Month: December 2024

Derry’s 300th anniversary year is coming to a close. We’ve learned, traveled, sung, gathered, served, worshiped, and celebrated. Thank you all for the ways you have made this year such a success through your participation and giving. I have memories that will last a lifetime from this year. I hope you do, too.

I especially want to thank Pam Whitenack for her planning and leadership of the Derry 300 Committee. This year has been an enormous undertaking and she has led with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love. Many others contributed to the success of our anniversary year: I’m grateful to the Derry 300 Committee, the Heritage Committee, the Session, and many volunteers.

This 300th anniversary wasn’t just about Derry’s past, because Derry isn’t a church of the past. It isn’t something we’ll just look back on and remember. Derry is alive and active now, and Derry will be alive and active in the future. We have been celebrating Derry’s long history, its present, and its future. I’m just as excited about Derry’s 301st year of ministry in 2025 as I have been about this year, because good things are happening and will continue to happen.  

In just a few days we will celebrate the anniversary of God coming to us in the flesh to dwell among us. We don’t just remember that Christ came to earth long ago. We celebrate that Christ still comes to us and is present among us. Christmas isn’t a was, but an is, and ever will be!

So, while we remember that something wonderful happened in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago, we also remember all the ways Christ has been alive and active in this world throughout those 2,000 years — including the 300 years that Derry Church has existed. And we will give thanks that even as Christ is with and for us today, he will continue to be with us tomorrow and in the new year.

I wish you one more happy 300th Derry anniversary and a very merry Christmas. May we continue to celebrate and give thanks for Derry, and for Christ, through the end of this year, into next year, and throughout our lives. 

God is with us and God is for us. Love comes to us. That’s the message of Christmas. 

It’s still real, it’s still relevant, it’s still a promise, and it’s still true.

Derry Church’s mission is to Proclaim God’s Word, Share God’s Love, and Practice God’s Justice. While the means of pursuing this mission have changed over the years, these words describe the goals of Derry Church since its inception.

Mission work has evolved and expanded since Derry Church was founded in 1724. There is not much information about Derry’s early years since many of the church’s earliest records were destroyed in a fire in 1895. As a new church on the American frontier, it is likely that Derry Church would have been a recipient rather than a donor to mission work. However, by the 1790s, the region had become more settled. The Derry Church Trustees’ minute book, covering the years 1794-1895, records the financial activities of the church, including a 1794 contribution of $4 to enable missionaries to preach the gospel to the frontier.

Minutes, Board of Trustees, Derry Presbyterian Church – April 28, 1794

Resolved that the sum of 4 dollars be contributed to enable missionaries to preach the gospel to the frontier. 

Much of the effort to support missionaries fell to the women of the church. In 1818, the Ladies Missionary Society was established. Their efforts focused on education and fundraising. Unfortunately, the Society collapsed as church membership faltered during the second half of the 19th century. As membership declined from almost 100 members in 1811 to 16 in 1875, the church most likely did not have the financial resources to support mission work.

Even though church membership had shrunk even further to only 5 or 6 members by 1890, the establishment of the Derry Church Sunday School in 1883 breathed new life into the church. At first, the Sunday School operated independently , taking its own offering, and was responsible for the purchase of curriculum and supplies . From the beginning, Derry Church Sunday School demonstrated a significant commitment to supporting mission work beyond the immediate community. 

MISSION WORK IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

In 1915, the first year that records exist, Derry Church Sunday School received $212.90 in offerings. That year, $78.45 was donated to mission work. As both the church and the Sunday School grew in membership, both organizations continued to collect offerings and manage their own budgets.

Derry Church members were asked to make two pledges to the church each year. One was for the church budget and supported the pastor’s salary, building maintenance, and other expenses. A second pledge was for the church’s mission work, or “benevolence.” Even though until 1928 Derry Church depended upon an annual contribution from Presbytery as well as gifts from friends of Derry, church members felt it was important to dedicate money to mission activities.

Derry Church’s earliest 20th century records show that both the church and the Sunday School made contributions to specific causes. Following World War I, those who had suffered because of the war received Derry’s mission dollars. Money was also allocated to supporting temperance and “Freedmen” (formerly enslaved people).

By the 1920s, more and more of Derry’s benevolence dollars were directed to the mission work of the Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. Derry Church and the Sunday School also directed small contributions to local causes. National and international disasters also prompted Derry Church to contribute mission dollars. In addition to contributions members made to their benevolence pledge and the Sunday School general offering, many church organizations, including the revived Ladies Missionary Society, Women’s Guild, Friends in League, and some of the adult Sunday School classes also collected offerings and allocated a portion of their income towards charity.

Beginning in the 1930s, Derry Church directed a portion of their mission dollars to particular charities. The first such recipient was the Newville Home (established 1928), a Presbyterian home for the elderly and infirm located just west of Carlisle, PA. Beyond directing dollars to the home, Derry Church sought to become more personally involved. 

In 1940, Derry Church began holding a Harvest Home Festival in support of the Newville Home. At the worship service, Derry collected home canned fruits and vegetables, potatoes, onions and turnips, staple groceries including coffee, tea, cereals, flour, sugar, rice, and macaroni, kitchen and home supplies (table linens, towels, bed linens, books and sick room supplies), and gifts of cash.

This event was held for many years, and the goods were delivered to the Newville Home in time for its annual Harvest Home Day.

World War II sparked a broader awareness of and interest in the needs of the larger world. During the war, money was directed to the Wartime Service Fund and to Chinese relief. The Women’s Missionary Society offered mission study classes during Wednesday nights in November and. January, each month studying a particular group or issue such as Migrants or China to raise awareness of the worldwide need for financial support. 

MISSIONARY SUPPORT

In a similar fashion, the church identified two missionaries to receive mission contributions. Because the church’s mission dollars were divided between international and national mission projects, missionaries based in Arizona and in Iran received a significant portion of Derry Church’s mission dollars. These missionaries provided a personal connection between Derry and the mission world. Reverend Crouse Perkins served a rural community near Phoenix, Arizona, and Reverend Robert Bucher (pictured) served a church in Resht, Iran. Derry Church communicated directly with both mission efforts and provided additional support when unexpected challenges arose.

During these years, Derry’s women’s groups also became personally involved with particular charitable efforts, sending boxes of clothes and Christmas boxes to Mont Alto Sanatorium in western Pennsylvania and the Asheville Farm School for Boys in western North Carolina. In later years, women who enjoyed quilting gathered to create quilts that would be sold to raise money for mission.

These varied efforts towards supporting mission with charitable contributions continued into the 1960s. Derry members continued to make separate pledges for church operations and benevolence until 1966, when separate pledges were eliminated in favor of a consolidated church budget. A few years later, the Sunday School budget was also consolidated into the overall church budget.

Derry Church’s approach to supporting mission was largely limited to financial contributions, along with donations of clothing and food to local charities. While members may have been personally involved in supporting local charities with hands on help, there was no movement in the church to provide such opportunities until the late 1980s. 

PEACEMAKING: HANDS TO WORK

In 1986, a peacemaking task force formed in response to interest raised by the adult class’s study of peacemaking . This new group communicated opportunities for learning more about and acting on “things that make for peace.”

Peacemaking efforts were not limited to adults. For Christmas 1987, the 6-8th grade class organized Derry’s first “Giving Tree,” which provided gifts for 50 children. In addition, Presbyterian Women provided 50 Christmas stockings to the Dauphin County Manor nursing home.

Derry’s commitment to peacemaking led Session to establish Peacemaking as a standing committee and allocate $10,000 as a Designated Mission Fund. The Mission and Stewardship Interpretation Committee was responsible for determining how these funds should be distributed. Funds were donated to local charitable organizations and used to support church-organized mission trips. Derry was particularly supportive of its younger members. Church funds sent several of Derry’s youth on Presbyterian Synod mission trips to Alaska. 

The desire to do more to serve others continued to grow. Derry members sought out opportunities to help using their hands as well as their dollars. Led by Derry members Dale Ferguson and Ann Kroh, on June 20, 1989, 20 Derry members traveled to Yonkers, NY to spend a week working on a low income housing project to help reconstruct, scrape, and paint houses in need of rehabilitation (pictured). This project was organized by a local nonprofit organization, SWAP (Stop Wasting Abandoned Property). Derry Church continued to send mission teams to help rehab houses in Yonkers for several years. When the founder, Bill Daniel, established a program in Nicaragua, Derry followed.

That same year, Lend A Hand, a local disaster response and assistance program was established in response to the devastation of Hurricane Hugo. Derry member Skip Becker and John Daem, a member of Faith Presbyterian Church, envisioned a program that would send volunteers to help communities recover from natural disasters. In 1990, with the support of Christian Churches United, Pine Street Presbyterian, and Derry Church, Lend A Hand first sent volunteers to McClellanville, South Carolina to help residents rebuild homes and their community. In the following years, Derry Church and its members continued their support of Lend A Hand with funds and volunteers.

During the 1990s, Derry Church continued to expand its commitment to serving others. Derry became actively involved with Harrisburg poverty programs such as Bethesda Mission, Downtown Daily Bread, Harrisburg Boys and Girls Club, Meals on Wheels, Hershey Food Bank, and Derry Township Social Ministry.

The church continued to send volunteer teams to Yonkers and then to Mexico and Nicaragua. These trips not only helped support the communities by helping to construct well-built homes for residents but also provided volunteers an opportunity to know and appreciate another country and culture. Many of Derry’s mission projects were opportunities for parents to volunteer along with their children. In particular, the mission trips to Nicaragua usually had a few parent-teenager teams participating.

To highlight Derry’s commitment to serving others, Mission Week was established in 2000. Held in June, the week offered a variety of mission-focused opportunities for the congregation to both serve and learn more about opportunities for mission. Projects ranged from traveling to another country to build houses, traveling to Baltimore to work with Habitat for Humanity, to offering a Vacation Bible School for Milton Hershey School children. Opportunities were available for youth, college students, adults, and senior citizens.

Using the talents we have been given was at the heart of many of Derry’s mission programs. People with building skills volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and participated in mission trips to parts of the country damaged by storm and poverty. Cooks shared their talents to provide food for community meals at Bethesda Mission, Penn National Race Track, Family Promise.

The Shawl Ministry was established in January 2005 by a group of women who found joy in using their talents to create knitted and crocheted shawls and lap robes that were given to members and loved ones who might be ill, or grieving, in a nursing home or homebound, recovering, or in need of comfort. The 2012 group is pictured below.

As new opportunities emerged, Derry Church responded. In 2010, the church learned about the Presbyterian Education Board and the schools they operate in Pakistan for Christian and Muslim boys and girls. Debbie Hough, then Director of Christian Education, visited the schools in Pakistan and returned home to propose that Derry Church help support this mission by providing scholarship money for girls to attend the school in Sargodha. Several members traveled to Pakistan to learn more about the schools and how Derry’s support was making a difference there. Derry’s support grew over the next few years, and in 2019 Derry Church made. a three-year commitment and contributed $456,000 to build a wing on the Sargodha Boy’s school. 

Members often bring new ideas and mission projects to Derry. In 2016, Logos Academy, a Christ-centered community school serving children in Harrisburg, was brought to Derry’s attention by a new member who also served on the school’s board. While Derry’s initial contributions were modest, church members had opportunities to become more engaged, and many volunteer hours have been spent on projects to build and improve classrooms. 

In 2017, the Mission and Peace Committee conducted a review of its efforts so that Derry might better align its missional goals with its activities. The committee identified several mission goals, including caring for elders, the homeless, the hungry, and refugees, supporting access to healthcare, funding education for children, and addressing violence against women. With these goals in mind, Derry Church partnered with organizations serving these needs and communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted most of Derry’s hands-on mission efforts.Derry Church continued to fund its mission partners, but there were few opportunities for in-person mission. However, in 2020 Derry Church organized a Christmas Drive Through event, collecting more than 1,500 pounds of food for the Hershey Food Pantry, and over $4,000 in gift cards that were distributed to racetrack workers or others struggling with poverty. The success of the Christmas Drive-Through led to it being repeated the following year. 

In 2022, with COVID restrictions in the past, Derry Church resumed many of its mission activities, including serving meals for Family Promise, Downtown Daily Bread, and the Penn National Racetrack workers. The church again sent a team to the Dominican Republic to build two houses (2023 team pictured). Derry Church celebrated the Christmas season with a “Spread the Love, Share the Joy” drive that collected food for the Hershey Food Bank, clothing for the Allison Hill Community Ministry, and gift cards that were distributed to Racetrack workers, Stop the Violence Ministry, and the Derry Township Social Ministry.

300th ANNIVERSARY

As Derry Church prepared to celebrate its 300th anniversary in 2024, the 300th Anniversary Committee wanted the year to be an opportunity to not only look back but also look to the future. The committee encouraged the Mission and Peace Committee to consider how Derry might make a significant difference in our community in honor of our upcoming anniversary. Their proposal was to support two mission projects: funding the construction of a tiny home in a new community for homeless veterans in Harrisburg, and constructing a 5th grade classroom at Logos Academy Harrisburg so that the school could continue to expand. Derry members raised $100,000 to make both projects possible, while also contributing volunteer hours to help construct the new classroom.

When Derry Church was on the verge of collapse in the late 19th century, friends and the Presbytery believed that Derry was an important part of the Presbyterian family and offered financial support so that a new chapel could be built. Having a sturdy place to worship was an important part of Derry Church being able to reestablish itself and begin to prosper in the 20th century

As part of its 300th anniversary, Derry Church is continuing the tradition of churches helping churches by establishing a fund to support churches in the Presbytery who do not have the funds for needed capital repairs, projects, and growth, just as Presbytery churches helped Derry over a century ago. The “Churches Helping Churches” grant program will provide up to $10,000 to further the mission and ministry of their church. In this way Derry Church hopes to “pay forward” the support so that churches across the region continue to thrive.

Advent is upon us and Christmas is hastily coming, bringing the warmth of love. Soon we will be rejoicing, singing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo!” I invite you to come to Derry Church this Sunday, December 8 at 3 pm to  join the Sanctuary Choir and Derry Ringers as we look to the nativity story, where hope — born of a virgin mother and wrapped in swaddling clothes — was laid in a manger.

We remember that a world once shrouded in darkness has seen a great light! Works include “The Angel Gabriel” for choir and harp, Paul Manz’s “E’en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come,” and Mack Wilberg’s beloved “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” featuring choir, orchestra, organ, and percussion. Reflecting on Pastor Stephen’s sermon series entitled “How Great Our Joy,” the Sanctuary Choir will perform two arrangements of this well-known tune. The first, arranged by Craig Courtney, is for choir and string quartet, gently building to the final stanza. The second arrangement, by Mark Grizzard, employs mixed meter and a brisk tempo, incorporating choir, four-hand piano, and drums to enliven our spirits. 

As we reflect on those surrounding the Christ child, we will sing “We Three Kings,” “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” and Seth Bingham’s stunning setting of “Away in a Manger.” The Derry Ringers will perform Douglas E. Wagner’s jubilant “My Spirit Be Joyful” arranged from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata No. 146, along with Sandra Eithun’s beautiful arrangement of the beloved “O Holy Night.” 

The congregation can look forward to singing familiar carols accompanied by the organ and orchestra, including “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and John Ness Beck’s arrangement of “Joy to the World.” Featured soloists from Derry Church will include Charley Miller (Bass), Janice Click Holl (Soprano), Julie Miller (Soprano), and Loren Geeting (Tenor). A handbell quartet from the Derry Ringers will perform “What Child Is This?” in an exciting arrangement by Kevin McChesney. 

Come hear the story of the manger set to music, and let us reflect on the true meaning of love at Christmas. Lift your voices this joyous Christmastide with the choirs of Derry Church as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Join us and prepare your hearts for the love that has come down at Christmas!