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Page II -- History from 1919 to 1941
The Church and Community Life in Old Dundalk
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The original Dundalk/St. Helena Presbyterian Church, located on Patapsco Avenue, was becoming too small for the growing congregation. By a deed dated November 6, 1919, the Bethlehem Steel Company [The Dundalk Company] gave property to the St. Helena Presbyterian Church of Dundalk. This property was on St. Helena Avenue between Dundalk Avenue and Willow Spring Road. According to the deed it was agreed that the property should be used for church purposes and community activities and for no other purposes. The agreement with The Dundalk Company required that the building which was to be erected on the property was to cost at least $30,000. It was further stipulated in the deed that if the church failed to honor these agreements, the property would revert to Bethlehem Steel [The Dundalk Company].

In 1920 the Presbyterian Board of National Missions underwrote the building of a new church on the two-acre site at Willow Spring and St. Helena Avenues. Sunday, October 31, was ''the last day of worship in the Presbyterian Church building on Patapsco Avenue. The morning and evening services were well attended. Rev. James Patterson Kerr, our pastor, and members of the Session were grieved to leave our first church, in this place where we had found joy in the service of Our Lord." The new building, now referred to as the Community Church, "cost more than $65,000 and was financed entirely by the agencies of the Presbyterian Church. The church was dedicated on November 21, 1920. While the "old" church, located on Patapsco Avenue, was too small for our purposes, it was not too small for a family, so in February of 1921, the Old Church was sold to Mr. Harry Fisher who made this his residence.

As late as 1920, when the Dundalk folk wanted enter-tainment they had to journey to either Sparrows Point or Baltimore. Nothing was available in the Dundalk St. Helena area. So, in order to keep out those who might want to start recreation that might not be desirable or uplifting, our church leaders asked some of the community people to form a Community Committee that would investigate what could be done to provide wholesome entertainment for the local people.

One of the first recreation programs suggested by the Committee was to offer motion picture showings for the community. On December 3, 1920, a contract was executed between The Board of Governors of The Community Church of St. Helena and Mr. Charles R. Moore of Baltimore City. This contract was to last for a year and called for moving pictures to be shown at least three nights and two afternoons each week. The admission fee to the Movies was 20 cents for adults and 15 cents for children, unless otherwise advertised.
 
    About the same time that the movie venture was initiated, the church contracted with a Mr. Raymond Lamburo, owner of two Brunswick Bowling Alleys, to install bowling alleys in the basement of the church. The cost was $500.00, which included a supply of Duck Pens and balls and Ten Pens and balls.

    Evidently the rip-roaring, free-swinging lifestyle of the Roaring Twenties was impacting the Dundalk community, because on May 7, 1922, the Session made and carried a motion that stated that the members of the session were opposed to all games of chance of any kind for a prize or money in the Community Building or on the grounds belonging to the Church. We can only speculate about the reason for this ion, but perhaps there was pressure from members of the community, or possibly even members of the church, to use the church facilities for such games as a means of fundraising.

    As of January 1924 church membership had grown to 262. In March of that if the church was finally able to secure a manse for the pastor. The church assumed the mortgages for the property located at 25 Admiral Blvd. In the amount totaling $3,598.00. [When the manse was sold in the fall of 1957, the church received $9500 for the property.]

    In March of 1927, there was an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation and Association of the Community Church of Dundalk, Baltimore County, Maryland, changing the designation of the church to The Community Church, Presbyterian, USA Dundalk, Baltimore County, Maryland.

    By the spring of 1929, the church was once again without a pastor. Rev. Kerr submitted his resignation and moved out of the area. We have since found that Rev. Kerr moved on to Boyds Presbyterian Church in Boyds, MD., and was installed as Pastor on May 12, 1929. It was there that he severed for the next 31 years. According to Boyds' web-site: "The church fell on hard times during the 1930's, but the tenacity and great witness of the Rev. James P. Kerr, his wife Ruth Kerr, and other church leaders kept the church going. Reverend Kerr served the church for 31 years. Such strong discipleship brought the church into the 50's and 60's with a bright future." A long time member of the Boyds' church, Elder Aurthur G. Virts, Jr. had the following to say: "I have been a member here since 1938, nearly 68 years. I was the first baby Rev. Kerr baptized soon after he came here in 1929. He was our leader through the great depression, World War II and the Cold War. He was a true Christian and will always be remembered here. He is buried in our Church Cemetery beside his wife (Ruth) and two daughters, Lois and Anna. He had one son, Dr. James Kerr, also now deceased." Note: The photo on the left was provided courtesy of Elder Virts. ]

Before the end of the year (1929), a call was extended to the Rev. William R. Houston from Chester, Pennsylvania. The Rev. T. Roland Phillips, author and beloved pastor of Arlington Presbyterian Church, presided at the Installation Service for Rev. Houston in December of 1929. The terms of Rev. Houston's call allowed for a $2,400 annual salary; use of the manse; one months vacation; 7.5 % toward his retirement.

    There are times in the life of an individual or an organization when it is helpful to pause for a bit of healthy introspection and evaluation of the progress, or lack of it, being made. Such was the case in November of 1930. On the 18^th of this month a committee from the Presbytery came to meet with the Session for the express purpose of evaluating the work and progress of the Dundalk church. According to the minutes of this meeting, the committee expressed themselves well satisfied that the work of the church was being efficiently handled and that the church was in a healthy state despite the hardships of the Depression and the fact that there two new competing churches built in the area within the previous few months.

 Despite the good report in 1930 by the Presbytery Committee, the Great Depression did take its toll on the community at large. This, of course, was bound to have an impact on the church. At the height of the Depression unemployment was as high as 25%. Men who had jobs were very thankful and also very fearful of the possibility of being laid off. Many employed men were on short work weeks with severely slashed wages. Times were tough economically but it was a simpler time when people didn't lock the doors of their homes, when most moms were at home and where creativity was a challenge and an art when it came to stretching the few psaltery dollars into nourishing meals for the family. 

    It was not until the outbreak of World War II in 1941 that the country really began to pull out of the Depression. War industries turned Dundalk into a boom town. People from the South flocked into the area. Little matchbox communities sprang up all over the place.

continued... Page III -- History from 1940 to 1968

Excepts from, One Hundred Years of God's Faithfulness: 1897 - 1997 - A Brief History of the Dundalk Evangelical Presbyterian Church, written by Shirley Fay Morris, on Sept. 5, 1997