| Shirleysburg Congregation
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| Built 1838 |
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 ev. Walter S Long first came to Pennsylvania as an nurseryman engaged in peach culture. It was at the church at Shirleysburg, Huntingdon County, that he was elected to the ministry, May 21, 1892. His Father, Elder David Long conducted the installation. According to his own hand, circa 1905:
"I was elected to the Ministry in this church, and installed into office by my Father, Eld. David Long, May 21st 1892."
He served for five years, this being his first charge. While connected with this church he was instrumental in organizing a Sunday school in German Valley, this being the pioneer Sunday school of the Church of the Brethren at that point.
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| TO THE OLD STONE CHURCH. |
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| CHARLES HOWARD WELCH '05 |
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Note. -- This poem was written in memory of the Old Dunkard Stone Church, in Germany Valley, Huntingdon County, Pa., standing to-day. It was erected in 1838. |
Amid fair Germ'ny Valley's hills,
There stands an old sequestered shrine;
No mighty dome its splendor fills,
Nor architect's superb design;
An edifice of stone it stands,
A monument to those long passed,
Whose energetic, skillful hands,
Its plain and simple outline cast.
No spire uplifting to the skies,
No nave adorned by artist's brush;
No thrilling organ tones arise,
No pew veneered by fancy plush,
No clanging bell to give alarm,
Whene'er the meeting hour draws near
To sound across the field and farm,
And o'er the meadows brown and sere.
A reverence that church commands,
That strong and massive looking pile,
Tis like the pyramid that stands
Along the famed, historic Nile;
Our fathers worshiped at that shrine,
And raised aloft their fervent prayer;
They sang their praises line by line,
They felt the Spirit's presence there.
Twas often, round the open door,
The brethren for their love-feast met;
Yes, there assembled many a score,
Of faces that you can't forget;
Sad reminiscence, too, can tell
How oft the mourners' solemn tread,
The while, the awful funeral knell,
Proclaimed the coming of the dead.
God's word was oft from sacred desk,
Proclaimed to make the sinner wise;
And many a soul has there professed,
The urgent need sacrifice;
So old Stone Church, live on, live on,
Across the years that are to be,
For all the recollections gone,
We'll cherish still in memory.
photograph
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