From 1748 to 2023, Grace UCC has been part of community for 275 years
Shawn HardyThe 275th anniversary of Grace United Church of Christ, the second oldest church in Greencastle, is being commemorated in 2023.
“I’m proud to have been a part of the church for so many years,” said Nancy Myers, 81, who was baptized by the Rev. Merle F. Sollinger and officially joined the church at age 13. She spearheads Grace's Free Closet, a ministry of the church that’s open from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays offering gently used clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, household items, games, home decor, blankets, towels, throws and bath rugs, as well as diapers.
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Myers also is part of the committee planning anniversary activities that’s chaired by Marg Stouffer.
“I’m thinking of where we’ve been and where we’re going. The church is very involved in the community,” said Stouffer, a 40-year member.
Located at 128 E. Baltimore St., Grace UCC is known for its pie sale in February; a monthly 1st Saturday Free Community Meal; ham sandwich and soup sales in the spring and fall; a yard sale during Greencastle Sidewalk Days; and an apple dumpling sale in November. During the holiday season, the church has an Angel Tree to collect donations for needy children in the Greencastle-Antrim School District and participates in Greencastle’s Heritage Christmas celebration.
The church has supported missionary work, going back to Ruth Henneberger, a nurse and English teacher in China and Japan in the 1920s. Grace UCC also hosted two refugee families from Bosnia, helping them get resettled here with housing, jobs, school and medical care.
“I think it’s wonderful we can celebrate the anniversary,” said Lorna Thomas, who attended the church prior to officially joining in 1987 and another member of the committee. She cited the longevity of many of the members and how much history of the church is preserved.
Those attributes were showcased when the church was featured on the Old Home Week walking tour in 2019 and prompted Jan Shafer to join two years ago.
“I liked this church when we did the walking tour,” said Shafer, a chair of the OHW walking tour and also a member of the 275th anniversary committee that’s rounded out by Jeff Stouffer, Bob Gearhart, Patty Stepler and Pastor Mark Ruzicka.
What’s the history of Grace United Church of Christ?
The congregation traces its roots to 1748, when the Rev. Michael Schlatter, an itinerant German Reformed minister, made his way to the Conococheague Settlement and the area which would become Greencastle.
Only the Presbyterian Church, organized in 1738, goes back farther in the community’s history.
Over the years, it’s been known as the German Reformed Congregation, German Evangelical Reformed Society, German Reformed Church, the Reformed Church and Grace Evangelical and Reformed Church, according to information in three History’s Echoes columns Sharon Baumbaugh wrote about the church published in the Echo Pilot in December 2020.
The United Church of Christ was formed by the union of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches of the United States in 1957 and the name of the local church was changed to its present Grace United Church of Christ in 1961.
Circuit riders served the German Reformed Congregation until the Rev. Jacob Weymer was called in 1770, serving congregations in Greencastle, Grindstone Hill, Chambersburg and Clear Spring until his death in 1790.
It was during Weymer’s tenure that Col. John Allison laid out the town of Greencastle in 1782. Four years later, representatives of the congregation purchased a lot for a burial ground. Grace United Church of Christ still owns and maintains the German Reformed Cemetery along South Carlisle Street. The first church, a log structure, was built at the back of the lot. It was torn down in 1808 and replaced with a brick structure, which because of costs, took 19 years to build.
German was used until the Rev. John Rebaugh became pastor in 1837 and introduced English for public services.
In May 1953, the congregation, decided to move to another part of town, “away from the railroads,” and purchased property on East Baltimore Street, where Grace UCC stands today. The new church, which had two front doors, was dedicated in June 1855.
In 1863 during the Civil War, Capt. Ulric Dahlgren used the tower of the church to observe Confederate troops approaching the from south.
The first of three pipe organs from M.P. Oller of Hagerstown was installed the 1880s, the first pipe organ in Greencastle. The second one was in dedicated in 1903 and the third and present one dedicated in November 1953, according to information compiled by Susan Alsip-Lawson, who has been Grace UCC’s organist since August 1981.
In 1897, the front of the church was changed to its present appearance to one bell tower and one main front door.
The church was enlarged in a construction project starting in January 1959, which included classrooms, pastor’s study, church office, kitchen, bathrooms and a chapel. In addition, the sanctuary, located on the second floor at the front of the church, was remodeled, with the dedication held in December 1959.
The 250th anniversary was observed in 1998 and special services were planned, including outdoor worship at the old church cemetery founded in 1786 on South Carlisle Street.
What are some of the plans during the 275th anniversary of Grace UCC?
A program in the fall about the old cemetery by Jack Webb is one of the events being planned for the yearlong anniversary celebration. Webb and his wife, Susan Hankey-Webb adopted the German Reformed Cemetery on South Carlisle Street after they moved into the home next door in 2014. In addition to finding and restoring headstones, they researched, cataloged and mapped the graves and the information appears on a sign at the site. The cemetery is the resting place of more than 330 people. The oldest grave is for Elizabeta Weider in 1791 and the last burial was Jacob Pensinger in 1890.
Two commemorative items will be sold, including a brick red, cream and black throw, which says “Grace United Church of Christ, 1748-2023.” It features a drawing of the church done in 1998 by the late Will Whitehead, a member of the congregation. It costs $60 and preorders are being taken in February and March. Payments via cash or check, due when the order is placed, can be dropped off at the church office.
Later this year, an oak plaque created by anniversary committee member Jeff Stouffer will be sold via silent auction. It features a laser image of the church and the words “Grace United Church of Christ, 275th Anniversary, 1748-2023.”
Other anniversary activities include:
- A Lenten Bible study on the Gospel of Matthew from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays from Feb. 22 to April 5.
- An Easter sunrise service on April 9, followed by breakfast. Details to be announced later.
- Recognition of people who have been members of the church for 50 or more years during the regular service at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 30. This will serve as a day of recommitment to the ministry and mission of Grace UCC.
- A service at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 24, with the Rev. Carrie McCall, conference minister for the Penn Central Conference of the United Church of Christ, followed by a dinner. After the dinner, Call will talk about German Reformed Church history in the area, how the churches got started and what they were like and relate them to today’s church.
- A holiday concert tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9.
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Shawn Hardy is a reporter with Gannett's Franklin County newspapers in south-central Pennsylvania — the Echo Pilot in Greencastle, The Record Herald in Waynesboro and the Public Opinion in Chambersburg. She has more than 35 years of journalism experience. Reach her at shardy@gannett.com