JERRY PERSON -- A LOOK BACK

It isn’t always necessary to a statesman or a famous scientist to be

respected in a community. We’ll look at a man who was respected and loved

throughout Huntington Beach -- James Garfield Hurst, who for 31 years

served as the pastor of First Church of Christ, now called the First

Christian Church, in Huntington Beach.

Hurst was born in Macy, Ind., to Ira and Ella Hurst on May 5, 1888. He

spent his youth in Macy and was educated in the Macy school system. And

it was there that he accepted Christ as his savior.

In 1905, he attended the University of Rochester, where he took a premed

course.

Hurst went to work for nine years as the sales manager for the Mexican

Spice and Import Co. before he decided to devote his life to Christ. To

prepare for that calling, he attended Bethany College in West Virginia,

and it was there that Hurst earned his bachelor’s degree in 1920 and his

master’s in 1921.

While at Bethany from 1915 to 1922, he was the spiritual pastor for First

Church of Christ in Toronto, Ohio. Hurst came to Huntington Beach in 1922

and began his ministry at Huntington Beach’s Church of Christ.

When he came here, the New Testament movement was gaining ground in

California. After only a few years of his teachings, the little

Huntington Beach church was leading all other New Testament churches in

Orange County in baptisms -- a record the church held for many years.

On Oct. 20, Hurst married Martha Bell from Dayton, Ohio, and from that

union came a daughter, Dorothy, who now lives in New Mexico.

Hurst received his master’s in theology in 1927 from USC. He was the

president of the Pacific Bible Seminary in Long Beach for many years. It

was during his presidency that Hurst received an honorary doctorate in

divinity from Tennessee’s Milligan College.

In Huntington Beach, Hurst was an active member of our local Masonic

Lodge No. 380 and a member of our Rotary Club.

For 31 years, he stood before his faithful congregation to deliver God’s

word.

Hurst and his wife lived both in town and later at 17881 Beach Blvd.,

where they raised cocker spaniels, said longtime Huntington Beach

resident Arline Howard.

Howard said Hurst baptized her, and he also presided over her marriage to

Marcus Howard.

Hurst gave his 1953 Christmas message to his congregation on Dec. 20, and

on Wednesday, Dec. 23, he conducted a Bible and prayer service in the

evening. By next morning -- which was Christmas Eve -- Hurst had left us

for a much greater reward -- a fitting ending to a man who dedicated his

life to Christ and to his community.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and a longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, 92615.