SLIPPERY ROCK - Center Presbyterian Church of Slippery Rock, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA), celebrated its 150th anniversary on Sunday.

Among the guests were the church's pastor emeritus, the Rev. John Peterson; the interim executive presbyter of the Beaver Butler Presbyter, the Rev. Carolyn Jones; former interim pastor and interim presbytery executive of Genesee Valley Presbytery in New York, the Rev. Edith Gause; and the Rev. Mark Oertor. Oerter is the son of the late Rev. John Oerter, who was pastor during the church's centennial in 1954.

A dinner followed in Fellowship Hall.

The congregation was organized by vote of the then-Butler Presbytery on April 11, 1854. It went into effect on April 24, 1854. Twenty-nine charter members were recognized by certificate from other churches in the area. Some descendants of those original 29 are still members of the church and live in the community.

The first building, a frame church, measured "forty by fifty feet without vestibule, flat ceiling and tower above the gable end," according to church records. It was constructed in 1855 at a cost of $2,400, including $200 for the lot.

In 1882, a vestibule and tower were added and the roof was elevated.

The second building was constructed in 1926 on the site of the old building. It burned on Jan. 17, 1948.

Church records show the third and present building was constructed using "every possible part of the ruins of the old church."

Meeting rooms, classrooms, offices and a tower were added at that time.