Members recall long history of Connoquenessing United Methodist Church
CONNOQUENESSING — The Connoquenessing United Methodist Church was always a part of Michele Smith’s life — and her family’s lives.
Her grandfather, Arthur E. Smith, and his construction company built the church in 1962, her parents were married there in 1972, and she and her brother, Nathan Smith, were baptized there as well.
But recently the Slippery Rock woman had to say goodbye to the church that housed so many family memories.
The more than 60-year-old church held its final service on New Year’s Eve, which featured a baptism, Smith said.
The church, at 206 Connoquenessing Main St., was in service since 1962, but the congregation formed in 1859, when the borough was known as Petersville, Smith said.
While many people attended the church from in and around Connoquenessing in its heyday, Smith said that Sunday attendance was down to only around a dozen people by the time of its closing. Attendance dwindled just as gradually as it grew, Smith said.
