Jefferson County Presbyterian Church
Source History of Jefferson County 1888 pages 247-248
- Jefferson County Presbyterian Church Early Days
- Bethel Presbyterian Church
- Beechwoods Presbyterian Church
- Pisgah Presbyterian Church
- Perry Presbyterian Church
- Mount Tabor Presbyterian Church
- Richardsville Presbyterian Church
- Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church
- Reynoldsville Presbyterian Church
- Maysville Presbyterian Church
- Troy Presbyterian Church
- Worthville Presbyterian Church
- Brockwayville Presbyterian Church
- Punxsutawney Presbyterian Church
These churches are all in the Presbytery of Clarion, which is a part of the Synod of Pennsylvania, which is a part of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.
They have an aggregate membership of 1,200, are teaching 1,300 children in their Sabbath-schools, own church property estimated to be worth $60,000, and contributed during the last fiscal year $10,000 for the support of the gospel and the benevolent work of the church at large.
The work done by this denomination since Father McGarrough began his labors in the bounds of the county cannot be computed; the influence and the fruits of the sermons preached, the Bible lessons taught, the prayers offered, the contributions made, the mission-work accomplished, the words of sympathy and counsel and invitation spoken, and the quiet, faithful, devoted Christian lives lived for Christ, never can be known upon earth; in heaven alone where the book of remembrance is being kept, is the record all written.
The changes that have taken place within the church since its first organization in the county are considerable. The ridiculously elevated, boxed-up pulpits reached by a flight of stairs have been superseded by the commonsense ones of the present day; the "clerks" who stood at the front of the pulpit to lead the singing have given way to organs and choirs; the old psalm-books have been exchanged for the new hymnals; the old custom of having two sermons a day, and each one of them two or three times as long as the modern sermon, and a half hour's intermission to eat the cakes and get a drink, has been discontinued; the use of "tokens" at the communion, which were small pieces of lead of various shapes, and without which no one was allowed to commune, has been abandoned; the holding of what we call "examines" when pastors would meet at stated times and places the young people of the congregation and question them on the Shorter Catechism and the Bible has also been given up. The habit which once prevailed of people getting up in their seats and stretching themselves or leaning against a wall or pillar of the building whenever they became tired is unknown by the present generation; and yet, perhaps it would be a better thing to do than to sleep during the sermon. The old members of Pisgah Church can remember, too, when it was no uncommon sight to see a well-known minister take his coat off in the pulpit when he got warmed up with his discourse, and finish his sermon in his shirt-sleeves. What a sensation such a proceeding would cause now-a-days.
What the changes may be in the years to come, it would be difficult to tell, but let it be hoped that the Church will prosper and that all the work done by all the Lord's people within the bounds of the county and in all the land, may be blessed of God to whom for all that has been wrought in the past, be all blessing and praise.
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