CHURCH HISTORY

OUR PAST PASTORS

Since its founding in 1933, Miami Shores Community Church has been served by 10 settled pastors, listed below, plus several interim clergy. Rev. Daniel Morales came onboard in March 2025 as our bridge pastor.

Our longest serving pastor was Rev. Harold A. Davenport, who was with us for 24 years and was so revered that the congregation named him pastor emeritus after his retirement.

Rev. Donald Douds also merits special mention. It was his preaching invitation to a Black pastor in 1949 that sparked Klan-style cross burnings and led to an ordinance banning the hateful practice.

During Rev. James P. Kvetko’s 21-year tenure, he led the congregation through the pathbreaking process of becoming an Open & Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ that fully embraces people of all sexual identities.

1933-1934
Rev. A.J. Patterson

1950-1959
Rev. Frederick Nelson

1934-1940
Dr. Clarence A. Vincent

1959-1963
Rev. George E. Johnson

1941-1950
Rev. Donald Douds

1964-1968
Rev. Lee A. Lindsley

1968-1992
Dr. Harold A. Davenport
(named pastor emeritus in 1995)

2016-2019
Rev. Margaret (Meg) P. Watson

1993-2014
Rev. James P. (Jim) Kvetko

2020-2023
Rev. Shane Montoya

A Glimpse Into Our Past

In 1956, Gladys Beckwith Tyler (1889–1976), a retired teacher and founding member of the congregation, published This, Too, Can Happen in Miami, a history of Miami Shores Community Church. She traced the roots of the congregation to 1890s worship services organized by pioneer Mary Brooks in the front parlor of her Shores area home. Our immediate antecedents were Sunday school sessions held at Miami Shores Elementary School beginning in 1930. In January 1933, five participants – one Methodist, one Catholic, two Congregationalist and one Baptist – applied for a charter for The Miami Shores Community Church, Inc. If you’d like to learn more, you may borrow Tyler’s book from the church office.