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Sunrise Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The church is located in the Miami Lakes and Hialeah area of North Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was one of the earliest multicultural congregations in the American Southeast. ==Introduction== Sunrise Presbyterian Church was organized in the Twin Lakes Elementary School in Hialeah, Florida in 1962 as Bethany Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The founding pastor was Maxwell P. Smith, who served until 1967. During this time, the church enjoyed a good start as a new congregation. Dick Briggs, one of the church members, was instrumental in helping the congregation find appropriate property for their new church. Before long, the church was able to build a Sanctuary. When Maxwell Smith left in 1967, the congregation almost immediately received its second pastor, the Reverend Carl Smith (no relationship to the previous pastor), but his was a brief pastorate. He left after only two years. The church began to decline and was struggling to survive. Denominational leaders invited a former Disciple of Christ minister, the Rev. Don Davis, to help restore peace to the congregatin. The Rev. Don Davis was then serving as an Associate Pastor of the Miami Shores Presbyterian Church and encouraged the Bethany Christian Church to leave the Disciples of Christ in order to join the Presbyterian Church. The church called Don Davis to be its pastor in April, 1970. In May, 1971, the congregation was officially received into the Presbyterian Church. Since the name "Bethany" was already used by a nearby Presbyterian congregation, a new name had to be selected. "Sunrise" was selected when a young church member said the sun filtering through the chancel windows reminded him of a sunrise, signaling the beginning of a new day. Don Davis served this church well for almost 25 years. Under his strong leadership, he directed the church into a period of growth, new construction, and new programs. His son, Mike Davis, served as Associate Pastor. With the closing of Eastern Air Lines in 1989, the church and its surrounding community began to decline. In 1992, the church had to make the painful decision not to build its long-planned sanctuary. In 1993, Don Davis resigned, followed a month later by the resignation of his son, the church's Associate Pastor. The following month saw the death of Sunrise's long-time Music Director, Bob Stabley. The next month, brought the arrival of a new Interim, Don Purkey. The close of Eastern Air Lines and the rapid developments involving loss of three staff members, the church fell into deep grief and anxiety, creating an era of conflict. The church called the Rev. Dr. Maynard Pittendreigh as its new pastor in 1996. He was able to lead the church to a time of healing, stopping the decline of membership and worship attendance. With his wife he created new ministries for children. Sunrise began to embrace more completely the multicultural community that North Miami Dade was becoming. The membership, however, has not returned to its earlier levels. Pittendreigh left in 2003 and was replaced by the Reverend Patricia Ashley, who served as an Interim Pastor. Her presence was felt by the restructuring of church committees enabling the church to be less dependent on the Pastor. In March, 2006, Pedro A. Rivera was called as the new pastor, bringing a tremendous sense of renewal and enthusiasm. Rivera was the congregation's first Hispanic pastor. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sunrise Presbyterian Church」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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