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Calvary Full Gospel Church
What's on this page:
- Rev. John Grayson Jones and Bertha (George) Jones
- Founding of the Calvary Full Gospel Church
- Outside work and activities
- Beth Sholom Congregation buys the building for their synagogue
- Freeland Branch of the Hazleton Area Public Library
At top left is a postcard view of the Calvary Full Gospel Church.
This
building has had three different lives. The Calvary Full Gospel
Church, also known as the New Calvary Pentecostal Church, was built on
Front street near Birkbeck street in 1928. In late 1950 or early 1951
the Beth Sholom Congregation purchased the building for a synagogue
that was dedicated and opened in 1951. And since July 1967 the building
has been the home of the Freeland branch of the Hazleton Area Public
Library, as shown on the plaque added to the original cornerstone. Rev. John Grayson Jones and Bertha (George) Jones
Rev. John Grayson Jones was born in Boonsborough,
Maryland, son of Mrs. Loretta (Fox) Jones of Cleveland, Ohio and the
late John D. Jones. In 1924 he graduated from the Bethel Bible Training
School in Newark, N.J. In 1928 he had the Calvary Full Gospel Church
built on Front street near Birkbeck and he served as pastor there from
its opening until he resigned in 1949. 
Rev. Jones
married Bertha Mae George. Her parents were Henry Charles
George and Ellen Matura (Eberts) George, shown in this photo. According
to family correspondence the Georges had 7 children, of whom only two
survived into adulthood. Ida graduated from a Bible School in Findlay,
Ohio and later worked as a traveling missionary in French West Africa.
Bertha Mae graduated from Freeland High School in 1921 and attended
Bloomsburg State Normal School, working as a teacher for three years in
Freeland schools before marrying. Her obituary said that she also
attended the Bethel Bible School in Newark, N.J.
John
Grayson Jones and Bertha Mae George were married in June 1927 at
her parents’ home at 709 Walnut street, near Henry George’s store (701
Walnut). The newlyweds were presented with a new Buick coupe by the
parents of the bride. This photo shows the couple years later with
their four children. After marrying, Bertha Mae became active in her
husband’s church, conducting Friday evening prayer services, often
delivering sermons, and assisting Rev. Jones with a radio program on
WAZL.Founding of the Calvary Full Gospel Church
The Calvary
congregation was formed before there was a church building
for it. In the 1928-1929 and 1940 Freeland directories the Calvary Full
Gospel Church was listed at 405 Ridge street, probably the address of
the Grand Opera House, which had meeting space available and may have
offered or agreed to provide space for Rev. Jones to conduct services
while the church was being built on Front street. I don’t know why the
church was still listed there at 405 Ridge in 1940. The card shown here
seems related but doesn’t answer that question. It’s undated and I
don’t know what was on the other side of the card. It lists Rev. J. G.
Jones as pastor of the “Full Gospel Assembly Baptist Church” on west
Walnut street. ??? Is there a possibility that he also held services at
Bethel Baptist Church, perhaps before or during the time when the
church on Front street was under construction? Or perhaps a
parishioner’s home on west Walnut street was used for some services or
gatherings? If you can shed light about this card, please share
information to post here.
In February 1928 came
the first announcement of services of the “Calvary Full Baptist Church”
(said to be interdenominational in spirit), noting that various
services and lectures during the week were being held at homes in order
to save expenses, listing Rev. Jones as pastor, and saying that the
Sunday service was being conducted at the corner of Ridge and Luzerne
streets (405 Ridge). The photo at left shows the new church building
under construction. By the end of the year Calvary Pentecostal Church
(the names changed over time in the news reporting) moved into its new
building on Front street near Birkbeck. Charles L. Krone was in charge
of the Sunday School. 
Shown here
are the church interior and Rev. Jones’s travel case of church vessels.
Through the 1930s the newspapers reported on activities at the church.
There were revival crusades, special Evangelical services, various
preachers coming to town. One service in 1932 featured singing and
music by the Harrod Jubilee Singers from Washington, D.C. A Divine
Healing Service in 1936 took place at the Royal Palace auditorium at 44
West Broad street, Hazleton. In that news article Rev. and Mrs. Grayson
Jones were described as the pastors of the Calvary Full Gospel Church.
In 1937 a weekly “The Gospel News Hour”, under the direction of Rev.
and Mrs. J. Grayson Jones, was heard over WAZL radio. In 1929-1930 he
also published a magazine, "The Religious Monthly." A 1937 article described a special Sunday night service at the church: a sermon by Rev. Miss Lilliana Carolyn Powell, of California; baptism of 6 men and 4 women by immersion; a musical intermission “while those who were baptized made ready to receive the Holy Communion of the Lord’s Supper.” A September 1940 article announced a special “old-time revival crusade” in progress at the church, with two outside Evangelists were brought in for the occasion.
While these and other traveling preachers visited Freeland and engaged with the Calvary congregation in collaboration with Rev. Jones, he was also reaching beyond the church sphere to begin other kinds of work.
Outside work and activities
In
1931 it was reported that painting contractor J. Grayson Jones and his
employees were repainting Emri Silvasi’s home on Johnson street. This
ad from 1932 lists the business at the rectory at 702 Birkbeck. Work on
a number of other local homes was also reported, as well as on the
Sheaman Dairy Farm buildings in Sandy Valley. A December 1940 article had the headline “Freeland Man in Book of Poetry.” The reporter wrote that “J. Grayson Jones of Freeland, Pa., is one of the authors whose poems are included in Poets of America, Democracy Speaks …, a 1940 anthology.”
In 1942 it was reported that, due to a health condition, after a year Rev. Jones left his clerical position at the American Car and Foundry plant in Berwick, where he was assigned after being inducted into service at one of the government ordnance office quarters in Philadelphia. He would experience health problems throughout his life. [Ed Merrick says that during World War II ACF in Berwick made tanks instead of its usual trolley and railroad cars.]
Two weeks later it was reported that he had written a patriotic march song for the President of the United States, entitled “Franklin Delano Roosevelt” … “now available in sheet music form at music and magazine stores.” He sent several copies to the President and received a letter of appreciation. This copy belonged to Charlie Reczkowski. The return address for J. Grayson Jones Music Co. in Freeland is on the bottom right corner. He wrote and published a number of secular songs in the mid-1940s, sometimes writing both lyrics and music. At least one was co-written by him and his wife.
In late November 1943 it was reported that Rev. Jones had accepted a position in New York City and had left to begin his new duties. His family remained in Freeland. The next spring it was reported: “Music Representative Here. Rev. J. Grayson Jones, of Walnut street, who is employed by a music publishing house in New York City, came here over the week-end in time to conduct Easter services in the Calvary Full Gospel church on Front street.”
In July 1948 Rev. and Mrs. Jones bought the Birkbeck homestead from Daisy Birkbeck. The home had been built more than 60 years earlier by Thomas Birkbeck, one of the pioneer settlers of Freeland. Rev. Jones planned to convert the home into five apartments, and Mrs. Birkbeck would occupy one of them. Ira Berger and Sons received the contract for the work.
In May 1949 it was reported that Rev. Jones gave notice that he would retire after having served as pastor of the congregation for 24 years. By the end of the year the rectory and church were sold.
Beth Sholom Congregation buys the building for their synagogue
In early 1950 Philip Abrams organized seventeen families to purchase the former church building next door for a synagogue, dedicated on December 2, 1951 as the Beth Sholom Congregation.
Freeland Branch of the Hazleton Area Public Library
A
September 1966 newspaper article reported that the former synagogue
on Front street would be acquired by the Hazleton Public Library for
its proposed Freeland branch, adding that the structure was originally
the Calvary Full Gospel Church. The Freeland branch was the first of
four planned expansions by the Hazleton library, with others expected
to be located in McAdoo, Conyngham, “and a location in the western end
of the new, big school district.” The Freeland branch opened in July
1967.Last words
Mrs. Bertha Mae Jones died in August 1963. Her obituary noted that she was born in 1903, and that she graduated from Freeland High School, Bloomsburg State College and the Bethel Bible School in Newark, N.J. She was living in Lakewood, Ohio at the time of her death.
In February 1970 Rev. J. G. Jones also died in Ohio. He was affiliated with the Independent Assembly of God International, organizing the Calvary Full Gospel Church in Freeland and serving as its pastor for 25 years.
Acknowledgements: The family and church photos on this page (except for the postcard at top left of the page) came from John Grayson Jones, named after his grandfather Rev. John Grayson Jones. He is also the great-grandson of Henry George, the Freeland grocer whose daughter married Rev. John Grayson Jones. I thank him for generously sharing family photos and information for both this page and the Henry George page, giving us important parts of Freeland’s history. Thank you to Ed Merrick for the large amount of research he did for this page and for news clippings, and to Charlie Reczkowski for letting me scan his copies of John Grayson Jones sheet music.