The
United Methodist
Church of Chinchilla
411 Layton Road & Church Street, Chinchilla, PA
Pastor: Anthony "Tony" Schwartz
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About the Church
The church, constructed in 1961, is of modern gothic design. The sanctuary of the church focuses upon the stain glass window showing "The Invitation of Christ". The lighted brick tower rises 58 feet, housing the bell from the original church. Approximately 270 persons can be seated in the nave. Adequate facilities for Sunday School, fellowship and cultural-recreation activities are found in the education wing.
The United Methodist Church of Chinchilla celebrated their
125th anniversary in 1993.
Find us:
From Scranton: from the Scranton-Carbondale highway, exit toward Clarks Summit. Turn right at the first light just past Jim Dandy's, onto Layton Road. Go just a quarter mile to Church St. The church is on the corner of Church St. and Layton Road.
From Clarks Summit: drive toward Chinchilla (same direction as if going toward Scranton). In Chinchilla, turn left at the light at the intersection of Rte. 6 & 11 and Layton Road. Go just a quarter mile to Church St. We are on the corner of Church St. and Layton Road.
Church History
(Abbreviated Version)
It was in 1818, in the log house of Ephraim Leach that the first Methodist services were held by the Reverend George Peck. Services were held here in irregular intervals until a frame school house was built on a site across from the present South Abington Elementary School. Church services were held here in the same manner until 1868.
In 1868, the "little white church" was built and dedicated by the Reverend Peck who first conducted services 50 years before. Egbert Snyder donated the land on which it stood and Giles Leach gave all the hemlock lumber in which it was built. The little white church was located at the triangle formerly made by the intersection of Clarks Green Road (now known as South Abington Road) and routes 6 & 11.
In 1905, the Holgate building was transformed into a church under the direction of the Reverend J.S. Custard. This was the center of the Christian and social life of the community.
Interestingly enough it wasn't until the pastorate of the Reverend John Frey (1913-1914) that the hour of worship was changed from the afternoon to 11:00A.M. one month and 7:30 P.M. the next, alternating with Clarks Green. About this time the church was wired for electricity. The bell which still calls worshipers and has hung in three steeples in Chinchilla was procured by the Royal Daughters' Sunday School Class.
In 1924 a new church was built where route 81 now crosses Layton Road. Keeping pace with the growth in population was the growth in membership and financial strength of the church. Services were held here until May 1960 when the church was dismantled to make way for the construction of interstate highway route 81.
In 1961, the present day church was constructed on a property purchased from the grandchildren of Egbert Leach, descendant of Ephraim Leach, one of the first settlers of the area. The first worship services were held on December 24, 1961.
Pastors who have served
- 2008 Anthony Schwartz
- 2004 Norman T. Faux
- 2002 Patricia J. Olmstead
- 1999 Martin W. Bovee
- 1996 Nancy Pitely
- 1990 Virgil P. Muzzy
- 1987 Robert L. Wood
- 1984 James C. Valentine
- 1984 Charles F. Gomer
- 1981 Thomas J. Snyder
- 1969 Donald J. Jones
- 1966 Kenneth V. Gombert
- 1964 Donald J. Jones
- 1962 J. Edwin Lintern
- 1959 George F. Goodwin
- 1956 Henry G. Kiessel
- 1951 J. Harold Davies
- 1943 Clarence R. Hickok
- 1939 Frederick J. Pieplow
- 1936 J.E. Bartlett
- 1935 W.W. Ridgely
- 1931 Robert E. Fletcher
- 1927 Esdras H. Lowry
- 1924 Jesse H. Dickerson
- 1921 Emory M. Greenfield
- 1917 R.M. Pascoe
- 1916 Carl Councilman
- 1915 George A. Place
- 1913 John G. Frey
- 1912 Guy A. Lamphear
- 1908 D.S. Mackeller
- 1905 J.S. Custard
- 1904 John G. Frey
- 1902 J.S. Custard
- 1901 T.R. Warnock
- 1899 C.H. Reynolds
- 1896 F.W. Young
- 1894 F.H. Parsons
- 1868 George Peck
This page was last updated on: July 01, 2008
Our thanks to William Kerber for providing this space!