St. Jacob's United Church Of Christ

Our beginning dates back to a time prior to the Civil War. Records were poorly kept in the early days, however from the earliest records, we can approximate a beginning. Below is a brief historical timeline of growth and change led by the faithful members of St. Jacob's United Church of Christ in York New Salem, Pennsylvania.

September 16, 1860 - Cornerstone laid (present St. Jacob's UCC sancuary building.)
Early 1860's - St. Jacob's Union organized from four churches: Wolf's, Zeigler's. Lischey's and Paradise)
1917 - St. Jacob's Union Church is dissolved. The Lutheran congregation built its own church across the street. The Union Church became known as St. Jacob's Reformed Charge compossed of St. Peter's (Lischey's) in Spring Grove, St. Paul 's in Stoverstown and St. Jacob's Reformed in New Salem.
November 23, 1919 - St. Jacob's Reformed Church renovation completed and dedication service held. A bell tower, vestibule, and pews were added and a gallery was removed during the renovations.
1932 or 1933 - A Kimball pipe organ was bought from a silent movie theater in Baltimore and installed.
1934 - St. Jacob's Reformed Church became St. Jacob's Evangelical and Reformed Church with the merger of the Reformed and Evangelical denominations.
March 10, 1957 - Ground was broken for a Religious Education Building . Dedication of the building occurred on November 3, 1957 .
1958 - St. Jacob's Evangelical and Reformed Church becomes St. Jacob's United Church of Christ upon the merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church denominations with the Congregational Christian Churches.
1965 - Lischey's Charge was divided and St. Jacob's became a self-supporting congregation.
1969 - A parsonage was built on Stoverstown Road across from the York New Salem Elementary School .
June 1984 - The property next to the church was purchased from the Mummert family to be used for future expansion of the church.
1993 - St. Jacob's completed a $18,000 reburbishing project.
2001 - The members of St. Jacob's UCC approved the purchase of additional land to the rear of the church from the Stump Family for future expansion of the church.
September 19, 2004 - Ground breaking ceremony held for the expansion of St. Jacob's United Church of Christ.
December 17, 2006 - Open House to introduce community to our new facility.
December 18, 2006 - Dedication of our new facility.

Known Pastors of Our Church

Rev. F. W. Vandersloot
Rev. Rinehart Smith
Rev. Aaron Spangler
Rev. John J. Stauffer
Rev. Irvin S. Ditzler (1913-1915)
Rev. J. N. Faust (1916-1937)
Rev. Franklin F. Glassmoyer (1937-1965)
Rev. Carl C. Harlacker (1965-1967)
Rev.Luther G. Heist Jr. (1969-1987)
Rev. Curtis E. Whitman (1988 - 2006)
Rev. Richard Barley (Supply Pastor - 2006 2007)
Rev. Henry Korinth (Interim Pastor 2007 - 2008)
Rev. Teresa A Hughes ( 2008- present)

Some U.C.C. History-

1620: PILGRIMS SEEK SPIRTUAL FREEDOM – Seeking spiritual freedom, forbears of the United Church of Christ prepare to leave Europe for the New World . Later generations know them as the Pilgrims. Their pastor, John Robinson, urges them as they depart to keep their minds and hearts open to new ways. God, he says, “has yet more light and truth to break forth out of his holy Word.”
1700: AN EARLY STAND AGAINST SLAVERY – Congregationalists are among the first Americans to take a stand against slavery. The Rev. Samuel Sewall writes the first anti-slavery pamphlet in America , “The Selling of Joseph.” Sewall lays the foundation for the abolitionist movement that comes more than a century later.
1777: REFORMED CONGREGATION SAVES LIBERTY BELL – The British occupy Philadelphia- seat of the rebellious Continental Congress- and plan to melt down the Liberty Bell to manufacture cannons. The Bell is safely hidden under the floorboards of Old Zion Reformed Church in Allentown .
1785: FIRST ORDAINED AFRICAN-AMERICAN PASTOR – Lemuel Haynes is the first African-American ordained by the Protestant denomination. He becomes a world-renowned preacher and writer.

Known Pastors of Our Church