Celebrating 85 Years of Ministry in Christ's Name

The faith of the Presbyterians drove them to the new world.
The faith of the Presbyterians sustained them in their struggles with life in the new world.
The faith of the Presbyterians instructed them in leading the revolt against the King of England.
The faith of the Presbyterians led them to start a new endeavor in Drexel Hill that continues to this day.

Quite simply, we come here today to drink from the well dug by Presbyterians throughout the years. 


The story of their faith begins in Scotland at the beginning of the 18th century . . .


Isaiah 58:11-12
I Peter 2:3-9

On this very Sunday, 85 years ago – the first Sunday in February, 1927 – some 42 people gathered in the newly constructed “Chapel” –
yes, they called it the Chapel even then –
and were officially recognized and organized as a church by the Presbytery of Philadelphia of the United Presbyterian Church in North America.
It was the “birthday” of our church!

As we sit here, eighty-five years on, as the British say,
I find myself often thinking about those folks. 
They include people like Nason Clark’s parents:
A.J. and Catherine Clark.
Tom and Daphne Sharp
The Yeagers’
Tom and Melissa Dunlap
The Davidsons’
The McCombers’
and others.

These 42  people decided to keep the “charter roll” open until the end of the “church year”, April 6, the time of their annual congregational meeting.
And, by the end of those two months, a total of some 73  people had joined on to this new Christian endeavor in Drexel Hill.

Curiously, or maybe not, most of those folks – those pioneers – those first members of our church – had no Presbyterian background.
The pastor at the time, was constantly reminding the Session that the members had to be “trained in how to be a Presbyterian.”

For sure, those 42 people that first gathered this day 85 years ago had no idea what lay ahead for them.

In less than three years the bottom fell out of the economy and the whole country plunged into what we now call The Great Depression.

And, after a decade of depression, when most folks thought things could not get any worse, the country engaged in a world war fighting formidable foes on two fronts, draining the country and its people of the little resources on hand.

For those who did not live through the Great Depression and World War 2, it is hard to imagine what that was like. 
The public mood was affected so profoundly.
The mood, the attitude, the way you looked at life,
affected every household in the country.
And Drexel Hill was no different.

Construction of new homes halted soon after the new church was organized.
People had a difficult time subscribing to the church operating budget.
But, Session minutes and other documents of the time show that the prevailing attitude among the church-folks was there are so many homes yet to be built,
there are so many families yet to move in,
we need to hang on and to be here when they do.

And, just when things were looking up, [after 13/14 years]
new homes were started,
the church membership grew,
plans were made to better provide for the 453 members,
the cornerstone of the sanctuary was laid and construction started in the summer of 1941.

And, then the war came.
Construction stopped –
as it did all over the country –
as materials and skilled craftsmen and all available dollars were diverted to the war effort.

Again, the prevailing attitude around this church at the time was, we have to go on so we can be here when the boys come home –
so there will be a place they can bring families to as lives start anew.

To me, those folks displayed tremendous faith –
a faith that may be uniquely Presbyterian,
a faith that no doubt was taught here during those early years –
the first 20 or so years of this church’s life,
a faith that we need to know about,
a faith that we need to acknowledge and hold up and remember all our days –
because we can learn from it
and we can apply it to our lives as well,
and we can use it as they did.

The story of their faith begins in Scotland at the beginning of the 18th century.
For practical reasons,
for political reasons,
the Scottsmen took their faith very seriously –
far more seriously than, I dare say, any one in this room today.
For the Scotts at the beginning of the 18th century, their faith was a life-or-death matter.
To a person, they appeared ready to die to be able to express what they considered the “correct faith:”
a faith the Scotts bought in to – hook line and sinker.

When the British re-established the Anglican Church of England with the Monarch as the head of the church, the head-strong Presbyterians in Scotland rebelled. 
Wars were declared, battles were fought.
And, ultimately a treaty was drawn up to establish a Presbyterian place where they could live in peace and not have to cow-tow to the King of England in matters of faith.  

This place was in northern Ireland.
Hundreds of thousands of Presbyterians moved to northern Ireland to find a place where they could practice what they deemed to be their  God-given faith.

But, alas, there were other people in Northern Ireland. 
They had lived there for a couple hundred years,
and they were Roman Catholic.

As an example of the newly empowered Church of England’s hold over the monarchy,
laws were passed that required all officer holders – military and civilian – to be a part of the Anglican church. 
In all civil matters such as marriages and burials, the laws would no longer recognize the work of Presbyterian ministers.

Presbyterians were chided for living in sin,
and children labeled as illegitimate in the eyes of the law.

Presbyterian ministers began to promote emigration to American to be free from a state-run, or a papal-run, church.

In the single year of 1717, Presbyterian ministers led congregations numbering about 5000 to the new world.

Driven by drought, disease, and discrimination, waves of emigrants followed their example over the next 70 years.
Some 200,000 moved in short order.
The first U.S. census in 1790 identified the Scotch-Irish as the second largest white nationality group, after the English, in the country. 

And, most of them were Presbyterian.
And, most of them moved to Pennsylvania.
Compared to what they came from, life was good in Pennsylvania.
William Penn had insured religious guarantees in the Charter.
As part of a master plan, Penn’s secretary James Logan actively encouraged these new arrivals to move to the west and south of Philadelphia to establish a “buffer zone” between the city and the Tuscarora Indians to the West and the Maryland Catholics to the south. 

So, they came by the thousands and established homes and farms and businesses throughout Chester county.

So many of these Scotch-Irish Presbyterians came that there were simply not enough ministers.
A band of folks out near Oxford petitioned the Presbyteries back home in Scotland to send ministers. 

After twelve years of requests, two missionaries were finally sent.

The year was 1753 – 23 years before the declaration of Independence –
The Reverends Alexander Gellatly and Andrew Arnot were commissioned by the Presbytery of Kinross in Scotland to go to the new world and establish new churches among the emigrants.
And, that they did.

They organized the Presbyterian Church in Oxford in 1754 – one of the very first Presbyterian churches in the colonies.

This church prospered and gave witness and ministry in Christ’s name to the people of nearby communities for some 172 years!

By 1926 there were other Presbyterian churches in the area – including another one in Oxford – and the church realized their work was done.
They closed their doors, sold their property,
and the Presbytery bought land in the newly developing community of Drexel Hill. 

They built a building (this building) and called a pastor to come to Drexel Hill to organize a new church.

Like those folks that organized this church 85 years ago, those Presbyterians who migrated to this country in the early 1700's demonstrated a tremendous faith.

For them, their faith was a life-or-death matter.
They knew that God was the God all of life –
and each person had within them the innate ability to communicate with God directly –
that God was the Lord of the individual’s conscience –
and the sole revelation of things spiritual is found in the written word as promulgated as the Holy Bible.

Their whole understanding of church was organized around these principles. 
There were no bishops.
There were no popes.
There was no monarch that could interpret
matters of faith to them.

The faith of the Presbyterians drove them to the new world.
The faith of the Presbyterians sustained them in their struggles with life in the new world.
The faith of the Presbyterians instructed them in leading the revolt against the King of England.
The faith of the Presbyterians led them to start a new endeavor in Drexel Hill that continues to this day.

Quite simply, we come here today to drink from the well dug by Presbyterians throughout the years. 

But, every single Presbyterian in the past would be quick to remind us,
it was not the work of the Presbyterians –
it was the work of God.
Presbyterians were used by God in God’s work. 
It is not about us. 
It never was about us.

As you and I gather around the Lord’s Table today, let us remember the souls of all those who have gone before us. 
And let us pray that the same Spirit that was with them and guided them in their endeavors,
be with us and guide us to further give witness to the presence of Christ in the world around us today – in our days and times. 

Amen.

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, experienced this sermon during a worship service celebrating communion with the perfecter of our faith, Jesus, and with the saints of all the ages, February 5, 2012.