73 Gull Point
Millsboro, DE 19966
October 15, 1999

The Rev. Ray F. Graham and
Members of Ebenezer
United Methodist Church
525 Polly Drummond Hill Road
Newark, DE 19711

Dear Friends,

Congratulations on 175 years of vital Christ-centered ministry in Pike Creek valley.  Connie and I spent five years in your midst (1961-1966) following student assistantships at Atonement Methodist Church (my home church) and Peninsula UMC as youth pastor from 1957-1960.  In 1960, I was associate minister at Woodside UMC in Silver Spring, Maryland, and then to Ebenezer.  During those earlier years Connie was a teacher at Anna P. Mote School in Montgomery County, MD.

Shortly after arriving at Ebenezer in 1961, our first son, Andrew was born (Drew).  He is now married to the former Dianne Carney and they have two of our grandchildren, Colleen and Charles Andrew, Jr.  They live in Atlanta where Drew is a mortgage representative for Old Kent Mortgage Co. and Dianne is a nurse.  Our second son, Jonathan was also born while we were at Ebenezer, in June 1965.  Jonathan, also living in Atlanta, is married to the former Courtenay Robbins, and they have our two additional grandsons William (Will) Davis and Benjamin (Ben) J. Davis.  Jon is Supervisor of Accounting for Akzo-Nobel Coatings Division in Atlanta.

But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.  So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
     You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.  You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers.  As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory."
               1 Thessalonians 2:7-12