ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH

Zion Lutheran Church in Oil City opened its doors in 1897 after its founding by Swedish immigrants, and the congregation will celebrate the church’s 125-year anniversary during the 11 a.m. service this Sunday.

The Rev. Ralph Jones, a former pastor at Zion Lutheran, will return to bring the message at the service at the church at 207 State St. Jones is bishop emeritus of the Northwest Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Retired Pastor Sharon Hilfiger also will be at the celebration. She will co-host a dinner featuring a variety of Swedish foods following the service along with the Rev. J. Michael Parsh, who serves as an associate pastor for both Zion and Good Hope Lutheran churches.

The two churches have partnered to form the Good Hope/Zion Lutheran Ministry of Oil City. The Good Hope church marked its 150th anniversary last year.

A LOOK BACK

The first service at the church was held April 30, 1897. For the first 28 years of its existence, the congregation used Swedish as its official language. It wasn’t until 1925 that English began to be spoken at church services and gatherings. On occasion, special Swedish services were held at the church. The Swedish heritage of the church remains important, according to Yvonne Paranick, who serves as the church council’s president. She said that’s why the congregation will enjoy Swedish foods at the dinner on Sunday. The milestone celebration will end after the Swedish lunch, Paranick said, but she made no guarantees about how long the lunch would last. “It depends on how long we talk,” she quipped. Paranick said those who attend will be given the opportunity to share their memories of their years at the church.

There were 34 charter members of Zion Lutheran. Sandra Jones, lead pastor at the church, said the number of members is about the same now. “Probably around 35 people take an active part (in the church) as they can,” Jones said. She noted around 15 to 18 people attend worship services regularly. While the number of people sitting in the pews may be small, the church’s work is not, Paranick said. “People look to the church for other needs such as supplies for food, groceries or daily help,” she said. Community outreach is a major priority for the congregation. The church hosts weekly coffee breaks for the community and houses an after-school program free to residents in the area. It also partners with Good Hope to offer regular community dinners free of charge. The coffee breaks are held every Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. With the enticement of coffee and doughnuts, the weekly gathering provides an opportunity for church members to socialize with people in the community. Stay and Play, the after-school program, provides the community with a safe place for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. It is open three times a week. “(The youth and children) know that this is a safe place,” said Parsh. “They look at the staff as role models.” Jones said these community outreach programs are made possible through the grant money from the PNC Charitable Trust for Community Outreach through Good Hope.

Paranick pointed out that the people who attend services at Zion Lutheran are sitting in the same place as those Swedish immigrants who first opened its doors 125 years ago. “This congregation was founded in this building, and it has stayed in this building,” she said. Jones said over the years, educational facilities were added and other remodeling work was done. After the sanctuary’s foundation was dug in July 1906 and the cornerstone was laid in September of the same year, the building was dedicated in 1907, according to Zion Lutheran’s website. After nearly 50 years, the congregation decided it was necessary to expand its educational facilities in 1955. Men who were a part of the congregation built a two-story education wing, and the addition was dedicated in November 1957.

For its 100-year anniversary in July 1997, Zion Lutheran held a weekend-long celebration that included an ice cream social. The church’s original cornerstone was opened at the time and inside was a copy of the New Testament in Swedish.

MAKAYLA KEATING, reporter for The Derrick and The News-Herald, can be reached at makaylakeating.thederrick@gmail.com or 814-676-7057.

Over its 125 years as a church in Oil City, Zion Lutheran has been home to generations of families in the area.

Gretchen Gibbs of Oil City said she followed in her parents’ footsteps in becoming a member of the Oil City church. She has been attending services at Zion for about 80 years, starting in the 1940s. She said she has some vague memories of the church celebrating its 50-year anniversary back in 1947. “I was 6 at the time,” she said. Gibbs and her family have been part of the church’s marking many milestones through the years. “It’s a very friendly and welcoming church,” she said. That connection to the church now stretches into the fourth generation of Gibbs’ family.

Her daughter, Sue Fisher, said she and her two children, Seth and Sarah, have been attending Zion Lutheran “all of their lives.” Fisher, who is the business manager for the Oil City Area School District, said she decided early on to keep her home in Oil City and has remained loyal to the church and its congregants over the years. “Everyone became a church family and it’s (been) a good church to raise my kids in,” she said. Fisher remembers having been pregnant with her son when the church marked its 100th-year anniversary. As her children grew up, they became active in the church. As youngsters, both of them served as acolytes. Sarah, who is studying computer science at Carnegie Melon University in Pittsburgh, still remains active in church happenings when she is home from college. “She reads the (church) lessons and she helps with ushering,” Fisher said.

MAKAYLA KEATING, reporter for The Derrick and The News-Herald, can be reached at makaylakeating.thederrick@gmail.com or 814-676-7057.