Harrisville church celebrating 225 years with music, food
The Harmony Evangelical Presbyterian Church has been in two locations in its 225-year history, and it’s still standing.
The church will commemorate its 225th anniversary on July 26 and 27 with music and food, in addition to a special worship service on Sunday, July 27. The Harrisville Community Band will perform at 6 p.m. July 26 at the church, and the church will have its own musicians play the following day, July 27.
The church’s pastor, Jeff Jones, said the congregation was founded in 1800, but church leaders don’t know the exact month it formed. According to Jones, the first church was a log cabin before a frame church was built in the mid-1800s. “Sometime later a brick church was built,” Jones said, which was on the site of a cemetery in Harrisville, but moved to its current location at 234 N. Main St. in Harrisville.
“That brick church in 1925 was moved, because the church was at Harmony Cemetery, and it was dismantled and moved into the village of Harrisville,” Jones said. “They moved everything — all the stained-glass windows and everything.”
According to Jones, the church has about 60 active members, and Sunday services typically have about 40 to 50 people in attendance. Jones also said the church has maintained a tradition in biannual soup nights, which help bring people of Harrisville to the church.
“In the fall and then in the spring we have a free community soup night, where you can have bread and drink and dessert,” Jones said. “That's a popular ministry that the church has been doing a long time, probably 15 years or so.”
Anyone can attend the Harrisville Community Band concert Saturday, which begins at 6 p.m. at the church, but Jones said people who want to attend the Sunday luncheon need to confirm attendance prior, so they can order enough food through the caterer. To confirm attendance on July 27, call 724-735-2854.
