Mazeppa Union Church 175th Anniversary Celebration

 

On Sunday November 20th, 2016, we attended the 175th Anniversary Celebration of the Mazeppa Union Church, held at the Buffalo Presbyterian Church, in Mazeppa, Union County Pa.  [The Presbyterian Church is an older, less modernized building, that better suited the event]

[From the events facebook Description] "The celebration on Sunday will follow the time-line of the church's development, 

beginning with the arrival of "Rev. Anspach" (Pastor Ricky Phillips) on horseback, just as preachers would have arrived in the early 1800s.

 The call to worship will be offered in German by Eli Reiff, who will also sing the first hymn. 

Pastor Phillips will sing the second hymn, with the congregation repeating the lines.

Hymns will continue throughout the service, along with Old and New Testament readings, ending with a benediction.

Wearing a dress that belonged to her great grandmother

The congregation formed in 1797 with circuit rider Wm Colbert preaching at Philip Stahl's log cabin. Rev. John George Anspach held Sunday services, in German, in the Union Schoolhouse from 1831-1841.  

The Mazeppa Union Church was dedicated on Christmas Day, 1841 by Rev. Ephraim Kieffer. 

Changes over the years included purchasing a pump organ and hymnals, installing stained glass windows, building a pulpit and tower, and adding an education wing for Sunday school classes."

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MEMOROBILIA ON DISPLAY
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A variety of memorabilia was on display at the event

Baptismal Bowl

English Hymn Book owned by John Minium, purchased on September 6th 1873.

On July 1976, while Edward Shannon was repairing the West Wall of the Mazeppa Union Church, he uncovered an old German Bible that had been placed in a tin box.  The box was placed in a pocket that had been chiseled in the cornerstone in 1841.

Communion Cup

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The Churches

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The event was held at the Buffalo Presbyterian Church, which is located at the opposite end of the the town.  The Union Church:

Mazeppa Union Church

The church in 2020