Arthur Dycer

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Arthur W. Dycer (born March 19, 1886 in England; died May 4, 1972 in South Weymouth, Massachusetts) was pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church (now Pilgrim Church) from 1933 to 1944, the longest tenure in the congregation's history.

Dycer was ordained in the Methodist Church of Canada in 1911, but joined the Congregational Churches in 1919, serving several pastorates in Massachusetts between 1919 and 1933.

Dycer came to Pilgrim, then known as the Congregational Church of Birmingham, at a time when its members had, for the first time, acquired something of a permanent place of worship, in the Axis Club building at 1819 8th Avenue North.

Just prior to his first service, on November 26, the church's Fellowship Forum approved plans for improvements to the new building to accommodate worship. The church experienced difficulty, however, in financing those renovations. In 1937 they attempted to procure an amount of profit gained from the sale of property by the original 1903-15 membership to the national Congregational home missions board. Dycer and officials decided to legally unite the formerly dormant congregation with the presently active one, in order to make a plausible claim on the funds. In something of a compromise, the board sent the renamed Pilgrim Congregational Church both a grant and a loan; this enabled the church to build a full sanctuary on the site, which opened in November 1941. (The building would be demolished in 1959.)

Dycer saw the church through this project, but shortly thereafter became incapacitated due to nervous exhaustion. He left the pulpit for several months, but recovered enough to serve Pilgrim Church for two more years before resigning. He concluded his career at Pilgrim Congregational Church in North Weymouth, Massachusetts, retiring in 1956.

References

  • "Congregationalists Will Make Improvements On Building" (November 25, 1933) Birmingham Age-Herald
  • Obituary, 1973 Year Book, United Church of Christ.
  • Feazel, Frances T. (2003) A History of the Pilgrim Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, 1903-2003. self-published by the church.