COAL TOWNSHIP - A Coal Township church will cap off its 100th anniversary celebration Sunday with a special service, a banquet, and by possibly unearthing a bit of the past.
The Salem United Church of Christ, 1300 W. Pine St., will have a special service at 10 a.m., during which Pastor Jean Eckrod will open the cornerstone from the original church of 100 years ago to see what, if anything, was placed inside it.
"We have no idea if there is something there, but we are very excited to see it anyway," said Eckrod. "We were told that there might be something in there inside a cellophane bag marked 'Knobeels,' so the mystery will be solved Sunday."
Following the service, there will be a special anniversary banquet at Masser's Banquet Hall, Paxinos.
Sunday's events will be the latest of the anniversary events celebrated at Salem. "We've had guest singers, and many of the former pastors, along with officials of the United Church of Christ have come to be guest speakers here," Eckrod said. "Our peach festival, which Salem has been doing for over 25 years, was part of that celebration, too."
Eckrod and the church congregation invite everyone to attend the service Sunday and take part in all the festivities.
Church history
The present Salem United Church of Christ was originally the Fairview Chapel, also known as St. John's Second Reformed Chapel, an L-shaped frame structure at the intersection of Pine and Cedar streets. The building was originally the Lafayette schoolhouse, but Mrs. William Derk envisioned it as an ideal location for a Sunday school.
St. John's Reformed Church organized, planned and was granted permission by the Coal Township School Board to hold Sunday school classes in the building. By 1902, with an increase in attendance, land was purchased for the addition of a new chapel. In 1912, the Salem congregation was organized and called the Rev. L.E. Blair as their first pastor. Numbers continued to grow to such a point that the chapel was too small. In 1914, the south annex was built to the chapel.
In 1915, new pews were added to the auditorium. In 1928, as various departments and classes grew, the congregation erected the church school building, and in July 1928, they held "the Cornerstone Laying ceremony," with the first in the new building occurring Jan. 13, 1929. So it was that the Fairview Sunday School had grown to become Salem Reformed Church School.
Over the years, various churches merged. The Reformed Church of America (RCUS) and the Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA) united to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church, with Salem becoming Salem Evangelical and Reformed Church.
In 1957, the church joined with the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ, giving Salem its current name.
Salem UCC was the first church in Shamokin to have an organized Boy Scout troop, with as many as 60 to 70 boys enrolled in the program when in it was in full swing. William J. Wiest wrote a song dedicated to Salem Reformed Church, called "The Church on the Hill," which was sung to the tune of "The Little Brown Church in the Vale."
In 1961, St. Peter's Church, of Overlook, and Salem became known as the Shamokin-Paxinos Charge with Jacob's Church, Reed Station, being the supply point of this charge.