The Northern Lehigh America 250 Celebration included a Religious Day at St. John’s UCC Church in Slatington.

It was sponsored by The Northern Lehigh Pastoral Association. The Rev. James Levan opened the service, “We wanted to ring the bells. We thought two times would not be enough and 250 would be too many. So we settled for military time, which would be 1400 hours. So we rang the bells 14 times.”

Levan welcomed attendees. “Northern Lehigh just had their prom. The song “We may never pass this way again,” by Seals and Crofts popped in my head because that was my prom song from Northwestern in 1970. That’s where we are right now.”

The Northern Lehigh America 250 Choir sang “God Bless America.”

The choir consisted of members from all five churches that joined the service. The music director and organist was Gary Stokes from St. John’s UCC. Susan Cervin was the Pianist.

The Rev. Laura Stone of United Presbyterian, Slatington said, “I have been the pastor of Presbyterian for 14 years. I came from Ohio, and we have churches and history but I am in continuous awe of the history of churches in this area.”

She added, “Church history is in your blood. Not long after I started with Presbyterian, I got a call to go see a lifelong member who was dying, and she told me a story that her great-grandfather would come home from work, put down his lunch pail, pickup his shovel and head down to Salem Welch Church, that was being built, on Fourth Street to help. I think about how he literally put his back into the love of God for us.”

The Rev. Trevor Hahn of St. John’s Lutheran of Slatington said, “The Lenape Indians were here before our ancestors, living along the rivers in Eastern PA. They worked with nature. Planted three crops, corn, beans, and squash, known as the Three Sisters. They continued to pray to the creator to provide for their people. They learned of rotation of crops for good harvests and all people would have a place in God’s love.”

The Rev. Monte Schroeder of Friedens UCC did a sermon on the biblical story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well.

Instead of relying on a shallow, surface-level, temporary water source, Jesus offers her “living water” that provides spiritual fulfillment and eternal life from deep within the well.

The Rev. Henry Distler recited the Lord’s Prayer (Der Harr’s Gebet) and benediction in Pennsylvania German for the service. The Rev. Levan concluded, “Thank you all for attending. We come before God as 250 years approach which began as a dream, and our past becomes so much different then the present. God is for all of us to get along and be good neighbors. Focus on what we are gifted with. We thank our forebears for their blood, sweat, and tears. All nations need strength. Give us Peace. “

The Northern Lehigh Pastoral Association and the Northern Lehigh Food Bank unite the communities of faith as partners in ecumenical ministry. Twelve area churches make up this association.

According to the bulletin, in 1847, a group of Welshmen organized a congregation that would become the first church in Slatington, Bethel United Church of Christ, 160 Fourth Street.

The word ‘Bethel,’ is a Hebrew term meaning ‘House of God.’

Services are led by the Rev. Henry Distler since 2020.

The Friedens UCC Church was established as a Union church at its present location (Route 873 south of Slatington) in 1847. As was the Union Church’s structure in Germany, Friedens had a German Reformed congregation and a Lutheran one. Friedens Church is led by the Rev. Monte Schroeder.

On July 31, 1868, committees from St. John’s Lutheran Church were appointed to secure a site and make plans for a new church building. The cornerstone was laid on June 27, 1869, at Second and Kuntz Streets, with dedication occurring on Christmas 1869. The Lutheran congregation formally organized on Sept. 19, 1868, and was led by the Rev. D.K. Kepner and in 1875 Pastor Jesse S. Erb was called as the second pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Congregation, conducting services in German in the morning and English in the evening. St. John’s is led by the Rev. Trevor Hahn.

In 1859, the Slatington Baptist Church, through the vision of Slate Mine Proprietors Henry and Catherine Williams, began its congregation as the Williamstown Baptist Mission meeting in a schoolhouse near Emerald.

The church into Slatington in 1891 and became the Slatington Baptist Church in 1892. We secured our current property at 509 Main St. on June 3, 1900.

In the early 1900s it was required that pastors could speak Welsh because Sunday morning services were conducted in Welsh and evening services in English.

The original pipe organ was donated by steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

The church was the first in the area to offer Free Clothing Days of distribution in 1997.

The Rev. James Levan has led the Baptist Church for the past 38 years.

St. John’s UCC first met in 1868 to form a union church in Slatington for Christians of the Reformed and Lutheran faiths.

The current church building was dedicated on Dec. 26, 1869.

In 1881, the union between the Reformed and Lutheran churches was dissolved and the Reformed congregation purchased the rights to this property for approximately $4,300.

Most of the beautiful stained-glass windows were installed in 1906. St. John’s UCC is led by the Rev. James Levan.