About

The history of Presbyterians in Northern Butler County is directly tied with the early settlers who came to this part of the “frontier” in the early years of the 19th century.

Many of those settlers were Scot-Irish in nationality and Calvinists in conviction. The Concord Presbyterian Church - which is considered the “mother church” of the West Sunbury United Presbyterian Church - recently celebrated its 200th Anniversary.

A Brief History of the West Sunbury Church

On May 6, 1835, the Reverend Joseph Johnson reported to the Presbytery that a new congregation had been formed in West Sunbury and on June 27th of that year - the first baptisms took place. In 1840 a building was erected at the cost of $700.

Like Presbyterians everywhere - the West Sunbury Church has always seen a need for quality public education. In 1851 the Church founded The West Sunbury Academy. A 1950 story in The Butler Eagle called the Academy “an institution of higher learning, devoted to the classics and English.”

When the Civil War came in the 1860’s, many of the students left the Academy and enlisted. The Reverend William Dixon, who was Director of the school at that time, went with the West Sunbury students as Chaplain. The were known as the “Dixon Brigade.”

The Academy continued to grow and serve the educational needs of the community until it was destroyed by fire in 1922.

In 1858, as the community continued to grow, the Reverend William T. Dickson came to West Sunbury and began to preach in homes. In 1860, with 36 members, the Presbytery granted their request and a new church was born.

The first official attempt to “unite” the two Presbyterian Congregations into one community came in 1916. But the union did not happen “officially” until January 1, 1933, even though for several years the congregations worshiped together - alternating building.

Following the Second World War, as veterans returned home and started new families - it was realized that a new church structure was needed. In September of 1953 the cornerstone was laid on the church’s present home and the building was dedicated on September 26, 1954. This year marks the 50th Anniversary of our building.

In the early 1990’s, the congregation realized that more space was needed for the growing congregation, and a Sunday School wing were added.

In 2002 a balcony was remodeled to add additional seating in the sanctuary.

For more that 160 years, Presbyterians have been witnesses to the Loving Grace of Jesus Christ in the West Sunbury Community