A Disciples Congregation on the Youghiogheny
The First Christian Church of Perryopolis sits on Independence Street in the small borough of Perryopolis, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, a few blocks from the Youghiogheny River. The congregation belongs to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and traces its origin to the summer of 1874, when an evangelist named Benedict held services along the riverbank near Layton. The next year the church was formally organized and began meeting at the local public school. In 1887 the congregation finished its own building with twenty-two charter members, and that same brick-and-mortar identity is what the parish still calls home today.
On October 8, 2011, the church celebrated its 125th anniversary, and the most recent chapter of its story closed in 2023 when the Rev. Douglas Shoaff accepted the call to become permanent senior minister after serving as interim since October 2021. The Rev. Melissa Rae Snyder, who preceded him from 2013 to 2021, was the first woman to minister the church.
Sunday Morning on Independence Street
Weekly worship with communion is held Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Services have been livestreamed on the congregation's Facebook page since March 29, 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the building closed and the community figured out how to worship together from home. The livestream has remained a regular part of the schedule ever since.
Children are woven into the Sunday hour. Preschoolers Of Worship, called POW, cares for ages 0 to 3 during the sermon. Wonders of Worship, or WOW, brings children from age four through third grade out for their own Bible-centered time before they return to their families for the closing of the service. Both programs run during the 10:30 gathering, so parents stay in worship the whole morning.
Children, Youth, and the Family Life Center
Across the street from the sanctuary stands the Family Life Center, a converted garage the church bought in 1991 and renovated into classrooms, meeting space and the thrift shop. The building also hosts Kids Club for children in kindergarten through sixth grade and the Sunday-evening Youth Group, which meets from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month for students in grades seven through twelve.
Youth ministry is one of the strongest threads in the congregation. The high-schoolers take an annual mission trip each summer. In July 2011 the group traveled to Lakeshore, Mississippi, with sister congregations from Liberty, Kentucky, and Naperville, Illinois, to help families still rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. The following summer, July 2012, the youth joined their Naperville partners again, this time in Sayre, Pennsylvania, assisting homeowners affected by flooding. Younger parishioners have built a deck for a quadriplegic neighbor, attended a Pittsburgh Steelers charity basketball game against the local firemen, gone snowtubing, visited the PPG Aquarium at the Pittsburgh Zoo, and spent summer weeks at Camp Laurelview, the regional Disciples camp.
The $1 Thrift Shop
Every item in the church thrift store costs a single dollar. The shop started in 1968, when Mrs. Ethel McClanahan and Mrs. Hallie Rolison set up a small resale counter in the church basement. It later moved to a building next to the local theater and now operates out of the Family Life Center across the street from the sanctuary.
The shop is open Tuesdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon, Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and the first Saturday of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Volunteers accept clothing for men, women and children, housewares, toys, costume jewelry, curtains and linens, and small electronics such as CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, VHS tapes and cassettes. Big televisions, computers, large furniture and appliances, and baby items such as car seats, strollers, pack-and-plays, walkers, bouncers and high chairs are not accepted. CDC guidelines are followed inside the store.
Choir, Bible Study, and the Weekday Calendar
On Mondays the church hosts two parallel gatherings for adults. The Lunch Bunch Bible Study meets at noon, and the choir rehearses at 7:00 p.m. The choir presents an annual Christmas cantata and an Easter cantata each year, with a tradition that stretches from at least 2009 and is preserved on the church's archive of recorded performances.
The congregation also hosts its spring and fall vendor and craft shows inside the Family Life Center, an annual tradition that began in 2019.
Faith and Identity
Members worship as part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and accept the denomination's shared preamble, which confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and proclaims him Lord and Savior of the world. The congregation pledges allegiance to the Christian flag, to the Bible as God's Holy Word, and to the flag of the United States, with each pledge printed in full on the church's site. The first Sunday of Advent, Mother's Day, and Youth Sunday are highlighted services throughout the church year, and the men and women of the congregation regularly take on workdays and building projects in lieu of calling in contractors.
Building Projects and a Roof to Remember
The physical plant tells almost as much of the story as the pulpit does. In 1915 a parsonage was added to the property, and during Rev. Percy Davis's pastorate (starting in 1923) the dining room, kitchen and baptistry were built. In 1952 the church bought an electric organ, and in 1997 and 1998 the men and women of the congregation replaced the front and side windows, carpet, drywall, tile, doors, refinished the pews, and installed handicap access, while Sunday morning worship relocated temporarily to the Family Life Center. A new digital piano arrived in 2002. In 2012 Eckman Remodeling replaced the front porch and steps with new steps and a ramp. The most visible recent change came in 2020, when the roof and steeple were renovated with a new red metal roof during the early months of the pandemic.
A Walk Through the Hall of Ministers
The congregation keeps a Hall of Ministers that lists every pastor it can name. After Evangelist Benedict in 1874 and the formal organization in 1875, the first regular minister was the Rev. James Bell in 1902. The list that follows includes the Rev. C.C. Clingman, the Rev. J.M. Canfield, the Rev. M.S. Blair (Betty Sager's grandfather), the Rev. William Long, the Rev. Huffner (during whose pastorate the Sunday School rooms and parsonage were added), the Rev. Wharton, the Rev. Simms, the Rev. Percy Davis, the Rev. Kitchen, the Rev. Fred Fink, the Rev. C. Howard McCloy (whose student pastorate began in the 1930s and whose second tenure ran from 1976 to 1980), the Rev. Lester Snell, the Rev. Raymond Wreath, the Rev. V.K. Vose, the Rev. George Massay, the Rev. Alexander Haines (a pastor who came from India in 1968), the Rev. Dean Sparks, the Rev. Jerry Pardoe, the Rev. Robert Brooks (1981 to 1992), the Rev. Larry Grimes (interim, 1992 to 1993), the Rev. Paul Ragle (1993 to 2004), the Rev. Vernon Bowers (interim during a sabbatical in 1998), the Rev. John Matsko (interim, 2004 to 2005), the Rev. Michael Malone (2005 to 2009), the Rev. Walter McNutt (interim, 2009 to 2010), the Rev. Edward Arbogast Jr. (2010 to 2012), Jason Sommerfeld as a frequent guest speaker (2012 to 2013), the Rev. Melissa Rae Snyder (2013 to 2021), and the Rev. Douglas Shoaff (interim from October 2021, permanent senior minister from June 2023).
Camp Laurelview
The church's relationship with Camp Laurelview, a Disciples of Christ camp, runs through the summers. Group pictures from 1984 forward line the church's archive: Chi Rho weeks in 1991, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009; Junior Camp weeks in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2003; Conference I weeks in 1990 and 2010; Conference II in 1993 and 2011; and a Mini Camp in 2009. Registration materials for campers and counselors, as well as youth retreat forms, are posted on the church's Camp Laurelview page.
Visiting Perryopolis First Christian Church
The church is located at 307 Independence Street, Perryopolis, Pennsylvania 15473, and the church office can be reached at 724-736-8311 or by email at perryfcc@yahoo.com. Sunday worship with communion begins at 10:30 a.m. and is livestreamed each week on the congregation's Facebook page. POW and WOW programming is in place for children from birth through third grade during the service. Members of the parish are identified in the People and Staff section of the site, including Minister Rev. Douglas Shoaff, Pianist and Organist Denise Zundel, Church Secretary Sue Dunstan, Custodian Greg Phillips, and Webmaster Tyler Phillips. Elders and board officers serve the congregation alongside the minister, and the Hall of Ministers preserves the long pastoral history of the parish.