Scarsdale Congregational Church

Carrying a much-used Bible to the microphone, John Cline told the congregation on Valentine's Day 1999 how he happened to come to the Scarsdale Congregational Church.

"My mother and father wanted me to go to Sunday School, but the Sunday School they selected for me wasn't one I wanted to attend. I talked with my young neighbor friend who said, `why don't you come with me to the Congregational Church?' So I did, and here I am."

One of John's first Sunday School teachers was Steve Craig. Steve had joined the church in May 1924, seven months before the church was chartered as a separate congregation, and was active in the church until shortly before his death in 1992. John also remembers learning many Sunday School songs and hymns to the accompaniment of Mr. MacDowell on the piano.

The Bible John showed to the congregation was the one given to him at the end of his first year of Sunday School. It is signed by Dr. Theodore Merrell Shipherd, who served our congregation from 1924 to 1929

John was confirmed in the Scarsdale Congregational Church on January 3, 1932. He recalled a particularly lonely day during World War II when he was serving in the South Pacific. In the mail came a copy of the New Testament, sent from the Guild to him and all others from the church who were in the military. This testament, along with the Bible he carried on Valentine's Day, are, for John, important symbols of the church community of which he has so long been a part.