Members of the Bicentennial Committee, from left, Sandra Dodgson, Richard Wagner, Virginia Henry, Pastor Lee Dreyer and Tom Marlowe stand outside the White Oak Springs Church in Connoquenessing Township Tuesday.

CONNOQUENESSING TWP — White Oak Springs Presbyterian Church, 102 Shannon Road, will mark its 200th anniversary Oct. 21.

Church elder Tom Marlowe said there will be a special service at 9:45 a.m. Oct. 21 with a recognition of the congregation’s 50-year members.

There will also be special music, former pastors, a video presentation, several collages and a special ringing of the belfry bell which has not been used for years.

All friends and former attendees are welcome, according to Marlowe.

Sandy Dodgson, a member of the church’s bicentennial committee, said, “White Oaks was organized in 1818. The name was taken from a spring at the base of a large oak tree on Hiram Graham’s farm.” The original congregation members were 16 “seceders” from Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church.

She said the church’s present site was donated by the Rev. Isaiah Niblock from part of his farm.

Dodgson said, “The cemetery was part of the church property at the time. The cemetery holds the remains of Peter McKinney, one of the oldest white settlers of Butler County.”

The first worship services at White Oak Springs were in a tent in summer and in a barn in the winter months.

A brick church was built in 1820 and the Rev. Niblock was installed as pastor, but the church was destroyed by fire in 1862, with a new church constructed the next year.

Dodgson said, “The congregation constructed the church in 1863 for the cost of $3,500.”

A second fire in 1930 almost destroyed the church, she said, “The hardwood floors and pews were replaced, but the church remained standing. Some charred timbers are still visible in the attic.”

Dodgson said, “The church was bordered by an ornate iron fence that was donated to the war effort in the 1940s during a scrap iron drive.”

The church basement was added in the early 1950s.

“The men and boys who shoveled and wheelbarrowed the dirt by hand to form the foundation are still telling their stories today,” said Dodgson.

An extension, front entrance and kitchen were added later.

“The kitchen makes Meals on Wheels dinners that are delivered to homes in Renfrew, Meridian, Prospect and Connoquenessing Township,” she said.

The celebration will begin during the 9:40 a.m. Oct. 21 worship service. A luncheon will follow. The pastor, the Rev. William Lee Dreyer and the congregation of 100 will also welcome former pastor Kent Thrower of Saxonburg.