On July 2nd, 1917, the original Middlebush Reformed Church building was destroyed in a fire caused by a lightening strike. Men and women raced in and out of the building while it was being consumed and rescued the pulpit furniture, Consistory chairs, some books and bit of Sunday School equipment.
Services continued every Sunday after the fire without interruption. The third house on the left side of Olcott Street was owned by Lewis Stryker and occupied by the Pennell family, including Hilda and Viola Pennell (past members of our church). It was offered, free of charge, for the congregation to use until a new building could be constructed. Rev. Thomson’s first sermon after the fire was taken from Isaiah 64:11,
“Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thee, is burned up with fire and all our pleasant things are laid waste“
It was decided that the new building would be as fireproof as possible and a goal of $25,000 was set for the project. The necessary money was raised and ground was broken in March 1918. Steel was to be used for the trusses, in keeping with the goal for fireproofing, but because of the war , it was impossible to obtain and wood had to be substituted. The stone used in the walls came from quarries in Martinsville. On May 5th, 1918, the cornerstone was laid and the first service was held in the new building on July 27th, 1919 almost exactly two years after the fire. Most of our servicemen had returned from the war and it was truely a joyous occasion. Rev. Thomson’s sermon text was
“I was glad when they said unto me, ‘let us go into the house of the Lord’“
The final tally of expenses for the new building was $33,200. The plaque in our sanctuary attests to the devotion and untiring efforts of Rev. Thomson toward the erection of the building.
In 1958, the Christian Education Building, consisting of brick and steel construction, was built and was dedicated on April 12th, 1959.
For many years, an annual Fourth of July festival was sponsored by the ladies of the congregation. At some time, this began to be called “The Harvest Home and Peach Festival” then simply “The Harvest Home” and was moved to Labor Day in the 1800′s. The Harvest Home continued until the 1940′s. The Annual Fall Fair held in the 1970′ and early 1980′s was reminiscent of the Harvest Home.
The Franklin Township Food Bank originally used our church building to store and dispense food for the needy families of the Township until it outgrew the space and moved to larger quarters.
The congregation purchased the current parsonage, know as the The Totten House, in 1992.
Pages: 1 2