PASTOR'S REPORT FOR YEAR
Dec.l 1941 Nov.30 1942

To the Members Park Church, Berkeley

As I prepare the report for the year now closed I find it the hardest year of my life to record. My great loss early in the year, the necessity for a complete readjustment of my living and the unusual and unique difficulties that have arisen leave a most unsatisfactory conclusion.

I had not realized that 1940 and 41 had seen as much change in the general conditions of the work until I took up the task in earnest at the opening of the fall work and after the vacations were over. I expected to see a return to the conditions as they were when they were so seriously interrupted in the fall of 1940.

You will remember that I had just completed a nost thorough survey of this entire area by making approximately 1000 calls. You will also remember what a surprisingly few children I found in the area without some sort of religious educational program. I found a few famalies that were church prospects. These I had catalogued in preparation for a systematic follow up campaign. I had not made a single follow up call when the blow fell that took me for two years and three months almost out of active pastoral work.

I am appalled and tremenduously disturbed when I discover the change in the population in that two years that materially effects our work. Only two colored famalies were in the immediate vicinity. Now there is one in the same block with the church, the block directly across the street on Ellis is predominantly colored, the house diagonally across the corner has sold to negros and one house in the block below on Fairview has sold to negros and one house in the block below on our side of the street is negro. The same and greater changes have come in other streets immediately sorrounding us. If we are to maintain ourselves as an organizatuon it seems to be quite evident that we shall be compelled to depend on growth from outside this area. This means some change of some sort in our program. What shall it be? If you feel that some other leader is needed I want you to be most frank to say so. You can not hurt my feelings by saying it for the success of the Master's kingdom is of far more importance than my desires or feelings in the matter.

Let me suggest some illustration of what these last months suggest. The statistics for the first ten years of our work, not-withstanding the difficulties of getting started in 1931 2 showed an average congregation at the a.m. worship hour of a little over 40. Nov. of this year showed 25. The S.S. average for that period was 49 and for Nov. of this year 33. There are not as many S.S. pupils in the four classes of the primary department as Mrs. Kerlinger used to have in her beginners class alone. We are not able to supply teachers for the few that are coming. One faithful teacher has two classes every Sunday and sometime three. The Sunday School has been one of two problems that has driven me almost to desperation this fall.

The second harrassing problem has been the music. We have had five different pianists since I returned from my vacation in July. We are depending entirely on High School and immediately post highschool girls for our choir. They are doing a heroic piece of most faithful work for us and need our fervent gratitude, I have combed the churches and seminaries for a choir director but none is forthcoming. What have you to suggest?

Here are the summaries for the year as they appear in figures.

I have not reported number of calls for during the first six months of the year I did not make a record; they were so few.

Respectfully submitted, Rev. Tom Watt, Minister