The organization of this congregation,
which is looked upon and respected as the mother church of the other three
[Trinity, Dalmatia; St. Luke's, Malta; Zion, Pillow], dates back to the
year 1775. This organization was effected as far as is known by Rev.
Wolf. There was occasional preaching and administration of the Sacraments
as early as 1750; probably by such men who had been sent by Rev. H.M. Muhlenberg,
the patriarch of our Lutheran Zion in this western world. This supposition
varies from the fact that this part of the country was mostly settled by
families coming from the lower counties, such as Montgomery, Berks, etc.
The first church ediface was probably built prior to the time of the organization
of the congregation for church and school purposes. It was but a
small building, probably 20 x 30 feet. It was built of logs and situated
in the lower part of the old portion of the burial ground. In the
year 1796 the erection of the second and present
[1898] church ediface was commenced. Its completion was not effected
until the year 1802 so that it is upon its centennial and expects to celebrate
the same during the present year in connection with the 150th anniversary
of the organization of the Ministerium of Penn'a. Among the names
which stand connected with the erection of the second church ediface we
note the following: Lenker, Emerich, Shaffer, Broscious, Kerstetter, etc.
After an organization was effected and a house of worship erected the congregation
took steps towards procuring an unoccupied track [sic] of land which lay
close by.
[Rev. W.H. Geiger, "Stone Valley Parish", Jubilee
Memorial Volume of the Danville Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran
Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States, 1898]
The land occupied by the church, school house,
cemetery, picnic woods and farm consists
of 65 acres, 93 perches. This was purchased from the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania by a grant issued to Adam Lenker, Lutheran Trustee, and
John Bingaman, Reformed Trustee. This grant bore the name "Christian
Unity," and was dated January 23, 1808. This tract of land was surveyed
on February 10 of the same year. A patent deed was granted to the
same two trustees by Act of Assembly on April 7, 1807, for which they had
paid $4.53. Some time later a portion of this tract was sold to Daniel
Shaffer, whose land adjoined the tract. The sale was made in order
to realize money for the repairing of the buildings.
It is interesting to note that although the
land was not legally purchased until 1808 the second church was already
completed.
The first building, a log structure, was about
twenty feed wide and thirty feet long. It was located in the lower
part of the old cemetery, and was known as the "Gap Church." Here
again legend, as distinguised from fact, tells us that Rev. Wolf was associated
with the founding of this Church.
On February 20, 1796, an agreement to build
the second church was made between Nicholas Bobb, Lutheran Trustee and
Henry Bordner, Reformed Trustee with "Boss Carpenter Jacob Thani," who
undertook the construction of this new church building.
The Stone Valley Lutheran Record Book gives
the following specifications for this Church: "Jacob Thani shall frame
the roof and the entire covering. He shall make two steps to the
gallery. He shall plain [sic] off the rafters and lay the slippers.
Lay the floor and plain it off. Make the pulpit, seats, windows,
etc. - in short all that belongs to the whole church as it is, according
to a certain size, 55' x 55'." For this he was to receive 130 pounds,
as it is worth in Pennsylvania, to be paid in parts, beginning in 1796,
when he was to receive 30 pounds, and on May 9 of each succeeding year
20 pounds until the account should be squared. This agreement was
signed by the trustees and Jacob Thani, and on March 14, 1803, all accounts
were declared squared.
The cost of this Church was approximately
$1400, which is an interesting comparison to today's costs.
The agreement drawn between the two congregations
stated that the Church should be called Lutheran and Reformed, and each
congregation shall have equal right in this Church. This agreement
however sitpulated as follows: "But should it happen, in the course of
time, by the mercy of our Lord, these congregations become strong, that
either is able to build a church for itself, the one congregation shall
receive from the other what they had given toward it." This agreement
was signed by about fifty men from the two congregations.
At the laying of the cornerstone the Church
was called Zions Evangelical Lutheran and German Reformed Church.
This however was shortly changed to Stone Valley Church, by usage.
The Church was dedicated September 11, 1803, with services forenoon and
afternoon, the speakers being Rev. LudwigWilhelm Ilgen, and Rev. Johannes
Herbst.
The Church was extensively repaired in 1860
at a cost of $944. The builders were J.K. Paney and M. Neagley.
On January 27, 1900, by a vote of 51 to 1
it was decided to raze the second building, and this work was started April
17, 1900. An interesting hobby for the descendants of these 52 individuals
would be to speculate on the identity of the one dessenter, and his reasons.
The cornerstone of the third, and present,
Church, was laid on June 3, 1900, with about fifteen hundred persons present.
Rev. D.M. Stetler and Rev. A.R. Hottenstein assisted by the local pastors,
Geiger and Brown. Dedication services were held May 26, 1901.
The cost of this Church was $15,000. Ed. Hetrick was the builder.
M.L. Emerick, D.J. Keen, J.M. Lenker and B.A. Boyer were the building committee.
The bell tower was repaired in 1908 at
a cost of $1549.14, by B. Frank Harris. The interior of the Church
was completely redecorated by the Rudy Decorating Company of Reading
in 1938, and the Choir loft was rebuilt by B.F. Harris.
An organ was installed in 1940 by the Estey
Organ Company and dedicated on December 15 of the same year.
In 1943 the chancel was lowered and rebuilt
by removing the central pulpit, placing the altar against the back wall,
and placing a lectern on the left and a pulpit on the right.
[Neal B. Witmer, "A Short History of the Stone Valley
(Zion) Lutheran and Reformed Church", Program for the Mid-Century Anniversary
(185th), October 15, 1950]
