Dover Baptist Church
As the two churches united to become Dover Baptist Church, five men from each church signed the Articles of Agreement on February 9, 1918:
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Washington Street Church Cyrus L. Jenness Fred W. Demeritt Melvin A. Galucia Charles W. Cross Roland J. Bennett |
Central Avenue Church Charles E. Cate Luke McEwan Ernest E. Kidder George H. Mills William C. Swan |
The new combined membership was 348, 233 of these being resident members. To facilitate the process of union, each of the pastors of the separate churches resigned and Rev. W. J. Twort was called to serve as interim pastor. His leadership was recognized through a series of meetings during which a new Constitution, By-Laws, and Covenant were established and the properties of both churches were transferred to the new church. After the union was consummated, Pastor Twort resigned and the church called its first regular pastor. Rev. Arthur L. Snell, DD, started on June 16, 1918 at a salary of $2,000 per year plus the parsonage. This amount was about double what each of the individual churches had been able to afford for their pastors.

The church now had two church buildings and two parsonages. It was decided to use the Washington Street building for the meetings and the Central Avenue building for the recreation hall. $2,000 was voted to make necessary changes for this use. The Richmond Street parsonage continued in use and the Central Avenue parsonage (on the corner of Park and Ham Streets) was retained and sold in 1930.
Dr. Snell died suddenly on September 16, 1921 and Rev. Lester C. Holmes was called as pastor. Membership continued to grow and the church was busy with many activities. For example, at the 1927 Annual Meeting, reports were given by the Treasurer, Deacons, Trustees, Sunday School, Hills-Garland Mission Society, Everyday Circle of King's Daughters, Christian Endeavor Society, Ladies Aid Society, Annie M. Snell Club, Music Committee, Young Peoples Work Committee, and the Inasmuch Circle of the World Wide Guides.



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