Not long ago, Birmingham had a booming population, bustling industry and four churches- Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Brethern. The changing economy caused the railroad and other industries to leave Birmingham, and with them went the people. Of the four local churches, only one survived, the Birmingham Presbyterian Church. However it seems that even this church that has stood the test of time may one day have to close its doors.
\nMembership over the years has reached as high as 200 back in 1876. Currently, membership is down to 38.
\n\u201cYou have to have members to keep the church going,\u201d said Sarah Jane Parks, long time member of the church and resident of Birmingham.
\nParks believes that one of the reasons membership is down is because parents are not as involved in bringing their children to church anymore. Right now, the children\u2019s Sunday school program only has 2 members.
\n\u201cWe lost the kids in the Sunday schools. It used to be immense,\u201d remarked Parks on remembering past Sunday school classes when she could have a pizza party or another fun activity for whole groups of kids.
\nAnother problem the church faces is its location. There used to be a number of residents from Birmingham that attended.
\nHowever, Mary Lou Keith, long-time church member and resident of Birmingham said, \u201cThat\u2019s what happened. Everybody grew up, and the kids left, and people died. That\u2019s what happens in most churches.\u201d
\nThe population of Birmingham is dwindling, with about 40 houses and 140 residents. Many people of the village are retired, and there is nothing attracting a younger generation to the area to take on more active roles in the community or church.
\nIt also seems easier for Tyrone residents to attend a church in town rather than drive a few miles to Birmingham. The same is true for the surrounding areas of Eden Hill, Warriors Mark, and Sinking Valley.
\nSome students and teachers from Grier school attend, but not many.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s never been a great influx of Grier people,\u201d said Parks.
\nThe 38 active members of Birmingham Presbyterian Church realize that they need to attract new members in order for it to stay open. The first step in solving the problem was to hire Kim Witkovsky as part-time director of ministries. Witkovsky\u2019s job is to coordinate meetings and facilitate plans to attract new members to the church.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of interest, and that\u2019s a beginning,\u201d stated Keith about Witkovsky\u2019s efforts.
\nAnother way that the church plans to keep its doors open is by staying active in reaching out to the people of Birmingham and surrounding communities. A church newsletter is in the works as well as extended work on focusing on homebound members of the church.
\nThroughout the year, the church has many activities and services open to the public. At Christmas, there is a candlelight service that is always highly attended. In the fall, there is a Bazaar, where baked goods and crafts are sold. Also, there is an annual spaghetti dinner. For more information contact 684-3120.
\nEven though the future of the church is uncertain, Keith stated, \u201cI think it\u2019s always going to be there.\u201d
\nKeith believes that one of the advantages of the Birmingham Presbyterian Church is because it\u2019s so small, it does offer a sense of familiarity and community to all active and prospective members, so for her the future of the church looks bright.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Not long ago, Birmingham had a booming population, bustling industry and four churches- Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Brethern. The changing economy caused the railroad and other industries to leave Birmingham, and with them went the people. Of the four local churches, only one survived, the Birmingham Presbyterian Church. However it seems that even this church […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}