Missionary Visitor August 1906 page 442-444

THE TEN MILE CONGREGATION

By VIRGIL C. FINNEL, Pastor

This write-up of one of the pioneer churches of Pennsylvania will be of unusual interest to all and of special interest to those who once have worshiped there elder and Jacob Garber and Henry Tanner as ministers. Other resident ministers who have served the congregation are, Eld. John Spohn, Sr., Andrew Wise, Geo. Wise, Eld. John Wise, Geo. B. Shidler, N. B. Christner, Eld. Jerry Bottorff, and D. W. Hostettler. Some of those who have served in the deacon's office are, Henry Wise, Jos. G. Grable, Sr., Wm. Holder, Adam Spohn, Reuben Bail, Solomon W. Tombaugh, Jas. G. Grable, Geo. G. Crumrine and Silas Johnson. In 1842 the congregation received some Fifty-two converts as the direct result of a series of meetings conducted by Eld. James Quinter, and for the next ten or twelve years Bro. Quinter did a great amount of preaching in this congregation. Dec. 4, 1856 the members " decided to meet in social services " and in March, 1859, the first Sunday school in the congregation, was organized.

The church continued to grow and, in the spring of 1859,, Brethren John Leatherman, Daniel Ward and S. W. Tombaugh were elected as members of the Building Committee for a new church in the north, or Pigeon Creek, end of the congregation. The date of the dedication must have been in the autumn of the same year and the first communion service to be held in it was Oct. 20, 1860. Before the passing of another decade their elder, Bro. John Wise, had moved from the congregation and being without able leadership the work began to show signs of decay.

This was followed by the factional disturbances which terminated in the withdrawal of a large number of the younger members to join the Progressive Brethren, who in 1887 built another church in the vicinity of the Ten Mile house. Again Eld. Wise lived in the congregation for a time, but a great part of the time the pulpits were filled more or less regularly by brethren from the adjoining congregations, until 1889 when Bro. N. B. Christner became their pastor and remained until 1894. Bro. Wise preached again for less than a year and they were left without a shepherd until 1897, when Eld. Jerry Bottorff came to their assistance. Under his loving, tactful leadership and by hard, persistent effort, the church was revived and encouraged until it seemed that the congregation would again prove its ability as a soul-winning agency. All these hopes were blighted when May 8, 1900, Bro. Bottorff while returning from North Dakota where he had been visiting for his health, passed to his reward, and left them without anyone to direct their energies. Except for the few months during which Bro. D.'W. Hostettler, now of Indiana, served as pastor, they were without a resident minister for the next four or five years. Emigration, desertion, death and divisions had by this time reduced their number to a mere handful, many of whom were, by reason of old age, no longer able to assist in the active work of the church.

April, 1904, the writer became their pastor and is still serving them. On Saturday, July 7, 1906, S. W. Bail and Jos. C. Swihart were called to the ministry. The deacons are, Frank E. Lane, and Alva L. Lane. Eld. Alpheus DeBolt, of Masontown, Pa., was chosen as elder in July, 1904, and his intimate knowledge of the work, during its darkest periods, fit him for a wise administration of affairs now.

Within the past two years nine have been baptized, two restored, three received by letter and one disowned, leaving the present number about forty-six. These are scattered over a territory thirty by twenty-five miles in extent, yet they are conducting two evergreen Sunday schools, in which the interest is good, and two Christian Workers' societies are training the young for active service in church of to-morrow.

The official body has the hearty support and cooperation of the laity, the interest in missions is growing and we may well expect to note a corresponding growth in grace and zeal for the work at home.

Scenery Hill, Pa.