This Week in Texas Methodist History January 8 Travis Park, San Antonio, Launches Innovative Family Night, January 1948 In the years following World War II, the rhythem of Methodist life continued much as had been before the war. There were still many circuits whose constituent churches had services once or twice per month. In towns and cities churches continued to have both a morning and evening worship service. The evening service was less formal than the Sunday morning service and often reminded worshipers of the church service of their youth. The evening service was often preceded by a meeting of the Methodist Youth Fellowship—which had succeeded the Epworth League. Wednesday night was reserved for “Prayer Meeting,” and Thursday was the most popular night for choir practice. The post World War period saw an explosion of suburban development in Texas, and with that develelopment, downtown churches felt they needed to offer more incentives so that suburbanites would come back downtown during week nightss. Few suburbanites who had commuted to jobs downtown in the morning, worked all day, then drove back home at the end of the work day would want to come back downtown for a prayer meeting that might last only 30 minutes. In January 1948 Travis Park Methodist Church in downtown San Antonio expaned its Wednesday night offerings in an attempt to provide an incentive to keep its members coming on Wednesday night. The program was Family Night and its centerpiece was the installation of a complete wood shop and the introduction of woodworking classes. They remodeled existing space, brought about $3500 worth of tools, recuited volunteer woodworking instructors and began. They started at 5:00 p.m. with an hour of hands on instruction for youth in basic woodworking. At 6:15 a dinner and devotionals were held. At 7:30 woodworking classes resumed, but this time for adults. Members who did not wish to participate in woodworking were offered classes in Bible, drama, poetry, etc. Early reports showed that the first adult class of woodworking consisted of 25 men and 10 women. In addition to the increased skills of the members and the good fellowship, the classes produced useful objects for the church such as cabinets, tables, etc.