WHITEHALL TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WFMZ) — A 177-year-old church in Whitehall Township is set to close its doors for good at the end of the month.
For the past nine years Virginia Schlegel, known as ‘Pastor V’, served as the senior pastor of St. John’s United Church of Christ founded by the Mickley family.
“It was a tough decision but the congregation eventually voted to sell the building,” Schlegel stated. “It’s a church that I fell in love with and every time I drove down MacArthur Road I’d say that’s going to be my church.”
Pastor V told us the last few years have been a struggle, as the congregation aged and shrank to about 35 to 40 members.
“You can’t pay bills with that and when you start going through endowments and things, that’s usually, it’s time to make a decision,” Schlegel explained.
A new congregation has purchased the church and is currently holding services, with a joint service planned for this Sunday honoring the church’s past and its future — something Pastor V said is entwined with our nation’s history.
“Jacob Mickley went to Philadelphia to bring the state bell to Allentown. He was going to deliver it to Zion Church, when he got to Bethlehem his axle broke and he wasn’t able to continue the journey into Allentown. Frederick Leaser finished the journey,” Schlegel recalled.
Pieces of St John’s have been given to other churches in the area and the existing congregation will likely split as members find new homes.
“I hope that I’ve helped them hear the word of God and helped them grow, but they’ve really helped me grow and I love each and every one of them. We’re opening a new chapter. We’re St. John’s Mickley Strong and I love them and I wouldn’t change a thing,” Schlegel concluded.
St. John’s last service is on June 21 at 10:00 a.m.