ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This booklet-celebrating the one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary of St. James Episcopal Church., Hackettstown, NJ -- is Indebted to a number of people.
Dr. Ernest Dalton, formerly at Centenary College and member of St. James' vestry (and now retired In Massachusetts) gave a series of three lectures In 1976 on the history of the Church at the coffee hour in the parish hall immediately following the 10 a.m. mass. In these lectures (which were recorded on tape, the cassettes now being part of the parish's archives), Dr. Dalton traced the history of the Episcopal Church from before the American Revolution to the present. He emphasized the development of the church In Northwest New Jersey and Hackettstown and zeroed in on the history of St. James Church as a climax to the lectures. We are indebted to Dr. Dalton who enthusiastically agreed to the use of those lectures in the preparation of this booklet. Dr. Dalton's history comprises the first chapter.
All still-living clergy who have served as parish priests in St. James were approached about writing their reminiscences of the years they served at St. James. We express our gratitude to the following clergy: the Ven. Sydney Grant, retired Archdeacon of Missions of the Diocese of Newark, the Rev. Clarence Sickles, and the Rev. Arthur K. Wing III. We wish to express to Mrs. Buchanan, widow of the Rev. Clarence Buchanan, our appreciation of the information she supplied for the chapter devoted to the years her husband was parish priest in St. James.
We acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of our parish secretary, Mrs. Helen Sedlar, who prepared the stencils and ran off the copies necessary for distribution of this booklet. Mrs. Sedier also interviewed Mrs. Buchanan by telephone and transcribed the shorthand notes to essay-form which provided the material for the chapter recalling Fr. Buchanan's years In Hackettstown.
We wish to thank Miss Helen Flavell, who assisted Mrs. Sedlar in the completion of this booklet.
We express our thanks to Dr. William McGregor, Pastor of the Panther Valley Ecumenical Ministry, who authorized Mrs. Sedlar's use of his parish's electronic scanning equipment.
This booklet, however, could never have come into existence without the enthusiastic and indefatigable help and cooperation of Gail Houston. Gail rewrote Dr. Dalton's lectures into the essay-form which appears as the first chapter. She also edited and word-processed all the articles in this booklet for publication. The many hours Gail spent in doing this work has been a labor of love. To her I can only say a heartfelt, "Thank you."
May you enjoy reading this booklet which celebrates the 125th anniversary of St. James' service to Jesus Christ in this area of His vineyard. May its reading serve as a stimulus to your own ministry in and through St. James. We have inherited this ministry from so many who went before. We are called to pass it on to those who are to come after. May we be faithful to that privilege and responsibility.
The Rev. Henry George Brant
Acknowledgments The Ven. Sydney E. Grant The Rev. Arthur Wing III