Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/87

 C H A PTER VI R E L IG IO U S D E N O M L N A T IO N S The earliest iiUlucncc tending to bind to­ gether the colonists in Columbia and Montour counties w as a religious one. Most of the pioneers had strongly cherished religious affiliations, and were thus brought together in the practice of their individual form o f worship of the Creator. These bonds of synipatny compacted the community and eventually led to some more permanent form of organization in a religious way. B y this means the rarious denominations in early times established the foundations of their churches which have since been most faith­ fully preserved and deepened, until in 19 14 the strength of religious convictions has be­ come so iirmiy fixed in the two counties as to be a part of the life and well-being of the entire community. F ift y years ago it w as no uncommon thing for a country minister to travel twenty miles on a Sunday to serve three congr^ations. N W, in )9i4» (he automobile has made travel so much easier that even (he little country parsonage has a garage attached to it and the parson may often be seen speeding along the highways to visit a parishioner or hold Sab­ bath services. T h e auto has also proved an important factof in the reduction of the coun­ try church attendance. Farm ers can now at­ tend the larger churches in the towns and mingle with the urban w'orshipcrs there, often causing such a dwindling o f attendance at the little village church that it is finally forced to close. Many of the wayside temples arc now atendoned. w*hilc others are opened only at irregular and infrequent periods. T he final abandonment o f many o f (hem has been de­ layed by the associations of the old burying grounds l>cside them, where fathers and grand­ fathers, mothers and grandmothers arc laid at rest. M any of these cemeteries are over a hun­ dred years old— for example, H idlay in Scott township, (he Q uaker burying grounds at Oitawic preserved as monuments to the piety of the past. Ill this year o f 19 14 the work o f country ministers is difficult and poorly paid. Most of them scrv'c several charges, which means holding service in one church in the morning, another in (he afternoon, and a final service in (he evening. T he salary o f (he pastor is seldom large enough to warrant the purchase o f an auto, but many of the ministers of Columbia and Montour counties have been compelled to draw upon their meager stipend fo r this purpose. Still, as in the past, these faithful pastors jog along the country roads, chatting with the farm ers, cheering the down­ hearted, com forting the disconsolate, settling petty quarrels, praying with their parishioners, m arrying them, baptizing the little ones, mak­ ing their wills, and finally burying them and giving consolation to the mourning family. Rev. A. HouU, o f Orangeville, is one of these old-time pastors carried on into the mod­ em days, and now retired from active work. H e says that the labors of the country pastor arc as hard as in the early days of the churches, but the compensation is still (lie same. H ow ­ ever, he says the congregations in the countr>* churches arc more appreciative— they seem almost to hunger fo r the services. T he growth of the churches here has been steadily upward, as may be seen from the de­ tailed descriptions which follow. The oldest sect, the Societv o f Friends, which w as at one time the most important in the State, has dwindled in numbers grcatlv during the years that have elapsed since the first monthly meet­ ing was established, but (hough the tendency of the present day for more worldly methods o f worship has diminished the mimhers o f (he Q uakers, their deeds and records of the past* all o f a beneficial and substantial character.

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