparent in the fall. The number of children participating in Sunday School (now held during worship services) had nearly doubled, and participation of youth in the LOGOS programs was also on the rise with four age groups being served. The Fall Stewardship Campaign was kicked off by a visit from Elder Wes Holmquist=s llama Dolly, carrying the purses into a worship service, and by January 80 pledging units had responded, with $19,000 in new pledges received; however the Finance Committee still felt it prudent to cut the proposed 2002 budget by almost 14%. COM member A. J. Kellogg from Idaho Falls assumed the position of Moderator of Session, and in February 2002 Chuck Thompson was elected Clerk of Session and immediately discovered the disarray in the Session Minutes. He sent out a request to Session members to search their notes and files to see what records of the 2001 meetings could be found or reconstructed. Session members stepped up to the plate admirably to provide leadership. In February 2002 John Meiners agreed to attend PIF meetings on behalf of the church, and Joan McCune to attend ISUEM meetings. Joan McCune later also agreed to chair the Mission Study Committee. In April Session voted to approve the terms of dissolution of the pastoral relationship with Jim Cramer, and the congregation consented to the same in a May meeting. Jim and Cathy Cramer left for Slidell LA where Jim had accepted a call. Meanwhile Elder Carole McWilliam agreed to chair a committee to search for temporary pastoral leadership.

The summer of 2002 was a difficult time for FPC, and not just because of its pastoral situation. 16 members and friends of the church passed away during the year, and after Jim Cramer=s departure it often fell to Commissioned Lay Pastor in training Janne Goldbeck to provide pastoral support and to conduct memorial and graveside services. Most shockingly Scotty Whaley died suddenly one night in July after, though not because of, working all day at the annual Rummage Sale. The church also lost in 2001 its long time friend and Choir Secretary Chilton Phoenix, and a memorial fund for music was established in his honor. Congregation member Debbie Salles stepped into the position of CE Coordinator after Kerry Williamson left for a position at ISU, and she faced considerable challenges. Despite its strength the previous year, the LOGOS Program was in difficulties, in part because of lack of adult support. In September it had to be cut back to include only teens. On the positive side, however, additional contributions to the Gittins Memorial Piano Fund enabled the church to purchase a grand piano in October, and no one was more pleased than Virginia Gittins, who had celebrated her 95^th birthday the previous year. When she died in 2002, everyone was pleased that she had been able to see the piano installed in the sanctuary and used in worship. A highlight in the fall for the women of the church was the second annual PW Renewal Gathering, held at Ascension Priory in Jerome and facilitated by Janne Goldbeck. The work of Carole McWilliam=s Committee seeking temporary pastoral support continued apace, and by October 3 candidates had preached at FPC. A Atown meeting@ was held on 15 October in order to receive the input of the congregation, and the position was offered to Pamela Mayes, CE Director at the Idaho Falls Presbyterian Church who had recently completed her MDIV in an online program offered by Bethel Seminary in St. Paul MN. With the permission of COM Session decided to call her as Temporary Supply Pastor, and this call cleared the way for her ordination in January 2003, a joyful event which was held in the Idaho Falls Church, attended by many FPC members, and enhanced by the combined choirs of the two churches.

As it celebrates its 100^th Anniversary, FPC is working hard at putting itself back together once again. Pam Mayes is calling us to serve God and love each other, and Session is undertaking a strategic planning exercise. Church finances are in better condition, and the 2004 Stewardship Campaign is under way. Evangelism has formed Andrews= Team in order to invite people to Acome and see@ what Christ is doing in FPC, and Outreach has been working to reinvigorate the Church=s involvement in the services provided by Aid for Friends. FPC has just raised the roof for Pocatello=s 5^th Habitat House. A Centennial Committee is organizing celebrations throughout the 100^th year from July 2003 to July 2004. Sunday School has been reorganized to run Time for God for all ages before the worship service so that children past nursery age may share in worship, and while there was no youth program in the fall of 2003, a youth choir organized by Harald Wyndham, assisted by Debbie Salles, Larry Stout, and Nancy Orthel, began meeting in spring 2004. In fall 2004 Terry Hagerman joined us as our new Choir Director. Worship and Music has instituted monthly Taize prayer services under the talented leadership of Joyce Weaver, and assisted in the start-up of a similar noon time service on campus conducted by St. John=s Catholic Church. Dr. Tom Cox, Dr. Janne Goldbeck, Harald Wyndham, and other FPC members are also supporting other churches in Kendall Presbytery by providing pulpit supply to Presbyterian Churches in Malad, Burley, and Swan Valley, and also to Star Valley Federated Church in Wyoming. Janne Goldbeck also coordinates FPC=s contribution to Sunday afternoon services for the residents of Cottonwood Cove Retirement Center. Over the years FPC has developed a core of experienced lay preachers who can be called upon on short notice to serve our church and others in the area. Dr. Janne Goldbeck approaches the culmination of her training, and the church looks forward to seeing her commissioned as a Lay Pastor. There is much to celebrate and much work to do. FPC is a diverse congregation and it struggles to find consensus and the right leadership, but its people are committed to finding ways to work together to come to know God better and to better serve God=s people.