A Moment for History
This Sunday we will have a very unique, very special worship service that celebrates the combined 605 years of worshipping God that has taken place across our United Presbyterian Church in Canonsburg.
“Wait a second…” you say, “I thought we were founded in 1775 – aren’t we celebrating 250 years?” Technically, yes, but those 250 years have been spread across multiple different congregations who were worshipping simultaneously for over a century. Let me give you the cliff notes version.
1775 – The Chartiers Associate Presbyterian Congregation was founded on what is now Oak Springs Cemetery, preached at by the Rev. Matthew Henderson, a graduate of Glasgow University. In 1868 it moved to the 122 Pike Street location, built the CE building in 1954 and is the site of our current campus.
1830 – The Speer Spring Congregation of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church was organized (good luck fitting that on a sign!), many were former members of Chartiers, they built their first building on the banks of Chartiers Creek, where Speer Spring Cemetery is now and moved to Greenside Ave in 1885 – home of the current Mount Olive Baptist Church.
Also…
1830 – The Presbyterian Church of Canonsburg was formed from many local members of Chartiers (Hill) Presbyterian Church, following the death of Rev. John McMillan. They first worshipped at Jefferson College’s Prayer Hall, then Providence Hall, before voting to build their own building in 1890 on North Central and become First Presbyterian Church of Canonsburg. The site is currently the home of the Canon House High Rise Apartments for the elderly.
1888 – Central Presbyterian Church was formed of members who did not desire to leave the Jefferson College site, desiring to stay, until they found new property on Belmont Ave and built a new sanctuary in 1922. This church was the former Champion Christian Center, now for sale.
In 1957, in conjunction with the pending merger of the United Presbyterian Church, the Canonsburg Churches found themselves in a new presbytery – Washington Presbytery!
In 1961, four years later, these four congregations formed a joint committee to discuss mergers.
On April 2, 1967 an overwhelming majority in each congregation voted for a merger.
On May 7, 1967 a worship service of the Washington Presbytery celebrated the official merger.
In January, 1968, after alternating worship for six months between the Pike Street and Greenside sanctuaries, it was decided to make our current Pike Street campus the permanent location of what is Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church.
If you add it up, there have been over 605 years of worshipping and serving in Canonsburg. Over 70 ordained clergy have served these congregations – called from Philadelphia and Baltimore in the East to West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee in the West, as well as from Canada (two of us!), Scotland and Ireland. These ministers have been musicians, missionaries and bankers, farmers, authors and military chaplains, professors, college presidents and fiery abolitionists, all seeking to serve God and this community.
These churches have been deeply committed to local missions – forming schools in East Canonsburg and Strabane, national efforts to rebuilt San Francisco after the 1865 Earthquake and various flooding as well as International Mission work through the support and founding of many overseas initiatives. When new ethnic groups arrived in the area – whether emancipated slaves or East European mill workers – they were welcomed into membership and partnered with in the proclamation of the gospel. Each church had a profound connection to education, through the founding of sabbath schools and the partnership with Jefferson College. They planted churches (Houston UP), built and expanded buildings, navigated change and relocations and eventually decided that their best gift to the wider world, was to worship and serve together as a single United Presbyterian Church, here in Canonsburg.
The worship service we will gather for this coming Sunday – just a mere six days before the nation celebrates its 250 years – will look fairly different from the way we are familiar. While we will (try to) stream online, we will not use our projectors. I plan to dress… close to the way Revs. Matthew Henderson or John McMillan may have dressed when they preached in 1775. And we will sing songs (some you may know) that were written by this time… although we will have Kenton’s piano and organ accompaniment – which would have made some of those early worshippers, even into the 1890s, uncomfortable. We will have a little more formal liturgy than they likely had 250 years ago out here on the frontier, and my sermon will not be nearly as long as they would have heard. But the hope is, this service will give us a window into our ancestors’s ardent faith and open us up to the ways that God is present in new ways – new ways that may feel old and even odd to our modern ears.
What I refuse to ignore in all of this though, is that despite all the complicated histories – the ups and downs, the arguments over adding organs or air-conditioning or stained glass windows, the agony over economic downturns or violent conflicts or cultural changes, the celebrations of births, baptisms, weddings, holidays and anniversaries – through all of this, there have been thousands of women and men, gathering together, united in worship and service to the God who created, called and loved them through it all.
It is this same God who created, called and loves us now. How amazing.
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus – especially as we gather together this Sunday!
Pastor Don
PS – Don’t forget about the Ice Cream Social in the Fellowship Hall, following Sunday’s service!