Cedarville United Presbyterian Church: Centennial of the Sanctuary, 1889-1989

HISTORY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CEDARVILLE The United Presbyterian deno■ ination had its roots in Scotland. It traces back to the Associate Presbyterian and Refor■ed Presbyterian faiths: ■any of whose ■e■- bers. because of opposition to the estab– lished Church of Scotland, bought new ho■es in A■erica. Here these deno■ inations 1rev but were still under the church courts of Scotland. In 1782 ■ost of the Associate Presby– terian and so■e of the. Refor■ed Presbyter– ian Churches united to for■ a Synod inde– pendent of Scotland. This beca■e the Associate Refor■ed Presbyterian Church. In 1843 the fa■ ilies of the A.R.P. faith in this vicinity petitioned Springfield Pres– bytery and Second Synod for establish■ent of a ■ lssion church in Cedarville. This was granted and a congregation for■ed Nay 25. 1844. The Baptist Church. located on East Cedar Street, was used for worship until a new fra■e church was constructed in 1847 on the site of the present church building. History tells us that the first Pastor, Rev. Ja■es Buchanan, preached his first ser■on fro■ a pulpit that was a rude platform with a large -quilt stretched in front. His ser■on was earnest and elo– quent. using as his text 2nd Corinthians 4:3-4. We have been unable to secure a pic– ture of the church building erected in 1847, but fro■ records we learn that the lot was purchased fro■ Esquire Currie. Several tea■s and wagons were sent to Logan County to secure the desired lu■ber. A spirited discussion evolved whether the walls of the new church were to be 16 or 18 feet high. A co■pro■ ise setting the height at 14 feet proved to be just right - 12 -