South Huntingdon church predates America, will mark 250th anniversary
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In rural South Huntingdon, a large stone block under the roof eaves at Sewickley Presbyterian Church bears the date 1832.
The stone marks when the building was constructed, and it was plenty long ago — but the church itself was already 60 years old by that time, formed just a few years before the United States of America.
“When you look at the year 1772, you can hardly even think of it,” said Amanda Albright, 79, of Mendon, whose family arrived in Westmoreland County in the early 1800s and has been attending Sewickley Presbyterian for more than two centuries.
The church will mark its 250th anniversary with a special service at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Sewickley Presbyterian began life with the arrival of minister David McClure, who immigrated in the 1700s as a missionary to local Native Americans.
In 1772, the minutes of the Donegal Presbytery recorded an application by Sewickley Presbyterian Church to become an organized congregation.
Early services saw congregants gathered in the woods, as men armed with rifles kept guard against Native American raids.
The first church building was on the north side of Sewickley Creek, with a clapboard roof held in place with logs, and wooden hinges on the doors, according to programs created for the church’s 200th and 225th anniversaries.
In 1787, a disagreement over where to build a church split the congregation, with one group crossing the creek to build on the current site. In 1832, the existing stone building was constructed. Over the years, it has been renovated a half-dozen times.
Albright can remember attending a service there during one of the mid-1960s renovations.
“During the renovation, we’d normally attend church at the Sewickley Grange,” Albright said. “But one Easter morning, we came here for the sunrise service, and you couldn’t believe it. The whole church was gutted from the inside out, and it was all mud. We sat around on hay bales with our feet in this mud, and was it ever cold!”
As with many early American churches, the congregation was largely comprised of extended families, whose descendants still attend Sunday services.
“My mother and Amanda’s mother were cousins,” said Sharon Williams of South Huntingdon. “I was baptized here, married here and played the organ here for 40 years.”
Williams left the church briefly when a series of lay pastors were conducting services, “but in the past couple years since Pastor Karen Kifer came, my girlfriend insisted that I come back to hear her, and I’ve been back ever since.”
Williams can recall mother-daughter banquets, and a back room partitioned to create three full Sunday school classes for children.
“We had those classes, a class in the kitchen, the men’s class, and the ‘old ladies class’ in the back where my grandmother taught,” she said. “My mother and Amanda’s mother had a group they called the ‘Young Women’s Class,’ and then when they got older, they called themselves ‘The Crusaders.’ ”
Chuck Harvey of West Newton has been a member of Sewickley Presbyterian for the better part of six decades. He can recall people like Williams’ and Albright’s fathers helping to keep the nearby well working when the church did not have access to city water.
Harvey said the church is a big part of the area’s history.
“Someone told me once that my grandmother played the piano here at one time, and that would’ve been more than 100 years ago,” Harvey said. “As I get older, I remember the number of good people here, willing to work for God and work for the church. I’ve not run across that anyplace else, and I’ve been to a lot of churches.”
Pastor Karen Kifer said the 250th anniversary service will include opening remarks by the Rev. Richard “Skip” Noftzger Jr. from the Redstone Presbytery, stories of the church’s history from longtime members like Albright and Williams, and a luncheon afterward.
Sewickley Presbyterian Church is at 256 Bells Mills Road. For more information, call 724-515-5613.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to correct the days of the church’s 250th anniversary.