Pilgrim Church to mark 75th anniversary

BY MICHAEL J. RUDOLF

Wyoming County Press Examiner

TUNKHANNOCK - Pilgrim Holiness Church will celebrate its 75th anniversary on Sunday, Nov. 22, with special services commemorating the congregation's history.

"It so happened that the church was founded on Nov. 22, 1934, and it falls right on a Sunday this year," said Pastor Joel Byer.

Byer, who became the 13th pastor of the church in July, said the sense of history in the congregation is apparent even to a relative newcomer.

"I can feel the significance of it," he said. "I look at the history of the church and I see how God has changed people's lives from despair to hope."

The anniversary events actually begin the evening before, on Saturday, Nov. 21, when the church will host a potluck supper and a slide presentation. Byer expects many former parishioners to return to Tunkhannock for the celebration.

"It's kind of like a homecoming," Byer said.

On Sunday, the anniversary service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Paul Case Sr., president of the Pilgrim Holiness Church's New York Conference, will speak at the service.

There will also be a special afternoon program at 3 p.m., Byer noted, where current and former parishioners will share thoughts and memories of the church and their lives.

Byer expects several descendants of the church's founders to be there. They will include Rev. Ken Sickler of the Pilgrim Holiness Church in Rockwood, N.Y.

"He grew up in this church and a lot of his family are still here," Byer said.

In bringing together several generations of church members, the anniversary is typical of the church's legacy, Byer said.

"The 75th anniversary of the church really isn't about a building. It's about the people," Byer noted.

In fact, the church has only been in its current location since 1952. And its history extends more than 20 years before its official founding in 1934.

According to Byer, the congregation can be traced back to February 1914, when Rev. Ernest Crabill, a Methodist minister, held revival services at the Tunkhannock Tabernacle. It was during these services that a young man named  Charles Rowe went to an altar and was saved, Byer said.

A few years later, in 1922, Rowe was working as a travelling salesman when he was asked to preach at a schoolhouse in Evans Falls. Soon after, Rowe was preaching at other schoolhouses in the area.

Rowe and others, including Chester and Clarence Sickler, began holding prayer meetings in Tunkhannock on a regular basis. At first the meetings were just on Wednesday nights, and church members offered services at the Wyoming County Jail on Thursday nights.

The number of parishioners grew, and soon the group was holding outdoor street meetings at the corner of Tioga and Bridge streets. Byer noted that the crowds at these services grew so large that they hindered traffic, and town officials refused permission for the meetings to continue.

The congregation officially organized as a church within Pilgrim Holiness's New York District in 1934, holding services at Rowe's home in Dixon. The original 10 members of the congregation were Rowe and his wife Ella, along with Chester Sickler, Clarence Sickler, Hattie Emmonds, Wanda Emmonds, Dorothy Brucher, Alice Brucher, Elizabeth Brucher and Bessie Hagerman.

Soon after, the church bought a small piece of land on Bridge Street, just south of Harding's Funeral Home, for $700. The congregation finally had its own building.

Pastor Rowe served as the head of the congregation until 1949, when his wife's health forced him to step down. Rev. Benjamin Rickenbach was named as the new pastor.

The congregation continued to grow, and in 1950 the church board decided that it needed a bigger building. It purchased a lot at the corner of Tioga and West streets for $1,200, and drew up plans for a church building and a parsonage.

The present church was dedicated on June 8, 1952, and the parsonage completed a few years later.

That building served the congregation well for more than two decades. With the congregation still growing, the decision was made in the summer of 1975 to build an addition. The addition was dedicated on May 9, 1976. Church officials paid for the work with a 20-year mortgage, but thanks to generous contributions, it was paid off in less than five years.

In 1981, the church added faith-based educational programs to its ministry when it started the Tunkhannock Pilgrim School. Now called the Endless Mountains Christian Academy, the school offers classes from kindergarten through 12th grade.