| History of Our Church |
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Below is a brief history of Dryland United Church of Christ. This was taken from a document entitled "A Short History of Dryland United Church Of Christ", compiled by our Church Historian. Many thanks for all of this hard work and research.
In
the period up to 1911 the Reformed and Lutheran congregations were part of the
"Dryland Union Church". After
about 1911 they operated under the "Constitution of the Lutheran and
Reformed Congregations of Hecktown". They
shared the same building and grounds in what was and still is today called a
Union Church arrangement. This
system of sharing was unique to Pennsylvania and was practiced in most towns and
villages beyond the well established areas of Philadelphia.
What is unique about this arrangement is the sharing of the building by
two separate congregations with different worship times and pastors.
There are a few of these church arrangements that continue in our area.
In
addition to the "Union Church" each congregation was also connected to
other local churches of it's own denomination for the purpose of supporting an
ordained minister of their denomination. Thus
the pastor of "The Dryland Charge of the Reformed Church"
served two or more church congregations. In
1953 relations with "Zion E & R Church" (Bethlehem)
were severed. From 1954 to1958 we
were united as a charge with "St. Thomas E & R Church" (Macada).
Lay leaders of these congregations met as necessary to handle the
financial and scheduling arrangements needed to support the charge.
Thus the work of the lay members was not limited to one location, one
official board, one constitution, and one congregational meeting. In 1958 the
Sunday School was renovated at a cost of about $25,000. In 1959 our arrangement
with St. Thomas E & R (Macada) was terminated and Dryland E and R became a
single church charge with a full time pastor.
We were still part of the "Lutheran and Reformed Congregation of
Hecktown" and shared the building, Sunday School program, Choir, Men's
Brotherhood, Dryland Graveyard Association, Women's Group and other union church
activities.
Dryland
United Church of Christ, Newburg,
PA
We can see that the
union arrangements which served well in earlier times, and spread the costs over
a larger group; also had a down side due to the many group meetings required for
decision making.
In
1962, a study committee was appointed to consider the Union Church situation.
On March 1, 1965, articles of dissolution were drawn up and by agreement
of the two congregations the Union Church was dissolved.
Five acres of land was purchased and on May 15, 1966 ,Dryland United
Church of Christ broke ground on Newburg Road for the new church building,
at a cost of $225,000. We are now
on Newburg, one-half mile up Nazareth Pike from our sister church Trinity
Lutheran Church; who under the dissolution agreement now owns the former
union church property.
In
October, 1966 the Cornerstone of the new church was laid.
The exterior is of brick trimmed in white at the cornice and windows.
Though contemporary, the design recalls some of the simplicity of form
found in examples of historic colonial architecture.
Trinity
Lutheran and Dryland United Church of Christ held a final service together on
February 26, 1967, whereupon the UCC of the Drylands moved to their new building
on March 1, 1967 to hold a Lenten Service. The dedication of Dryland United
Church of Christ, on Newburg Road was held on April 9, 1967.
The
Years since 1967
The
next twenty-five years were prosperous and healthy years.
Dryland's pastoral leadership has included the Rev. George H. Schmidt
1965 to 1972, and the Rev Richard Voight interim pastor from Spring to Fall
1972. The Rev. John Dech served
from late1972 to 1983 and during that time the burning of original mortgage was
celebrated on May 15, 1983. The membership grew from 266 in 1967 to 385 in 1983.
Approval was also given to Sue Johnson to lease space for the formation
of the Dryland U.C.C, Early Childhood Education Center.
In
September of 1983 the Rev. Richard Teitsworth assumed the pastoral leadership of
Dryland. In 1985 a much-needed
storage shed was completed by church members.
On June 28, 1992 we celebrated the ground breaking for our new addition.
Also renovations were made to the Narthex and Sanctuary.
This addition and remodeling was completed in 1993 at a cost of $528,000.
It included additional classrooms, a stage, a large kitchen and social
hall, choir room, church office and Pastor's study.
The completion of the addition has provided room for expansion of the
Sunday School and space for many community based groups.
With the Christian Education Center on the main floor, we are more
accessible to everyone. We now have
more than 30 groups meeting here monthly. The
adult membership grew from 385 in 1983 to 450 as of December 31, 2004.
The congregation also has 109 child members.
Our
community is growing and we feel the local church makes an important
contribution by sharing our Christian faith and providing facilities for a
variety of wholesome activities.
Information compiled
from anniversary services held on March
1, 1992, April 6, 1997, September 7,
2003 and other data from our Archives and local libraries.
Current
Update: 2005 - Present
Over the last two years, our church membership has remained relatively constant. As of January 1st, 2007, our adult membership was 443, and our child membership was 121. This was probably due, in large part, to the transition we have gone through. In July of 2005, our Pastor of over 20 years decided it was time to move on to a new calling. We thanked Rev. Richard Teitsworth for his years of devoted service with a wonderful goodbye dinner, and then began a time of transition with our interim pastor, Rev. Steve Brundage.
A Transition Team was appointed with the task of gathering all of the data needed to produce our church profile. This information was then handed over to the Pastoral Search Committee who created the profile along with guidance from members of the PNEC. The committee then began the process of reviewing Pastor’s profiles, trying to find the one who would be just right for our church. After many profiles and several interviews, the committee came up with their recommendation and presented it to the Consistory. The Consistory approved the recommendation, and it was announced to the Congregation in November of 2006.
On Sunday, December 3rd, after his trial service, the congregation voted to accept Reverend David Quinn as our new settled Pastor. Rev. Quinn began his service at Dryland on February 1st, 2007.