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Church celebrates 175 years in Carlisle
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Rev. Jennifer Johnston McKenna, Shirley Verbos and Deb Brandberg prepare Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle for the upcoming 175th anniversary. Jason Malmont/The Sentinel
Jeff Wood is proud to be affiliated with a pack of feisty young upstarts.
The Carlisle area man can only read about how, 175 years ago, a group of conservatives decided to break away from First Presbyterian Church.
1833 was a bitter year for the congregation, which had been around for a century — before Cumberland County even existed.
Church members were believed Pastor George Duffield was turning away from the Calvinist roots of the faith to a more liberal theology and were upset.
“People didn’t like that,” said Wood, unofficial historian of Second Presbyterian Church. “Neither side was interested in a compromise or further discussion.”
Opposition leaders petitioned the regional authority, called the Presbyter, for permission to start a second church only a block away from the first, Wood said.
He explained that bad blood led to squabbles in Presbyter courts over who was right and how best to divide up the treasury of the mother church.
The separatists won out, building their first church at what is now the southeast corner of East Pomfret and South Hanover streets.
Shared heritage
That first church for the second Presbyterian congregation lasted until 1879, when it replaced by a new building that stood for almost 100 years, Wood said.
Meanwhile, the bitterness lingered on for about a generation.
“It took 17 years for them to exchange pulpits -- trade pastors back and forth,” he explained. Today, there are no hard feelings -- only pride in a shared heritage.
Representatives from First Presbyterian planned a special service this morning celebrating the 175th anniversary of the founding of Second Presbyterian Church.
Chances are, Second Presbyterian members will pay their respects when First Presbyterian celebrates its 275th anniversary next year.
Members of both churches routinely tease each other, with First Presbyterian taking the role of parent and Second Presbyterian that of willful child.
Also expected at the special service were several former Second Presbyterian pastors, said Jeff Gibelius, senior pastor at the church since September 2007. “Today is closer to a family reunion.”
Gibelius explained how, during the official anniversary Jan. 12, the church ordained its current set of elders and deacons.
“They are continuing the legacy,” he said.
Church leaders decided then they wanted to host a full-scale celebration in September.
There is good reason to dwell on the past, Wood said.
“History really informs the present and inspires the future. Our congregation is eager to learn more about its own history,” he said.
Second Presbyterian was one of only two churches open for Sunday services the day Confederate forces entered Carlisle during their 1863 invasion of Pennsylvania, Wood said. The other was a Lutheran church.
“There were Confederates in our pews,” Wood said. “It was a homecoming for some of them. They had been in Carlisle before the war, having gone through the cavalry school at the barracks.”
Pastors remembered
Years later, in 1869, Pastor George Norcross took over leadership of Second Presbyterian. During his 40 years in Carlisle, Norcross became an influential religious, political and social figure in the life of the town.
It was Norcross who convinced Col. Richard Henry Pratt to expand the scope of the Carlisle Indian School to include tribes from the Southwest, Rockie Mountains and Pacific Northwest. Prior to that, the school focused on the Apache and Plains Indians -- only a portion of the Native American population.
Norcross also served as president of the board of trustees of Bosler Library, founded by a church member.
“His congregation were the movers and shakers of Carlisle,” Wood said. “The Carlisle Civic Club was founded by mostly church members. John Hays, founder of Frog Switch, was a Second Presbyterian.”
The 20th century was quiet until 1965, when James “Mike” Ferguson was appointed senior pastor, Wood said. “He had the second-longest run with the church in its history.”
This was a period of revitalization for Second Presbyterian Church driven by the ability of Ferguson and his associate pastor, Jack Larson, to network with the Carlisle community.
“They made a good team,” Wood said. “They made Second Presbyterian into an outwardly looking and outwardly acting church.”
Ferguson led an extensive youth program that drew large numbers of non-members to Second Presbyterian. He was also key in the decision by church leaders to relocate to the suburbs.
Mission orientated
Wood explained the church had outgrown its South Hanover Street location and needed to expand. A decision was made to build a new church at 528 Garland Drive.
Not everyone was happy with the move. Uncomfortable with a new building away from downtown, some church members went over to First Presbyterian Church, Wood said.
This second period of tension was not as intense or prolonged as the first.
Jennifer McKenna, associate pastor at Second Presbyterian, was a student in Carlisle area schools when the congregation rendered its decision.
“The vote was hot and contentious,” she recalled. “It was a risky thing.”
Her parents, Jim and Marion Johnston, have been going to Second Presbyterian since 1965, when the family moved to Carlisle from western Pennsylvania. McKenna’s sister, Lucy Johnston-Walsh, also attends with her husband and three children.
McKenna was involved in the youth group and liturgical dance choir at the church from the eighth grade to her senior year before heading off to college and a career in the ministry.
She came back to Second Presbyterian in 2004.
“Most of the congregation has totally changed. It was great to see several familiar faces,” she said. “It feels great to be home.”
In coming weeks, church leaders will talk about what happens next.
“Looking at our history, we’ve always been a mission-orientated congregation,” Gibelius said. “We help people locally, nationally and globally. As we look back, we begin a new chapter together.”
Second Presbyterian maintains strong partnerships with Project SHARE, Carlisle CARES and Habitat for Humanity, Gibelius said. In recent years, the church sent missionaries to Honduras to build homes.
The church just hired a youth minister and plans to refurbish the downstairs of its building to accommodate expanded use by its children and youth ministry, Gibelius said.
Second Presbyterian should be proud of its history of activism and progressive thinking, Wood said. “It shows us anything is possible with leadership and energy.”
The church grew from only a couple of dozen members in 1833 to more than 800 at its current location on Garland Drive.
“We are not resting on our past, but we are looking to serve the community and God in the years to come,” McKenna said.
