pleasanthillchurchofthebrethren
Additional History
The Church Building and Grounds
Deacons
The deacons are part of the service ministry of the church. The 1835 Annual Denominational Meeting initially defined the role of deacons who, at that time, were all married men. Their duties included visiting the poor and sick, encouraging spiritual well being, reconciling differences, supervising love feast preparations, and caring for the poor and needy. Deacons were also part the spiritual ministry of the church and were called on to assist ministers by leading worship, reading scripture, offering prayers, and sometimes, filling the pulpit. In 1866, the Annual Meeting affirmed that single men could be called to this office, and while many women served alongside their husbands in the early days of the church, the denomination did not recognize women as deacons until 1956.
Many of the duties of the deacons have remained constant over the years. The Pleasant Hill Church’s current deacon ministry includes preparing and serving of love feast and communion; visiting the sick and shut-in; anointing; preparing for baptism and mentoring new members; care-giving through the deacon shepherd program; assisting with altar calls, evangelistic and revival meetings; and presenting devotions and memorial tributes to the families and friends of members called home to the Lord.
The first recorded deacons of the Pleasant Hill congregation were Milton and Elizabeth Metzgar who were called to service in 1893. Emmanuel and Mary Rhodes were called in 1895 and William and Flora Harrison in 1899. Twenty-three years later in September 1922, Daniel and Anna Rhodes and John and Maude Stutzman were called. Over the years, over seventy-five men and women have served our church in the capacity of deacon.
The Church Buildings and Grounds
The Church
The original Pleasant Hill meetinghouse was built in 1852 and remodeled in 1882. The current brick building was erected near the site of the original church. At that time, the original meeting house was moved and became part of the framework of the brick building. A shed was built for the horses in 1914. An acetylene light system was purchased in 1919 and served the church until electric power was brought up Prosser Hollow sometime after 1919. (The acetylene fixtures were removed in 1924.) The church was rededicated on October 17, 1920. In 1935, the congregation considered whether to expand its present building or purchase the old Mount Union Church. An addition to the end of the church building was built, and the church was rededicated on August 6, 1939. A well to service the church building was drilled in 1940, and the kitchen finally had hot water ten years later when a hot water heater was purchased.
New pews and chancel furniture were purchased in 1951 and the sanctuary was carpeted. In 1954, the entrance to the building was changed and the baptistry installed with the first baptisms held there in October that year. The congregation hired an architect and began considering a three-story addition to house Sunday School classrooms and a fellowship hall. This new educational wing was dedicated on April 27, 1958. In 1962, the church was re-roofed and a lighted cross was installed on the bell tower. This cross was replaced by a stainless steel cross in 1973.
The current stained glass windows were installed in the sanctuary in 1970, and a new sound system was installed the same year. The basement classrooms below the sanctuary underwent renovation in 1974, and the sanctuary itself was renovated in phases through 1976 and 1977. The praying hands window, a gift from friends of the congregation, was installed in the baptistry as part of this renovation. Problems with the roof over the education wing were solved with the building of a peaked roof in 1980.
A heating system fund was established in 1981, and the new system was installed the following year. The balcony was added to the sanctuary in 1983, ceiling fans in 1984. The sound system was replaced in 1984 as well.
Basement restrooms were renovated and made wheelchair accessible in 1986. The secretary’s office was renovated in 1987, and windows were replaced in the oldest part of the church in 1990. New cabinets and a dishwasher were added to the church kitchen in 1997. The pastor’s office and the chapel were carpeted in 1998. The following year the sanctuary’s sound system was upgraded. Plans for a future building project began with the establishment of a building fund in 2002.
The Parsonages
In 1921, the congregation decided to build a parsonage on land donated by John Stutzman. A garage was added to that property in 1926. Additional property across the road had been purchased in 1960 from Sylvester Carney. By 1964, when the debts on the addition and the new property were both paid in full, the congregation decided to plan for a new parsonage. The current parsonage, a brick, eight-room house with attached two-car garage, was built in 1967, and the old parsonage was sold. The parsonage was re-roofed in 1992.
Church Grove
In 1945, the church purchased the Cernak farm for a recreation area, and the church picnic was held there the following year. The men’s work added a baseball diamond and an area for volleyball and horseshoes in 1948. The picnic shelter was built in 1949. A fire destroyed the farmhouse at the grove in 1952, and the house was demolished the following year.
The picnic shelter got a new roof and coat of paint in 1980, and underwent extensive renovations in 1983. That same year, the Army Reserve leveled the ball field. The picnic shelter’s beautiful stone fireplace was built in 1990.
Sunday School and Teaching Ministries
The Pleasant Hill congregation has had a Sunday School program since 1871. Abel Findley and H.J. Berkey were our delegates to the first district Sunday School convention at the Grove Church near Berlin in 1879. For many years, the Sunday School opened with a devotional period that included singing of hymns and an offering. The offering was kept in a separate account from the regular morning worship offerings. Money from the Sunday School treasury was contributed to cash rallies, mission projects and in 1919, was used to purchase an oil stove to heat one of the classrooms. Attendance was encouraged and rewarded by presentation of perfect attendance pins. By 1925, the classroom areas were used to capacity, and a committee was appointed to make more room for Sunday School classes. Growing pains were experienced again in 1935, and the church considered options of purchasing another building or adding to its present facility. Three years later, an addition to the end of the building was planned. The present Sunday School classroom and Fellowship Hall addition was built in 1957.
In 1940, a new schedule was tried, and once a month for three months, church services were held at 9:30 a.m. with Sunday School following. This schedule was repeated for a trial period during July and August of 1958. In 1967, Sunday School was begun at 9:00 a.m. and worship services at 10:00 a.m. Today, Sunday School begins at 9:15 a.m., worship at 10:30 a.m. Classes have generally been organized by age groups over the years and have had some interesting names, among them: Eureka Bible Class, Crusaders, Semper Fidelis, Royal Sons, King’s Daughters, Live Wire Class, Truth Seekers, Keysone, Alethia, Joy Bringers, Wiling Workers, Friendship, Sunbeams, Better Half, Voyagers and Class for All Seasons. Special interest classes have been held from time to time on topics such as evangelism, family concerns, and stewardship.
While their main focus is Christian education, Sunday School classes provide service and fellowship opportunities. They’ve raised funds for mission projects at home and abroad, for building and renovation projects, and church furnishings and equipment. In the late 1920s, Sunday School classes helped support missionaries across the globe: Olive Widdowson and Ida Shoemaker, both in India; Mrs. Homer Burke and William Beahm, both in Africa; and V. Grace Clapper in China. In 1952, Sunday School classes took over caring for the sick when the Sick and Bereft Committee became the Bereft Committee. The Junior High Sunday School Department sent dispensary supplies to the Navajo Mission at Lybrook, New Mexico in 1964. For many years, Sunday School classes have taken turns organizing the church picnics.
The teaching ministry was extended
in 1923 when the Board of Christian Education planned a vacation Bible
school. In some years, this program had an attendance of nearly 100
children. The Six Nights for God program expanded Bible school to
include adult classes and was held on Sunday evenings in the spring of
1968. This format was followed in subsequent years, evolving into Five
Nights for God and continuing until daytime vacation Bible school was
again held in 1987 by 30 volunteers who, each morning for one week,
taught Bible lessons and songs, provided snacks and held crafts classes
for 76 children. Vacation Bible School has been held annually since
then.
A junior church program was begun in 1963 under the direction of Mrs. Mildred Grubb. Primary church was added in 1965. Volunteers staff the current junior and primary church programs. A Pioneer Club was formed in 1997 and met Sunday evenings for some time.
Music Programs
Music has always been an integral part of the worship program at Pleasant Hill. The first official minute book dating from 1910 lists a chorister as one of the three positions filled during an election at the first quarterly council meeting. The early Brethren churches did not have instruments; singing was a cappella. Our church was the same, although at some point in the first half of the 1900s, the church acquired a piano. New pianos were purchased for the youth and beginners departments in 1950. The church purchased an organ and dedicated it at the centennial celebration in 1952 with a recital by Mrs. Josephine Ellis. The grand piano was replaced in 1963, and in 1967 a pianist was appointed to serve on a regular basis with the organist. In 1983, a musical instrument fund was established to set aside monies to purchase replacements for the current instruments. The piano and organ currently in the sanctuary were dedicated in 1997 with a special recital by Janet Pudliner, pianist and Darlene Thomas, organist.
Church meetings often included a devotional period that included singing of hymns. Sunday School had an “opening” time that included group singing. Records do not indicate when a choir was formed, but a collection by subscription was made in 1918 to purchase new songbooks for the congregation, and the following year, lights in the sanctuary were changed to accommodate the choir. Thirty-six new choir chairs were bought in 1942. A choir director was hired in 1949. The choir and church produced the cantata and play “No Greater Love” for a number of years in the 1970s. In addition to the adult choir, a junior choir was organized in 1948, and a men’s chorus and youth choirs were active for many years. Children have presented many musical programs over the years. A perennial favorite is the Christmas program and the Living Christmas Tree. A children’s musical, “Jonah,” was produced in the 1980s. Children attending Vacation Bible School present a program the Sunday following their week of activities.
The church has been an active participant in local and district-wide music programs. Many members have fond memories of Singspiration meetings. The church hosted a music festival in 1968 and participated in the District Festival of Choirs in 1986. In 1987, Pastor Hess was instrumental in beginning the monthly West End Community Hymn Sings. The praise and worship team was formed in 1999 and has led music during morning and evening worship, Easter sunrise services, District Lenten services, and West End Community Hymn Sings. The group performs traditional hymns along with praise and worship music with guitar and keyboard accompaniment. The church has had bell and youth choirs from time to time since the late 1960s. Camp Harmony has used our bells for music camps. Several youth from the congregation have participated in the District Youth Choir formed in 1974, and the church has often hosted their practices and programs.
Women’s Work in the Church
The Ladies Aid Society was organized September 27, 1915. Today we know the group as the “quilting ladies” that meet Wednesday mornings in the church kitchen. The current group was organized in January, 1973. The “Sewing Society” was first given permission to use the church basement in 1927. These loyal workers have contributed generously to the work of the church through funds raised by quilting. In 1923, they donated money toward electric light fixtures for the church. They have made donations to Camp Harmony, Cambria City Mission, New Day, Salvation Army, and Birthright. The ladies have participated in many public quilting demonstrations, including six consecutive years in the lobby of a downtown Johnstown bank. They taught special classes at the Mundy’s Corner School in 1976 and in 1979, they were commissioned by the Cambria County Bar Association to design and sew a quilt commemorating the bicentennial. The quilt now hangs in the Cambria County Historical Society Museum in Ebensburg. The group also designs and sews quilts and quilt blocks to be included in the quilts produced for sale at Annual Conference and the Heritage Festival at Camp Harmony.
The Women’s Missionary Society held its organizational meeting on March 3, 1938 under the direction of the Sunday School missionary superintendent. Meetings were held the first Thursday of each month and included devotions, the reading of the monthly “Missiongram” and an offering. Group members visited sick and shut-in members the fourth Sunday of each month. Donations were sent to a missionary to India and China. Dresses were made and donated to needy families. A box of “useful items” was sent to the Spanish relief effort. Gifts were sent to the sick and Thanksgiving baskets sent to shut-ins. The group visited other churches and presented plays, and took cookies and candy to the Johnstown Christian Home. Meetings were held monthly at first, then quarterly. Sometimes groups from other churches were invited. The last entry in their minute book is for the August, 1940 meeting.
The Women’s Work (now Women’s Fellowship) has provided fellowship and service opportunities since its organization on November 2, 1939. Early fundraisers included baking bread, cinnamon rolls and donuts. They cleaned the local schoolhouse and canned for Camp Kane and the Church of the Brethren Home in Scalp Level. In 1950 and 1951, they sent diapers to Kassel, Germany. In 1956, they held a picnic at the church grove for guests of the Church of the Brethren Home. Other projects over the years have included the purchase of equipment and appliances for the church kitchen and the tile flooring and curtains for the Fellowship Hall. Volunteers from the church staff the sewing room and beauty shop at the Church of the Brethren Home in Scalp Level several days a month. They host the Mother and Daughter banquet, prepare and serve meals after funerals of church members and their families, and for many years, have provided a breakfast at Camp Harmony’s Heritage Festival with all the proceeds going to the camp. Recently, the group has had soup sales, trip-around-the world and calendar parties, and provided meals for New Day’s summer camp program.
Some of the other women’s groups in the church over the years included the Hook and Eye Club for young women of the Joy Bringers Sunday School Class; the Nimble Fingers Club for ladies of the Alethia Class; and the Alethia Club, also for ladies of the Alethia Sunday School Class. The Alethia Club produced one of the first church cookbooks. There was also a Mother and Daughter Organization which held meetings and an annual banquet.
Men’s Work in the Church
A men’s meeting was organized in 1939. The group called “Men’s Work” was first organized in August, 1941. They have provided labor for many building and renovation projects in our church and district. In the group’s early years they had charge of the facilities and activities at the church grove. In 1948, they graded the area for a baseball diamond, and added an area for volleyball and horseshoes. The following year the men built the foundation for the picnic shelter. They organized and supported various activities for men, young and old, including baseball, softball, and basketball teams. Regular meetings were re-instituted for a period of years beginning in the late 1980s. The group sponsored father and son banquets, game suppers, dart baseball games and other recreational activities. In 1991, they raised $5,500 for Camp Harmony for the purchase of additional property.
A men’s chorus was active for a number of years. Men also served the church on the Board of Ushers. Recreation Committee was formed in 1948 to oversee the church farm recreation area. This work was later taken over by the Men’s Work group.
The Pleasant Hill Athletic Association was organized in December 1940 to “promote Christian fellowship and recreation among boys and men of the community.” Members of the association and their immediate family were required attend church and Sunday School regularly and adhere to the association’s rules of conduct. Fees to join were 50¢ for adults (those 16 and over) and 15¢ for young men up to and including age 15. Monthly dues were 10¢ for adults and 5¢ for the younger members.
Though not meeting formally through many years, the men have organized work groups for projects at our church, Camp Harmony and New Day and for individuals in the area. They have worked in groups and individually on disaster relief projects organized by district and denominational staff. They have repaired damage done by tornadoes, hurricanes and floods from Johnstown to Hyndman, PA to North Carolina and other sites across the eastern United States.
Brethren Volunteer Service
Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) officially began in June, 1948, when the Colorado Springs Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren authorized “a broad plan of volunteer service” for Brethren young people. The first BVS training unit consisted of two groups – one training at Camp Harmony, Pennsylvania, and one training at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Maryland. These volunteers were assigned to “peace caravans” and to service projects in Falfurrias, Texas and Puerto Rico.
Several individuals from our congregation have served in BVS: Jack Byers, June Lybarger Henderson, Alberta Rhodes Luebke, Gerald Rhodes, Eugene Rose, Kitty Snyder Dolan, Denise Huet Southard, Rebecca Swick, and Cherry Cameron Thomas.
“I was a member of the fifth training unit of BVS and assigned to work in Falfurrias, Texas in December, 1949. I drove the bus to pick up children for Sunday School and crafts on Wednesdays. The brakes failed on one trip, and we ended up in a cotton field. I also helped build the Falfurrias Church of the Brethren and worked for a small farm. Once we traded a piglet for a horse. The horse’s owner didn’t tell us he was a trained cow pony and, the first time I chased a cow with him, he turned on a dime to cut her back and I didn’t! It’s a strange view, riding under a horse’s neck.”
- Jack Byers
Kitty Snyder Dolan spent her time in BVS in the Baltimore, Maryland area. She stayed at Pilot House and worked at a local community center. She helped build a playground and rehabilitate housing in the community.
“After spending two months at the training center in New Windsor, Maryland, I was assigned to a home mission project at Bays Mountain, Tennessee. There I served with Connie Overholt who was from Michigan. We lived in a small house with a well in the backyard and a path to the bathroom. It was our job to help with the Sunday school and church services at the small Brethren church on the mountain. We also held Vacation Bible School and youth meetings. Connie was a musician so it was her job to play the old pump organ for the church services. We befriended the mountain people and soon had jobs of helping when a new baby arrived by caring for the other children, cooking, cleaning, and whatever else needed done. When it was haying time, we did our share of gathering hay; at canning time we peeled apples and pears until we didn’t ever want to see another piece of fruit. We spent several weeks helping with church camp near Bristol, Tennessee. And yes, if I had the chance, I’d do it all over again.”
- June Lybarger Henderson
Alberta Lee (Rhodes) Luebke served with BVS from September, 1959 through September, 1960. She was stationed in the September Unit at the National Institue of Health at Bethesda Maryland where she participated in metabolic diet and dream study groups. In her spare time, she was active in the children’s program at the hospital. There she met Parry Luebke, a Brethren service volunteer from Montana. They were married in October, 1960. Alberta and Parry were active in starting a mental health unit at a local hospital in the Elkton, Maryland area.
“I served in BVS from August, 1957 to October, 1959. I went to New Windsor, Maryland around August for several months where we packed clothing to be shipped around the country and around the world for the needy. In October of 1957, I chose to go to the National Institutes of Health at Bethesda, Maryland. After three months, I chose to venture out to a small town called Hastings, Minnesota, located about thirty miles south of the twin cities along the Mississippi River. My job was to work in the kitchen of a state hospital. I enjoyed it so much I stayed on to work about three to four years. This started my career in the medical field, which I continued until I retired two years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed serving my two years in BVS. I feel the experience helped me to grow spiritually in my walk with Christ as well as starting off my medical career. I made many wonderful friends during this time and am thankful to God for allowing me to do this volunteer work to help others in need.”
- Gerald B. Rhodes
Eugene Rose was a member of the sixty-third training unit and was initially assigned to the Church World Service and Brethren Service Center in Houston, Texas. He participated in clothes sorting and baling, clothes washing, and all the other blessed drudgeries. After the Texas assignment, he was sent to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. His next assignment was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania as a pharmacy aid. Gene has many great memories from both the training and his work experience.
“I served from 1980 to 1981 in Jackson, Mississippi at the Voice of Calvary Ministries (VOC). I was assigned to cook the noon meal for 25 to 100 people five days per week. I didn’t even know how to cook – I called my Mom to find out how to boil potatoes. I also helped at the new health center by nailing floorboards and sweeping up sawdust. You make lifelong friends in BVS. You come away at the end feeling as if you were the blessed one… I still count those BVS days as some of the greatest memories of my life.”
- Denise Huet Southard
“In 1969, I served at the Midway Church in Tennessee as an adult volunteer. My work included cleaning the church, visiting the homes of members, acting as a helper to mothers, and trying to show Christ’s love to all. I assisted with services twice a week and led Bible study. I was challenged with the idea there may be a chance for a very untrained (except by the needs of a family) person to witness somewhere other than in his own church. After being in adult volunteer work for one year, I can say there is such an opportunity, and it is rewarding.”
- Rebecca Swick
(Becky continued to volunteer at Midway after her BVS term was over.)
“I worked as a secretary and nurse’s aide at the Good Shepherd Home, a Church of the Brethren nursing home in Fostoria, Ohio in 1969 and 1970. I would often go back at night to visit the residents or take them for walks. I lived with Ray and Florence Byerly, a local Church of the Brethren family. Florence was from Scalp Level and was a friend of my Aunt Fern Speicher. It always give you a good feeling to know you are in full-time service to the Lord, without expecting anything in return. I received a $15/month stipend. It was a wonderful experience, something special, a memory I will always cherish.
- Cherry Cameron Thomas
Youth Activities
Originally called Christian Endeavor, then the Young Peoples Department (YPD), youth activities were broken into junior, intermediate and senior divisions. These groups met regularly and contributed to many projects including cash rallies, the Youth Serves Project, and Camp Harmony. For several decades, the youth group has been called CBYF (Church of the Brethren Youth Fellowship). Youth from seventh grade to one year out of high school attend. CBYF meetings center around devotions and Bible studies and sometimes include guest speakers and fun nights. Their current meeting room in the basement of the church parsonage is furnished with donated couches, chairs, a ping-pong table, a pool table and a foosball game. They meet Sunday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Over the years, the CBYF has raised funds for activities and mission projects in a variety of ways: car washes; church fellowship dinners; and greeting card, calendar, license plate, fruit, soup, lollipop, t-shirt, pie, and cinnamon roll sales. In 1997, they produced a church cookbook. Youth have enjoyed fun and fellowship events including taffy pulls, ice skating, roller skating, bowling, horseback riding, snow tubing, sled riding, skiing, picnics, and hayrides. They participate in district-planned retreats and conferences, volleyball league and tournaments, and the District Youth Choir. In 1982, Pleasant Hill hosted the district fall youth rally. Every four years, senior high youth may attend National Youth Conferences held around the country in locations including New Mexico, New York, Kansas, and Colorado.
The CBYF is active in church mission projects. Over the years, many youth have joined district-sponsored work camps across the United States, in Tijuana, Mexico and in Puerto Rico. They have worked on Habitat for Humanity projects and in soup kitchens. They have served church dinners to raise funds for families in need and helped with Bible school. They have raised thousands of dollars to combat world hunger by fasting in the 30-Hour Famine. They’ve collected money and canned goods for local charities on “Souper Bowl Sunday.”
Volunteer advisors organized youth activities until 1992 when Tracy Rhodes was hired as a part-time youth director. When Tracy decided to continue her education at Lancaster Bible College, the church hired Robert Rummel as part-time pastoral assistant/youth director. In January 2002, Rob began serving full-time as Associate Pastor/Youth Director. Volunteers continue to help by providing leadership and transportation.
Missions
There is not record of missionary work done by the Old German Baptist Conemaughers congregation, however it was evident they were filled with the mission spirit. The first record of mission funds being raised by the church was December 30, 1886 when $5.25 was sent to the treasurer of Western Pennsylvania. In March, 31, 1887, $41.27 was sent to the treasurer for general mission funds.
The Pleasant Hill congregation has been steadfast in its support of evangelism and mission programs. The first recorded minutes we have available begin in 1910, and in 1911, a missionary committee was appointed to receive calls for missionary monies and have full charge of local mission work. For a period of time early in the 1900s, there was a missionary treasurer. Local mission support included sharing our pastor for a two-week if the mission board should call on him. In 1931, a committee was organized to devise ways and means to help the poor of the community. A Sick and Bereft Committee was elected in 1940, that group became the Bereft Committee in 1952 when the Sunday School classes took over care of the sick. A Mutual Aid Fund was started in 1944, then merged with the Welfare Committee and administered by the Deacons to aid families when the head of family was ill or other needs arise. The following year, the offering taken the fifth Sunday of any month was put into the fund. In 1946, mission offerings were taken the fourth Sunday each month. In April, 1946, Dean Rummel was the foreman on a Heifer Project ship that delivered horses, wheat, corn, and sugar to Trieste and Brindisi, two ports in Italy. Since 1991 on the first two Sundays of the month, the congregation has collected money to combat world hunger through the 2¢ a Meal Offerings.
The church has been active in disaster relief efforts. In 1974, a disaster coordinator was appointed and that same year, $1,000 was given to the Emergency Disaster Fund to aid tornado victims. In 1977, the disaster relief effort came home when floods devastated the Johnstown area. Volunteers donated food, cleaned up mud and debris, and repaired damage. Blanket Sunday collections in 1980 resulted in the donation of 150 blankets to the Church World Service Center in New Windsor, Maryland. Donations for flood relief programs exceeded $2,000 in 1993. For several years, our men assisted in clean-up and repair work resulting from severe flooding that occurred in the Hyndman, Pennsylvania in 1996. Volunteers repaired tornado damage in Salisbury, Pennsylvania in 1997. After the September 11, 2001 plane crash in Shanksville, the congregation donated food for the volunteers working at the crash site and for the families of the victims of the crash.
In addition to congregational efforts, the Women’s Work, Women’s Fellowship, Sunday School classes, the youth and other groups have regularly taken on local and foreign mission projects. Money was sent for relief efforts in Spain and China in 1938. In 1951, the congregation began supporting Herman Landis, a missionary in Africa. They sent an offering to Flat Creek Mission in Tennessee in 1959. The church began support of New Day in 1978. The church supported church-planting projects in Cranberry Township, a growing Pittsburgh suburb, in 1982 and in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1994. Relief kits were prepared and sent to Korea in 1998 and Kosovo in 1999. The church helped support Tracy Rhodes who served for a year (1999-2000) in China, teaching English to elementary school children. Children filled the “Noah’s Ark” banks provided by the church and raised over $1,000 for the Heifer Project. The church has supported the Cambria City Mission financially and members have volunteered to serve on the board and as teachers for their programs.
The church has supported the Old Folks Home, now the Church of the Brethren Home, in Scalp Level since 1932. Ladies of the church canned food for the home in its early years. The congregation assumed $1,525 of the home’s debt in 1935 and has participated in the annual Harvest Home program. The church participated in the “Vision for Tomorrow” program for the church home in 1971 and a special offering was taken in 1973 to contribute toward the expense of a new wing. Two part offering envelopes were used for several decades, allowing members to contribute a portion of their offerings to the home. Volunteers from the church have worked in the sewing room and beauty shop and youth have served as candy stripers.
The congregation has been active in the building and expansion programs at Camp Harmony. Volunteers re-roofed the Dining Hall and helped construct Faith Hall and the chapel on the hill above Faith Hall. In 1991, the Men’s Fellowship raised funds to purchase an adjoining parcel of land. The church has also helped with the renovation of cabins.
Evangelistic and spiritual renewal (revival) services have been held regularly since the congregation was formed. Home visitations and two-week evangelistic programs were the core of the movement from the early 1900s into the 1940s. The Mission to Members Campaign, a home visitation program was conducted in 1966. Delegates from the church attended the Brethren Congress on Evangelism in Dayton, Ohio in 1974 and the Pennsylvania Congress on Evangelism at Elizabethtown College in 1978. An evangelistic visitation program took place in 1980. Adventure in Mission, a stewardship visitation program, was held in 1986. “Go for It”, an evangelism training program, was held in May 1996.
Pleasant Hill Church of the Brethren Choir
Donald has a little choir of men and women too.
And the way they sing on Friday nights, Don don’t know what to do.
The altos sing all out of key, the sopranos sing quite “messy.”
And what the men are trying to sing keeps poor Donald guessing.
The tenors howl, the basses roar, the altos all go flat.
The sopranos screech away up high; they sound like yowling cats.
And then they brought a metronome to help them keep the time.
They thought if they could keep the rhythm, they could sing divine.
They wound the gadget up real tight and watched it with devotion.
Next morning all their necks were stiff from following its motion.
The altos sing their part along, the sopranos, bass, then tenor.
“That’s right,” says Don, “come on let’s try to put them all together.”
They take their pitch and start out strong, but soon they miss a note.
Don only smiles, but what he thinks I wouldn’t dare to quote.
He only smiles and says, “OK, let’s try it o’er again.”
And though the next time’s even worse Don never does complain.
They sing it once, they sing it twice, but never twice the same.
They try poor Donald’s patience so; it really is a shame.
Jo Ann plays the music swell. She knows each note and key.
But now and then she slips in one that wasn’t meant to be.
Now, Reverend Gould sings sweet and low, somehow he simply sends me.
I love to hear his roaring base which never does offend me.
And Clair always sings divine and always sings in tune.
I think that he should get a job and to the ladies croon.
Now Nora’s always in her place, the first one in the row.
She practices most all day long from re, mi up to do.
Our Verna giggles half the time and makes the rest all laugh.
But when I say that gal can sing, I’m only telling half.
I’ll only say that Jean is sweet. You see it’s not quite fair.
If I would say just one thing wrong, then Glenn would pull my hair.
Now Ralph and Edith, tried and true, they’re always in their place.
Edith’s singing alto now, but Ralph’s still singing bass.
Vi Erma solos fine they say, but I can hardly bear it.
T’would better be I think if she’d solo you couldn’t hear it.
Now Erma used to play for us for many years, but then,
She married George and ever since, she only plays for men.
Now this could go on without end but no doubt would get boring.
Before I’d name one half the choir I’ll bet that you’d be snoring.
I’m sure that some bright Sunday morn the choir will take its place.
They’ll sing their songs, still out of tune, from treble down to bass.
But Don will not be keeping time, no matter what befalls.
His nerves will crack and then poor Don will cut out paper dolls.
Please don’t get sore. It’s all in fun. Just laugh it off and then,
Please turn the page to number one and let’s all try again.
I’m sure some folks can really sing while others write in rhyme.
No matter which I try to do, I’m only wasting time.
-Elda Snyder (circa 1948)
This poem was read at the church’s 100th anniversary celebration.
One hundred years ago we’re told
Man sought here for riches far greater than gold.
As on these very hills they trod,
They also sought for faith in God.
Of this great faith one told another
Then, like Andrew, he told his brother.
These three met in one’s humble abode
And there the seeds of faith they sowed.
As they sang and prayed, their faith in God grew
And soon of their faith a few others knew.
Their numbers outgrew their homes around
So one brother gave a piece of ground.
Another gave logs for boards.
Each brother from his meager hoards
Gave for God’s house whatever he could
For ‘twas a sacrifice for common good.
Day after day the Brethren met
‘Til on this ground a building was set.
The house was dedicated in God’s own name
As to Him their praises they did proclaim.
I’m sure each brother was a sturdy man,
Long before dawn his chores began.
Hours after dark he labored long,
But always in his heart a song.
He must have sung praises to his God
As he labored hard to till the sod.
He saw God’s beauty in the land
As he labored there by hand.
Modern machines were then unknown,
So all by hand his seeds were sown.
He cut his grain all by hand.
With ax and brawn he cleared his land.
To God’s house they oft would go,
Braving winter wind and heavy snow.
Never on account of rain
Did they from God’s service refrain.
Beneath these walls that today we see
Are some of the boards from the brother’s tree.
They gave of their labor for us today
That we might in comfort sing and pray.
Within the century we mark today,
Several generations have passed this way.
Many souls their Lord here found;
Many sermons have hallowed this ground.
All have added to our rich heritage,
Each to our great privilege.
To have riches far greater than gold,
The faith that is wealth untold.
May God keep us faithful in his great love
As we pass this way to our Home above.
May we pass to others not born yet this day,
The faith that our fathers gave us today.
- Raymond Stutzman
My Church
When quite a small lad, I remember still
A little white church that stood on a hill
To this little church, every Sunday we would stroll;
For our farmhouse stood just over the knoll.
The people would gather, for miles they would drive,
Oft I stood in the churchyard and watched them arrive,
Some had one horse, while others had two,
For some families were so large, one horse would not do.
Some folks came walking from places close around,
To this little old church that stood on the mound.
Those rigs would look odd to us of today,
Some with two or three seaters or with buggy or sleigh.
When the horses were all tied to the fence in the rear,
And all were seated inside, a hymn we would hear.
Grandpa Rhodes led the singing, then the children’s class he’d teach
Brother McDowell taught the Bible Class and then he would preach.
When the service was over they all shook your hand,
And spoke to each other, my, it made you feel grand.
Sometimes folks went with us to our house I know.
Sometimes with other folks to their house we would go.
In this small church my first speech I did say,
There I learned to sing Trust and Obey.
As I try to remember it seems a long time ago,
But I’d not give those memories for anything I know.
As I grew older that church we outgrew,
For the seats within it were entirely too few.
So the little church was taken from its place on the ground,
And with brick and mortar it was covered all around.
The new church was larger and more fine I know,
For then each class to their own room could go.
It was a grand day when the church was complete,
Many folks were standing, for they filled every seat.
Since a new church we had, we got new ideas too,
And ‘ere we became aware, an organ came in view.
Mr. Davis led the choir, and taught us all to sing.
We did our very best the Lord’s praise to bring.
We learned to love this church as along with it we grew,
The fond memories we recall are surely not a few.
As the years passed along in numbers we increased.
I am sure the Lord was with us for His spirit never ceased.
Oft in large crowds they gathered to these churches, both old and new
But all through the years there were a faithful few.
To these we give great honor, they always did their part,
As to the church they gave first place within their heart.
Now to this church they added, and turned around each pew,
Still as we sit within its walls we think of that faithful few.
They have gone where we cannot now their faces see,
Yet their spirit we can feel, though absent they may be.
To those who have gone we pay tribute, and solemnly bow our heads,
We pray their spirit may linger, though their bodies now are dead.
May their spirit be with us, as we work for our God,
And keep us always faithful until we, too, lie beneath the sod.
- Raymond Stutzman