Our Heritage and History
The roots or our congregation extend back to the early 1700s when German Reformed families began emigrating to and settling throughout this region of Pennsylvania. Our forebears were a proud, hearty, deeply religious, persevering and liberty loving lot. The Reformed Church in America has the distinction of being one of the earliest organized Christian religious administrations, with a long history of vigorously promoting and fighting for social justice.
The Hummelstown Reformed Church was officially founded in 1766. Hummelstown’s Reformed and Lutheran congregations initially worshiped in union, first in a log structure that burned in 1817 and afterwards in a two story stone structure which continues to exist (now known as the Parish House, the original home and current museum of the Hummelstown Historical Society).
In 1855 the Reformed congregation, after significant prayer and deliberation, took a step in faith and decided to undertake erecting their own church to worship in. A two story brick church served as their home from 1855.
On Sunday, June 28, 1908 a Dedication Service was held for the church building built with brownstone from the Hummelstown Brownstone Quarry, in which we worship today. The historic Hummelstown Brownstone Quarry which provided much sought after and prized brownstone building materials through-out the east coast in the early 1900s and we are grateful to be a part of that history. The current church building stands as a testament to our forebears’ faithful commitment to their religious foundation, stewardship and love of God.
As proud as we are of our beautiful sanctuary, with glorious stained glass windows depicting Christ’s life and pipe organ to encourage praise to God, we recognize that more importantly it is the people that are the heart of the church. And the talents of our people are what we continue to live out the legacy of our long history here in Hummelstown.
In 1957, the Evangelical & Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches joined together to newly form the United Church of Christ and we became the United Church of Christ of Hummelstown. We take pride in our affiliation with the United Church of Christ’s continuation of the Reformed tradition of advancing social justice causes.
Over the years we’ve respectfully maintained the historical ambiance of our structure while at the same time updating and modernizing, with the addition of an elevator and single occupancy restrooms on all levels, to assure it is an accessible facility for all.
The roots or our congregation extend back to the early 1700s when German Reformed families began emigrating to and settling throughout this region of Pennsylvania. Our forebears were a proud, hearty, deeply religious, persevering and liberty loving lot. The Reformed Church in America has the distinction of being one of the earliest organized Christian religious administrations, with a long history of vigorously promoting and fighting for social justice.
The Hummelstown Reformed Church was officially founded in 1766. Hummelstown’s Reformed and Lutheran congregations initially worshiped in union, first in a log structure that burned in 1817 and afterwards in a two story stone structure which continues to exist (now known as the Parish House, the original home and current museum of the Hummelstown Historical Society).
In 1855 the Reformed congregation, after significant prayer and deliberation, took a step in faith and decided to undertake erecting their own church to worship in. A two story brick church served as their home from 1855.
On Sunday, June 28, 1908 a Dedication Service was held for the church building built with brownstone from the Hummelstown Brownstone Quarry, in which we worship today. The historic Hummelstown Brownstone Quarry which provided much sought after and prized brownstone building materials through-out the east coast in the early 1900s and we are grateful to be a part of that history. The current church building stands as a testament to our forebears’ faithful commitment to their religious foundation, stewardship and love of God.
As proud as we are of our beautiful sanctuary, with glorious stained glass windows depicting Christ’s life and pipe organ to encourage praise to God, we recognize that more importantly it is the people that are the heart of the church. And the talents of our people are what we continue to live out the legacy of our long history here in Hummelstown.
In 1957, the Evangelical & Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches joined together to newly form the United Church of Christ and we became the United Church of Christ of Hummelstown. We take pride in our affiliation with the United Church of Christ’s continuation of the Reformed tradition of advancing social justice causes.
Over the years we’ve respectfully maintained the historical ambiance of our structure while at the same time updating and modernizing, with the addition of an elevator and single occupancy restrooms on all levels, to assure it is an accessible facility for all.