Community Corner

Blackburn United Methodist Church Marks 200 Years

The church's anniversary celebration begins at 2:30 p.m. today in Sewickley Heights.

A local church is celebrating a major anniversary today, and the public is welcome to join in.

Blackburn United Methodist Church in is celebrating its 200th year with a special worship service at 2:30 p.m. at the church.

The Rev. Bruce Stollings, pastor of , said several former pastors are returning to participate in the service. Regular worship typically takes place at 9:30 a.m., but the special service was rescheduled for the afternoon.

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“It makes it possible for people to come who are already doing services at other places,” Stollings said.

A light anniversary meal will follow the service. The meal will take place at the church under tents that will be set up outside.

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 The church began in 1811, when the earliest members of what would be Blackburn United Methodist Church began meeting in a local home. Decades would pass, however, before the members would actually have a structure to call their church home.

“They didn’t actually get property for a church building until about 1830,” Stollings explained.

Members purchased the land at an “unbelievably cheap” price and finished erecting the first church building in 1833, Stollings said.

“It was 22 years before they actually had their first building, but it was a church,” he said. “What you do as a congregation is not necessarily the building.”

That’s what Stollings told his congregation during a recent sermon. Stollings has served as its preacher since 2006 and also pastors at Little Hill United Methodist Church in Franklin Park.

The church historian also did research in the church's Western Pennsylvania Conference archives and unearthed a newspaper article with a photo of William Blackburn, the pastor for whom the church is named. The photo was reproduced, enhanced and restored in the sanctuary a few weeks ago and will be on display today in honor of the anniversary.

Blackburn wasn’t the founder of the church, Stollings said, but he was there when the first church was built.

Three buildings have stood on the same site. The original building was made of wood and the second of brick. The third church, which stands today, was built more than 100 years ago using parts of the old church.

“Logs from the original log church are now the beams that hold up the floor of the current church,” Stollings said.

The quintessential rural church sits on a curved section of country road, creating an aesthetically beautiful setting with a nostalgic feel.

While the church isn’t the biggest, Stollings said its small congregation has always been able to come together through the years for building projects and for meeting its needs.

Anyone is welcome through its doors, he said.


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