HOOKER - Concord Presbyterian Church of Hooker will celebrate its 200th anniversary during the weekend of Oct. 2 and 3.

The celebration will begin with a buffet dinner from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 2 in the church social room, where items of historical interest will be on display. It will continue at an 11 a.m. service on Oct. 3.

There will also be an Alleluia, Praise Gathering for Believers concert, featuring the Alleluia Chorus, at 7 p.m. Sunday at the church.

The Rev. John McPherrin from Redstone Presbytery preached the first sermon at what would become Concord Presbyterian in 1799. Scots-Irish settlers gathered under the oak trees on the site of the present church building for that first sermon.

In 1804, McPherrin agreed to serve as pastor of Muddy Creek and Concord Presbyterian churches.

During his pastorate, a log cabin served as church. Later, a wood frame structure was added, and in 1838, during the pastorate of the Rev. John Coulter, the congregation built the present brick building, using local timber and bricks.

A basement was dug under the sanctuary in 1945 for a kitchen and fellowship hall, and the education building was completed in 1968. A new manse for the pastor was constructed in 1992.

The small congregation has maintained an interest in the mission work of the Presbyterian Church and over the years has supported that cause with financial gifts and missionaries.

Eleven men of the church have gone into the pastoral ministry and seven churches have been organized by Concord pastors.

Today, the church is yoked with the North Washington United Presbyterian Church.

The present pastor, the Rev. Robert Mathias, has served the congregation since 1969.