Over 200 Years of Presbyterians in Renovo Area

By Christopher Miller

The church isn’t just a building; it is the people. It is also not just a gathering, but a scattering. With these final days of Lent leading up to Easter this Sunday, April 4 it is important to note that one church in Renovo will soon be closing its doors after many, many years.

It seems as if the Presbyterian denomination has been in the Clinton County area since well before the county was formed. In fact, the first recorded ordained minister that ever preached in what would become Clinton County was of the Presbyterian faith. This was a Reverend Thomson, a missionary who was sent by the Presbytery to the area of Young Woman’s Creek around 1818.

About 10 years later another Reverend, Daniel Barber, was sent to replace Thomson. He resided in a log cabin along the creek and was an enthusiastic preacher who was known to “go about his work” with such pleasure and enthusiasm. Reverend Barber built cabins which were multi-use spaces, such as a church and a school.

In time other preachers came and went attempting to leave their mark and legacy on the area. Something interesting to note was that the land on which the current Presbyterian Church was built was donated by the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad in 1864. Though built as a temporary structure, this original building was then retrofitted, rebuilt, and dedicated to the service of God on April 3, 1869.

According to historic records, the first few years of the church were ones of conflict and struggle for the congregation. The church had incurred a debt so great that it could not be paid by them. In 1877, the church was going to be sold at sheriff’s sale to meet the obligation of the creditors! If it were not for one man, a wealthy Presbyterian by the name of “Mr. McCormick” of Harrisburg, the church would have gone up for sale.

McCormick furnished “whatever funds necessary” to liquidate all judgments against the church through a mortgage, though it was not the last time the church would suffer financial hardship. In 1879 a new Reverend was tasked with increasing church membership and paying off $2,500 of debt which would be equivalent to about $50,000 today (yes, I had to look it up). In two years time the congregation was able to reduce the debt to about $550.

On Sunday, March 4, 1888, the Presbyterian Church suffered a severe fire just as the Reverend entered the pulpit for Sunday services. Records report that the fire started from the heater in the basement and was caused by an overheated flue.

With the help of the West Branch Hose Company and the quick acting congregation the church was not a devastating loss. In fact, they reopened within a month thanks to a $1,500 insurance policy.

By 1902 the church was successfully out of debt with a small chunk of change in the church treasury. In 1906 renovations began which included raising the building four feet to accomodate for Sunday School classrooms, a completely redesigned interior space, and the additions of new seats, carpeting, and a slate roof.

It was not until April 3, 1907 that the trustees of the Presbyterian Church filed an application to amend the charter and officially change the name to the First Presbyterian Church of Renovo. In what sounded like an elaborate ceremony, then Reverend John D. Cook burned the mortgage of $1,500 at a regular church service formally declaring that the debt was declared paid.

When Reverend John D. Cook arrived in Renovo in 1879 he found a congregation of about 100 members who were struggling under a large amount of debt. Under his leadership, the congregation grew and became one of the leading congregations of the Northumberland Presbytery.

The church grew on an upward trajectory throughout the years that followed. A pipe organ was purchased and played for the first time in 1915, and various aid societies were formed within the church for the public good. On Easter Sunday of 1922 it was reported that an unusually large congregation watched as then Reverend W.T.S. Seyfert received 33 new members into the church.

Though the records that were in Wayne Short’s History of Renovo book paint a picture of the church through the 1920s, it can be assumed that the church population continued to grow until the decline of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1970s.

There currently remains less than 5 members on the church roster.

This month will mark the end to a long history that spans over 200 years of Presbyterians in the Renovo area.
Whether they worshipped in a log cabin, under a great oak tree, in the grandest church building, or by the riverside, a church is not only a building; it is the people, the body of believers, united in Christ.