225th Anniversary
Heritage Sunday ~ October 28, 2018

Following the completion and dedication of the new stone church building in 1878, the congregation applied to the Conference for a married man to be a resident pastor, taking the place of itinerant preachers. This required
them to supply a home in which the pastor and his wife would live.

Although this was an extra financial burden at this time, those who had stood by and helped in other emergencies came to the rescue and a frame cottage was built at the rear of the church, next to the present garage. The total cost of building and furnishing this first parsonage was $1,962.

Then Miss Annie Coleman and Robert Coleman gave the trustees a choice of either a bell for the tower or a pipe organ. They chose the organ and in 1879 the first organ was installed in the rear of the present sanctuary (it was
moved to the front of the sanctuary in 1896 when the entire church was frescoed by a local man.)

In 1910, desiring to have a parsonage which conformed in architecture to the church building, Edward C. Freeman proposed the erection of a new parsonage in memory of his mother, Mrs. Margaret C. Freeman (daughter of Mrs. Thomas Bird Coleman). It was completed the same year, furnished entirely by Miss Isabel C. Freeman and Mrs. Margaret C. Buckingham.

In 1926 the bell was installed in the 84-foot tower, a gift to the congregation from Mrs. Buckingham and Miss Freeman. The bell was originally located at the Bird Coleman Furnace and used to call the employees to work.

The Chancel was renovated and stained glass windows installed in 1937, giving us the look we have today in the sanctuary. As we look back over the years since then we have seen many changes which have occurred both
upstairs and downstairs, as well as the addition in 1998 which includes our Fellowship Hall and kitchen, plus the elevator for access to the second floor sanctuary and basement facilities. These improvements have enabled
us to celebrate our mission in a more effective way.

We have been blessed by those who came before us, by our benefactors who built such a substantial edifice in which to worship, by the early class leaders, one of whom walked eight miles one way every Sunday to teach his
small group, by more recent members who shared their artistic talents on walls in the chapel and Sunday School rooms.

Nancy Ladd, Church Historian