Chester [PA] congregation passes into history [and suffers fate of PCUSA ecumenism]

CHESTER -- Martha and Larry Wood met, fell in love, and in 1954 were married at the First Presbyterian Church of Chester.Three of their children were baptized there, and all three were married beneath its white arches and vaulted ceiling.

Yesterday, they were there again - for the last time. Because of its dwindling congregation - down to 55 members, from a high of 575 in the early 1960s - church leaders decided to disband.

"We're sorry.There's a lot of history here," said Mrs. Wood, whose husband is now the church sexton. "It's a landmark in the community."

"It's a sad day for me," said George Montana, a member since 1985 who has served as elder and clerk of sessions.

Margaret and Norman Skillman came all the way from White Horse Village in Edgmont to be with an old friend one more time. The Skillmans were married at First Presbyterian in 1939.

"It looks the same as it did 50 years ago," Margaret Skillman said, viewing the well-kept sanctuary.

Donald F. Tonge, a well-known Chester CPA who serves as president of the church's board of trustees, attributed the all-white congregation's decline to changing demographics and tastes.

Many old members have died or moved away, he said, while Chester's racial composition has shifted from a white to black majority.

"All the mainstream churches are suffering," Tonge said. "The fundamentalist churches are more popular."

Clerk of Session Neil Black said yesterday First Presbyterian had tried hard to attract new people, but was unsuccessful because of its style -- deemed too traditional by many contemporary worshippers.

The Rev. John S. McAnlis, First Presbyterian's pastor for the pastthree and a half years, said the mature congregation had difficulty finding the flexibility to adapt to change.

At the final service yesterday morning, however, the church was more crowded than usual, filled with visitors, former members, and friends from Thomas M. Thomas Memorial Presbyterian Church, and the Way Through Christ Ministry, led by Pastor Al Motley.Everyone had come to say goodbye.

The program included a performance by the Thomas M. Thomas Choir and guest soloist Shamika Byrd.

In his sermon, McAnlis said the service was one of "remembrance and celebration."

Habitat for Humanity of Delaware County received a $30,000 contribution for rebuilding homes in Chester, and $20,000 went to Thomas M. Thomas day care and after-school programs.

First Presbyterian also gave $50,000 to a Widener University scholarship fund for natives of Chester, $30,000 for missionary work in Peru, and $13,000 for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

All the remaining church assets have been transferred to the Presbytery of Philadelphia, which will determine the building's future.Motley said the Way Through Christ Ministry will continue leasing the building, as it has for the past five months.

Ministry services begin at 11 a.m.and a Bible study class meets on Wednesday nights.

Most First Presbyterian members did not seem to have definite plans of joining another congregation.

Like Ellen Webster, they want to visit other churches in the area and find one that's right for them.

The Rev. James W. Dale brought Presbyterianism to Chester in 1851, preaching in the courthouse for more than a year.

The original First Presbyterian Church was built in 1852, and stood on the southeast corner of Fourth and Welsh streets.

As the residential population began moving uptown, the congregation decided to relocate to the present site at 23rd Street and Edgmont Avenue [its steeple was the landmark in this FReeper's neighborhood;my first home was a block and half east on 24th Street.

Ground was broken for the present church in 1920, and the cornerstone laid in 1921.

The building was planned by Clarence Wilson Brazer, and mirrors the clean, beautiful lines of New England houses of worship.

Ministers have included James O. Stedman, George P. VanWyck, Alexander W. Sproull, and William Barrow Pugh, who was chosen by the U.S. government to oversee religious instruction in the armed forces during World War II.

The church ran a Sunday School and has sponsored Cubs and Boy Scouts, Brownies, and Girl Scouts programs.

In his final sermon in the church's pulpit, Rev. McAnlis reminded his audience that the various congregations are all part of one church, and that First Presbyterian leaves behind a 150 year-old-legacy of"care and compassion."

"It was a sad day, but ended on an uplifting note," one parishioner said as she left the church for the last time.

Here's a related article...

Chester congregation disbands

April 03, 2002

By ERIK SCHWARTZ

eschwartz@delcotimes.com

CHESTER -- Members of the First Presbyterian Church of Chester will gather for Sunday services one final time this week. The 150-year-old congregation is disbanding because it has slowly declined in size to about 55 people, most of them elderly, from a peak of about 575 in the early 1960s. The church, whose members are all white, reflects the shift in the city's racial makeup since that peak, according to the Rev. John S. McAnlis, First Presbyterian's pastor.

"The traditional Protestant denominations-- Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans -- have had difficulty integrating," he said. "I think a lot of it is the worship style and the historical attitudes."

In 1960, Chester was two-thirds white and one-third black. By 1990, those proportions had reversed. Today, the city is more than three-quarters black.

"It's just been difficult to deal with the changes in the culture and the society," McAnlis said. "Every four or five years this congregation tried to extend the outreach to the community and for whatever reason ..this congregation was not able to attract people from the community."

First Presbyterian, 2305 Edgmont Ave., has been preparing for closure by giving away some of its money, according to Donald Tonge, president of the church board of trustees.

Over the past year, Tonge said, the church has given away nearly $200,000, including $20,000 for the day-care center and after-school programs of Thomas M. Thomas Memorial Presbyterian Church, which will be the only Presbyterian congregation left in the city.

First Presbyterian also gave $30,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Delaware County for work on homes in Chester, $50,000 to a Widener University scholarship fund for students who lived in Chester prior to enrolling at the college, $30,000 for missionary work in Peru, and $13,000 for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Tonge said.

"We just picked organizations that we felt would carry on what we wanted to carry on," said Tonge, a former longtime Chester Upland School District official.

First Presbyterian was founded in 1851 at Fourth and Welsh streets and moved to its present building in 1922. In 1982, First Presbyterian merged with Third Presbyterian Church, which had been located at Ninth and Potter streets and is now the home of Chester East Side Ministries.

In the 1950s, Presbyterianism in the city reached a high, with seven Presbyterian churches and some 4,000 congregants, said Neil Black, Clerk of Session for First Presbyterian.

Second Presbyterian Church left the city after a fire in its building and became Aston Presbyterian Church; Third Presbyterian absorbed the Italian Presbyterian Church in 1965; and Bible Presbyterian Church, whose building at 13th and Potter streets is now part of the Widener campus, moved to Marcus Hook, where it remains, Black said.

The seventh was Bethany Presbyterian Church.

Among the most well-known ministers of his time was Third Presbyterian's Dr. Abraham L. Lathem, thought to be the creator of the first summer Bible school. Lathem left Third Presbyterian and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1939 to start Bible Presbyterian.

T.M. Thomas, once known as Fifth Presbyterian Church, began as a mission of the Third Presbyterian Church in 1899, with the goal of spreading the gospel to African Americans in the West End, Black said. It has long been a mainstay in Chester.

Also picking up where First Presbyterian leaves off will be The Way Through Christ Ministry, a Mennonite congregation that has held services at First Presbyterian for the past five months.

"We're looking to become a mixed congregation, not just an African-American congregation," said Pastor Al Motley.

The ministry saw its home of eight years, the former Ukrainian Social Club building at Second and Thurlow streets, fall to the bulldozer as part of the Route 291 widening project.

"My desire was always to go back to the East End," where his church started, Motley said. "Our desire is to lease the facility and then to purchase it, God willing."

Motley will join officials from First Presbyterian, T.M. Thomas and the Philadelphia Presbytery for Sunday's 10 a.m. service, which is billed as a celebration of the life and ministry of the church.

McAnlis said he would speak of "affirming that the presence of Christ is strong and will continue even though this church may close."

"If it was just us, it would be a sad time," Black said. "But with the other congregations it will be more of a celebration."

foreverfree

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.