Both God and tractors have power to move mountains
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — The service at Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning was part church service, part tailgate party as dozens of parishioners brought their farm equipment and lawn chairs to the annual Drive Your Tractor to Church Day, a tradition at Mt. Nebo that spans more than a decade.
According to frequent attendee Randy Bieber, of Butler, the tradition was inspired by a man who parked his tractor near the church when some young volunteers were working on the yard nearby.
“They were fixing the flower beds up, cleaning up around the trees. Then one gentleman came by with his tractor and manure spreader,” Bieber said. “And they thought it was kind of funny. There's a tractor with a manure spreader sitting in the church parking lot.”
According to Bieber, the first tractor day brought in somewhere between three and five tractors, and the next year’s event roughly doubled that amount.
On Sunday, there were far more tractors parked on the lawn at Mount Nebo than regular vehicles. At the time the services began, there were 47 farm vehicles sprawled over the lot. According to one attendee, there were 32 at last year’s service.
“We encourage people to bring their lawn chairs, especially if they don't have a tractor,” said Jason Sinagra, the church’s pastor. “But most people come and sit around the gazebo and have some coffee, doughnuts and some flavored milk.”
The service itself was held under and around the gazebo just outside the church. Sinagra said there were plans to hold services inside in case of heavy rain or thunderstorms. While sky threatened Sunday, rain did not fall, and the outdoor service went on as planned.
Sunday services were preceded by a light breakfast featuring coffee and doughnuts under the gazebo. In the spirit of Tractor Sunday, youngsters rode around the Mt. Nebo lawn on miniature tractors and brought die-cast toys of farming equipment.
David Cox, owner of Cox’s Ag Services in Evans City, brought by far the largest farm vehicle to Sunday’s service — a GEA ProManure spreader hooked to a tractor.
“The only thing this tractor ever does, most the time, is pull this, so it’s hooked up,” Cox said. "I just came up early and backed it in the corner.“
Not all of those who brought farm equipment to the service are actively involved in agriculture, such as Vernon Stoops from Harmony, who described himself as a “farmer at heart.” Stoops brought his Farmall 450 tractor.
“I like tractors and I grew up around farms, but I’ve never lived on one,” Stoops said. “I've worked on them, but never got to actually own my own farm.”
