USA > Pennsylvania > Change and challenge: a history of the Church of the Brethren in the southern district of Pennsylvania, 1940-1972 > Part 28
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This was not the first effort to minister to people in the county. The Falling Spring and Back Creek congregations cooperated in the McCon- nellsdale mission project (1897-1923) and the Cherry Lane project (1937- 1954). These two projects were conducted without district support. In 1954, the District Mission Board purchased the Knobsville school house for the sum of $1,000. After making some renovations, the building was dedicated for use as a mission church. Jacob L. Miller and Ova Edwards, an evangelist from Tennessee, were guest speakers for the dedication services on April 17, 1955.
CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN MISSION KNOBSVILLE , P
The Knobsville Church
For a period extending from 1955 until 1958, the services in the new mission point were conducted by ministers from the Back Creek, Falling Spring and Pleasant Hill congregations of the district. Ministers brought families and friends to join in Sunday School and worship with the people of the community who met at the renovated school house.
In 1959, Roger Markey was asked by the new Mission and Church Extension Commission to become a part-time pastor to the community. Wilbur Kline, a member of the Falling Spring congregation, served with Bro. Markey as a Sunday School teacher and superintendent for one year.
When the work in the community showed evidence of growth, the District Commission requested district aid in erecting an enlarged sanc- tuary. This request was the outgrowth of a survey which was made by volunteer canvassers from the District Men's Work Organization. Thirty men formed fifteen teams to survey the community within a radius of five miles of Knobsville. "So far as we know this was the first systematic and thorough survey made of our Home Missions projects", a report to the District Conference said. Nearly 600 people lived in the area and thirty people indicated their intentions of attending the Knobsville Mis- sion Church.
The Mission and Church Extension Commission requested the Dis- trict Board for the privilege of moving the building to a new location and
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to add sixteen feet to its length. Permission was granted to use funds which had been designated for Church Extension in the district.
On April 29, 1961, the Knobsville Mission held a Lovefeast service and broke ground for its new building. The chairman of the District Com- mission, Noah S. Sellers, was on hand to speak. The Knobsville people secured permission to use the local Methodist Church during stated hours while the Knobsville Mission was being remodeled. The new sanctuary was ready for occupancy by August, 1962. Roger E. Markey mailed a letter from the Commission on Mission and Church Extension requesting contributions of pulpit furniture, classroom equipment, hymnals, bulletin boards and kitchen equipment. The people of the community and the members of the mission gave many hours of volunteer labor to the project.
The service of dedication for the new sanctuary was held on November 11, 1962. Roy S. Forney, Executive Secretary for the Region, was present for the dedication. Robert L. Cocklin held a week of evan- gelistic services following the dedicatory program.
The Knobsville project exceeded the original estimates of $12,000. In order to meet the additional costs, the sum of $10,- 000 was borrowed from the treasurer of the Brethren Home, with the understand- ing that repayments would be made out of the District's Church Extension fund bud- get allocations. The total cost for the new building amounted to $33,000. The origi- nal school house was incorporated into the new structure.
Roger E. Markey
In the years which followed, the con- gregation evidenced gradual growth under the sacrificial leadership of Roger and Anna Markey. The congregation soon began to assume a more central place in the life of the community. In 1964, the church council agreed to purchase an additional acre of ground to the front of the church from Charles Raker. The cost of the ground was $2,000. On May 8, 1965, the congregation decided to add new oak pews to the sanctuary and to install new pulpit furniture. This was done at a cost of about $2500. The Mission Church was managing its own affairs and making its own improvements. By 1966, the Knobs- ville Mission was approved by the Southern District as a congregation. The District Commission, following the recommended practice of the brotherhood, made a transfer of the deed for the property to the trustees of the congregation.
The church was transformed from a district project into a self-sup- porting effort in a comparatively brief period of time. As it purchased additional land and acquired new furnishings, the congregation met a third time to commemorate its achievements. On October 15, 1967, mem- bers of the District Commission met with the congregation to hear Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser, of Elizabethtown College, deliver the dedicatory address. At the evening Hymn Sing, the new church hymnals were con- secrated. The dedication statement acknowledged:
"we have renovated and improved . .. this sanctuary ... through the cooperation of many persons within the membership ... who have given generously and sacrificingly of time, effort and money."
In the time in which Roger E. Markey has served, the church has
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shown additional changes. The membership grew from approximately thirty persons to seventy-five in 1972. The membership also became self- supporting and began to determine its own program. As new homes and new industries began to enter the valley, signs of continued growth have been present.
LLLLLL JE
Knobsville Church
The church elected deacons into the permanent office. Since its be- ginnings, the Knobsville Church has been served by Warren and Goldie Kerlin, Clair and Sue Miller, Robert and Thelma Knepper, Dale and Mae Black and Luther and Madeline Cornelius.
Roger E. Markey (1959- ) has been the only pastor of the con- gregation, serving faithfully and ably in the building of a church. Prior to his servces at Knobsville, Bro. Markey served in the non-salaried min- istry in the New Fairview congregation for fourteen years. The Knobs- ville Church was developed by hard work and faithful cooperation between the pastor and the people of the community.
LOWER CONEWAGO CONGREGATION
The Lower Conewago congregation has roots extending back to the beginnings of York County. At one time the Bermudian and Wolgamuth Church houses were a part of the Big Conewago congregation. This con- gregation was once the second largest in the brotherhood. The German Baptists were divided into districts within the congregation and met in homes in each district for worship. The congregation included an exten- sive area reaching from East Berlin to York Springs and once included all of the northern half of York County. In 1849, a division was made, forming the Upper and the Lower Conewago groups.
The Lower Conewago membership presently meets at two church houses. The oldest of these is the Wolgamuth meetinghouse located two miles southeast of Dillsburg on the Old Carlisle Road. It was named for Christian Wolgamuth from whom land was purchased in 1844 for the sum of $5.00. The ground was purchased for use as a burial site and for the construction of a church building. The Wolgamuth Church house was erected in 1844 at a cost of $385.60. The building has been remodeled in 1903, in 1938 and in 1960.
Members living close to the Bermudian stream worshiped in homes of members until 1856-1857. At this time, a brick church house was built one mile north of the Mulberry Post Office. A second building was erected on the site in 1887. Subscriptions were raised among the members rang- ing from $.25 to $120. Some records indicate that the brick church build- ing was erected on solid rock.
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Bermudian House
Wolgamuth House
For many years the congregation was served by the nonsalaried min- istry and was governed by a presiding elder. One of these elders was Kurvin D. Henry (1879-1941), a nephew of the noted church historian, George N. Falkenstein. Kurvin D. Henry was one of the first students registered at Elizabethtown College when the school began in 1900.
Another presiding elder was G. W. Harlacher (1875-1949), who was elected to his position in 1929. He continued to serve the congregation as its moderator until his death came in 1949. G. W. Harlacher was in- volved in numerous district responsibilities. He was a member of the Brethren Home Board for thirty years, and a trustee of Elizabethtown College for two years. He was also a member of the first District His- torical Committee.
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During the war years (1940-1945), the Lower Conewago congregation was active in promoting goods for overseas relief and in supporting the Heifer Project Inc. The Men's Work Organization rented a farm of 110 acres. The proceeds from the harvests were used for relief and the maintenance of the church. In 1947, the congregation sent the last of six heifers which it had donated for the rehabilitation of overseas farm families. The Bermudian Women's Organization in 1946 purchased goods from a store which was discontinuing its services and shipped the goods to New Windsor, Maryland. The purchase included shoes, stockings, needles and buttons.
The lower Conewago congregation has W. G. Harlacher hosted missionary meetings sponsored by the district and was held many of its own. A district missionary and peace meeting was held at the Bermudian Church on May 30, 1947. In 1955, the congregation hosted the sixty- fourth annual District Conference. Eighty-six delegates from thirty- three congregations met for two days at the Bermudian Church to con- duct the business of the district. It was at this conference a decision was made to begin a district camp.
Glenn Julius
Stanley G. Barkdoll
The preaching in the congregation has been done largely by minis- ters called and licensed by the church. In 1940, Charles Eichelberger was licensed to preach and, in 1946, he was ordained at a special service conducted by W. G. Group and G. Howard Danner. J. Albert Cook, who was licensed in 1936, was advanced to the full ministry in 1942. J. Melvin Jacobs was ordained to the Christian ministry in the congregation in 1941. O. Wayne Cook and Glenn Julius were licensed to the ministry on January 29, 1950 with Robert Cocklin officiating for the District Minis- terial Board. The licensing took place in a missionary service in which Grace Clapper brought the message. O. Wayne Cook was advanced to the eldership in 1953 with J. Monroe Danner and Robert Cocklin officiat- ing. O. Wayne Cook later served the congregation as the elder-in-charge
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(1958-1968). On March 6, 1960, Glenn Julius was advanced to the elder- ship with Joseph Baugher and George Hull officiating at the ordination. The congregation in the nineteenth century worshiped in the Julius homestead.
In 1964, the congregation licensed Floyd Myer as a minister. On September 3, 1965, he was relicensed at the Bermudian house. He later withdrew from the district. On January 1, 1967, Earl Dibert and Stanley G. Barkdoll were called by the congregation to serve as ministers. Both of these Brethren shared the preaching responsibilities with O. Wayne Cook and Glenn Julius at the Bermudian and Wolgamuth houses. Stanley G. Barkdoll was ordained to the full ministry in a special service con- ducted at the Bermudian house on November 22, 1970. Elmer Q. Gleim, moderator of the congregation, was assisted by Chauncey F. Trimmer in the service of ordination.
The church began to change its form of church government under the leader- ship of moderator Earl K. Ziegler. It adopted a church constitution and formed itself into a church board with a series of commissions. Representatives from the Wolgamuth and Bermudian houses con- stitute the board. The church also took steps to enter the pastoral ministry pro- gram. On June 16, 1968, Kenneth M. Shaffer Jr., of Denton, Maryland, began to serve as a summer pastor. He intro- duced the congregation to the advantages of the salaried pastoral system before he returned to Bethany Theological Seminary to complete his degree work.
The church boards and church councils held many meetings in 1969 to determine J. Leon Swigart if the church should enter a full-time pas- toral program. Early in 1970, a vote was taken at the two church houses and the decision was made to enter the pastoral program. The congregation later voted to employ J. Leon Swigart as its first full-time pastor, beginning on September 1, 1970. The congre- gation rented an apartment in the community on a temporary basis and J. Leon Swigart and his family began their pastoral responsibilities.
Both church houses have continued to make improvements to their structures. In 1930, the interior of the Bermudian house was extensively remodeled and the elevated seating at the ends of the sanctuary were removed. In 1943, the parking lot was improved and additional improve- ments were made in following years. The worship experience was re- fined by the addition of an electric organ (1948). The architecture of the Bermudian house was altered by the addition of a vestibule with a tower and a steeple at a cost of $6,000 (1971). The Committee on Planning is currently projecting additional renovations and expansions for the Bur- mudian Church house.
The Wolgamuth Church has also made physical improvements to its property. The parking lot was covered with stone in 1948. The original church house was removed from its location close to the highway and was relocated several hundred feet away on a new site. The building was remodeled, a basement was added and extensions were placed to the origi- nal building. The Women's Work Organization purchased a chancel pic- ture of Christ in Gethsemane. These improvements to the interior and
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the exterior cost the people $16,000. A special service of dedication was conducted on April 9, 1961.
The Wolgamuth and the Bermudian membership frequently meet for joint services. The council meetings and the Lovefeast services are con- ducted at the Bermudian Church house. Each Lovefeast and Communion service is conducted with simplicity and reverence in the manner of wor- ship begun more than two centuries earlier. On occasions, the seal of Alexander Mack has been displayed prominently as a worship center dur- ing the Communion service.
The Bermudian Church house was featured in the York Sunday News (April 16, 1972) as one of the historic churches of York County. The article recited the range of services offered by the church, including wor- ship, Christian Education, youth activities, Men's and Women's Fellow- ship programs.
The congregation has had many youth enter the Alternative Service and Brethren Volunteer Service programs since 1940. In recent years, Larry Barkdoll and Barry Waggy have served in such assignments. In 1972, David March, who enlisted for service in the United States Air Force in Germany, applied for conscientious objector status and was granted this recognition.
Presiding elders who have served the congregation are: G. W. Har- lacher (1929-1949), the District Ministerial Board (1950), J. Albert Cook (1951-1957), O. Wayne Cook (1958-1968), Earl K. Ziegler (1968-1970) and Elmer Q. Gleim (1970- ).
THE LOWER CUMBERLAND CONGREGATION
The Lower Cumberland congregation was once a part of the larger congregation known as the "German Baptist Church in Cumberland County." The congregation was divided into two parts in 1836, and was renamed Upper Cumberland and Lower Cumberland. Even after the division, the Lower Cumberland congregation had no church houses of its own, but continued to worship in homes, barns, school houses and union church houses.
The first church house to be erected was known as the Baker meeting- house (1855). It was located on the Lisburn road close to Allen (Church- town), Pennsylvania. When this brick building was razed in 1935, portions of it were used to place an extension on the Boiling Springs house, a meetinghouse erected in 1875 by the Lower Cumberland congregation.
Miller's Meetinghouse
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The Miller's meetinghouse, close to Sterrett's Gap on the south side of the Blue Mountain, was built in 1855. It was built on land which had been donated by Joseph Miller (1812-1886), a deacon of the congregation. The Miller house was constructed of native stone and measured thirty feet by thirty-four feet. In 1954, a vestibule of native stone was added to the original building.
The Mohler house of the Lower Cumberland congregation observed its one hundredth anniversary with an all-day meeting on August 20, 1961. The ground for the Mohler house was donated by Solomon Mohler, the son of Daniel Mohler, who purchased land in Cumberland County in 1800.
Mohler's House
The building was erected of brick and stone in 1861.
The Lower Cumberland congregation has been affected by a group who were known as "Dunkard Brethren". This group took members from the Lower Cumberland church in 1926 when the Dunkard Brethren Church was organized. The loss of leadership left the Lower Cumberland congre- gation disorganized for a period of time. The District Ministry Commis- sion reorganized the church on September 26, 1926.
On October 14, 1945, the Lower Cumberland congregation met in a special council meeting after the Sunday School period. Under the chair- manship of Elder Jacob E. Trimmer, the congregation met "to consider receiving a number of the members of the Dunkard Brethren Church into our fellowship." The meeting agreed to receive twenty-six people who applied for readmission to the church. Those who asked for admittance "confessed that they had made a mistake in withdrawing from the Church of the Brethren and asked the church to forgive them. The church will- ingly forgave them, and rejoiced to receive them once more into the fel- lowship of the Church of the Brethren."1
The Lower Cumberland Church also met in council on October 18, 1945 "to consider the official positions of the elders, ministers and deacons who returned" to the church. The decision was made to restore the of- fices of all who had held such positions with the Dunkard Brethren. An installation service followed. The ministers and their wives were installed by G. Howard Danner; the deacons and their wives were installed by J. Albert Cook. Four ministers and two deacons were installed. A ser- vice of consecration followed and the people greeted the ministers and deacons with the right hand of fellowship and the scriptural salutation.
However, the Dunkard Brethren leaders brought with them an ultra- conservative attitude. They began to object to home and foreign missions, to Brethren Service work and to the Ministerial and Sunday School meet- ings. They objected to the sending of delegates to any of the District
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Conferences. They openly objected in the church council to the lifting of Missionary and Brethren Service offerings in the congregation. Within a short time, the District Ministry Commission was asked to manage the affairs of the congregation. In 1948 and 1949, some members of the con- gregation left the church to form an independent movement.
The congregation has been served by the non-salaried ministry since its beginnings. A presiding elder administers the affairs of the church through a ministry commission and an official board. The elders-in-charge since 1940 have been Jacob E. Trimmer ( -1947), the District Minis- terial Board (1948-1949), Otho J. Hassinger (1950-1952), Jacob E. Trimmer (1953), Robert L. Cocklin (1954-1956), Paul H. Smith (1957-1960) Paul K. Newcomer (1960-1972), and Vernon E. Nell (1972- ).
The congregation has been served by many ministers since 1940. Some of these have gone to other congregations to serve as pastors. Others have withdrawn from the Church of the Brethren. The church maintains a list of preaching services with the names of those who will preach in the course of the year. On occasions, special services are conducted. On July 20, 1958, the Lower Cumberland congregation heard a program at the Mohler house by the Singing Sims, a family of adopted children.
The ministers who have served the congregation during the past three decades are Walter E. Cocklin, who served from 1914 until his death in 1969; Henry L. Miller (1926-1965) ; Clair H. Alspaugh (1942-1958) ; J. Harry Smith (1945-1963); Paul H. Smith (1945-1968); Lester E. Eckert (1945- 1970); Nevin L. Smith (1957-1960) ; Lester Lee Eckert (1962- ); Marlin C. Ressler (1962-1970); John L. Peffer (1959- ); Percy Kegarise (1965- ) and Dean O. Fahnestock (1968- ). In addition, Benjamin F. Lebo served the congregation briefly after his return from the Dunkard Brethren Church in 1945.
The worship services of the congregation have alternated between the Mohler's house and the Miller's house. In 1972, Sunday School and wor- ship began to alternate between the two church houses. Up until this year, each house maintained weekly Sunday School classes. A superin- tendent served each church house. Sunday School superintendents serv- ing at the Mohler's meetinghouse have been Charles Ditmer (1940), Walter Hershey (1941-1946), David Vogelsong (1947-1951), David Smith (1952- 1956), and David M. Miller (1957- ).
Superintendents at the Miller's meetinghouse have been Joseph Shatto (1940), Clair H. Alspaugh (1941-1943), Robert Alspaugh (1944-1945), Har- vey Snyder (1946), Lloyd M. Fahnestock (1947-1951), Kenneth Kutz (1952-1955), Charles Ditmer Sr. (1956), Barton Sorber (1957), David Ditmer (1958-1962), Kenneth Kutz (1963-1965), Dean O. Fahnestock (1966- 1969) and Russell Ditmer (1970- ).
Lovefeasts and Communion services at the Lower Cumberland con- gregation are all-day services. The congregation meets twice yearly for these services at the Mohler's house. The preparatory service is observed at two o'clock in the afternoon and the Lovefeast begins at 6:30 P.M. of the same day. Deacons who have served the congregation since 1940 include Clair H. Alspaugh, Frank Saphora, Frank Britten, Charles Ditmer, Charles Armstrong, Ervin Holtry, Roy White, David Vogelsong, Levi Ditmer, George Yentzer and Lloyd M. Fahnestock.
The congregation is grateful for a history which extends back for more than a century. The Miller house observed its centennial celebra- tion on May 22-29, 1955 with many speakers and with John Hershman delivering the centennial address on May 29. John Hershman also deliv- ered the centennial address for the Mohler house on August 20, 1961. The
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church seeks to continue the traditions and the simplicity of life asso- ciated with the Church of the Brethren of earlier decades.
THE LOST CREEK CONGREGATION
In the eighteenth century, lands adjoining the Juniata River were easily accessible to settlements. Scotch-Irish people began to move into the area about 1750. German settlers followed soon after land purchases were made from the Provincial authorities in 1754. The Albany Confer- ence land sales were not pleasing to the Indians, but these sales did encourage rapid settlement. The entire region along the Juniata River had been used by the Delaware tribes as their hunting grounds.
John Shellenberger, following the Mahantango Creek from Liverpool, moved into the Juniata County area shortly after the land sales had been made. In spite of the continuing Indian threats (1754-1763), he lived in the area now known as Richfield. In 1780, he moved to the site which is now occupied by the community of Bunkertown. Here he purchased a tract of land from James Martin. John Shellenberger donated a portion of his land to the Lost Creek congregation which had been formed in 1790. When he asked what he wanted for the land, he said: "Nothing but good-will." It was this statement which gave rise to the name "Good Will Meetinghouse" for the Bunkertown Church, a name used until 1941.
The congregation was once comprised of four meetinghouses. The Free Spring meetinghouse was erected in 1863 on a lot donated by David Basehore. The Oriental meetinghouse was built on a plot of ground secured from Frederic Meiser in 1888. Services were conducted in an old schoolhouse in Richfield for years until, in 1906, the church was erected on land formerly owned by Christian Shellenberger. The present Bunkertown Church was the second building on the site. The first was erected in 1838 and the second in 1891. These meetinghouses are located in the fertile valley which runs diagonally below the Shade Mountain and its Lost Creek gap.
Today, three meetinghouses continue to be in use in the congrega- tion. When John A. Buffenmyer served the church as pastor (1933-1941), he stood third in line in a pastoral ministry which began in 1916. The Lost Creek congregation became the first in the Southern District to employ a full-time pastor. John E. Rowland (1916-1924) served the con- gregation for eight years. He was succeeded by Charles E. Grapes (1924- 1932) and then by John A. Buffenmyer. During the pastorates of these three district leaders, the congregation conducted a preaching and a Sun- day School ministry at the Free Spring house, the Oriental house and the Bunkertown house.
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