Roots to Fruits:

The Growing History

of Woodside

Presbyterian Church

A Seed is Planted (1883-1945)

Jesus taught, "The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade" Mark 4:30-32.

Woodside Presbyterian Church began life in 1883 as a seed planted in the hearts of a small group of Christians drawn from the tiny village and surrounding farms then known as Edgewood. These forebearers met together every Sunday in their various homes to worship God. No church building was available to them and in the days of the horse and buggy, travel to the nearest church in Newtown was difficult, especially in winter. As time went on, their number increased and it was decided to approach the Newtown Presbyterian Church for assistance in erecting a building and in supervising their spiritual life and growth. In July, 1884, the Newtown Church agreed.

That same year, a chapel was built near the site of the present intersection of Edgewood and Langhorne-Yardley Road for about $1,200. The land for the chapel was once part of an apple orchard on the farm of John and Martha McNabb who were very instrumental in the founding of the church. The deed is dated April 2, 1884. The session minutes of the Newtown Church even authorized the sale of the apples to support the congregation. Since Newtown Presbyterian was the sponsoring congregation of this mission, those who worshiped at the chapel were officially members of Newtown. Dr.McIlroy Wiley, pastor of Newtown was the first minister to serve the people at Woodside. Church services were held about once a month, with Sunday School every Sunday afternoon, for some years. Although the Chapel was Presbyterian, it could well have been called the "Community Chapel" for it served all the people of Edgewood regardless of race, nationality or creed. It was policy of the Indian Training School in Carlisle, PA to rotate its students to surrounding farms for agricultural training. The Chapel ministered to 25-30 Native American children in Sunday School each week.

The Chapel was a simple structure. It's exterior was white clapboard with a large belfry towering over the front door. Kerosene lanterns lit the sanctuary. A carpet was added and later, to keep up with the times, so was electricity. Above the flat pulpit on both sides were two large Bible verses. A typical service would include a sermon, prayers, and music on a pump organ. The bench-like pews could be easily moved if needed. After services, these farm families would stay for fellowship often until early evening.

In those early years, the membership of the Chapel fluctuated. At one time, boards were placed across the seat and aisles to accommodate all who attended. On another occasion the Chapel was closed and no services were held in the building. During this period, the Joseph Heacock Company bought up farms and erected greenhouses for roses. The Rose Hollow and Heacock Meadows townhouse developments are built on the former site of this nursery. Thomas Greenshield, head farmer for Heacock and an active Presbyterian, immediately went among the families of the community, winning support for the reopening of the Chapel. The Greenshields lived in Heston Hall, near the I-95 overpass, and often invited the children of the church to their home for parties. Mr. Greenshields frequently filled the pulpit when no pastor was available. Tragically though, he gave a sermon one Sunday, sat down in the pew and died. It was a sad and sudden goodbye to a dear friend of Woodside.

For the next forty years, the Chapel had a new student from Princeton Theological Seminary about once a year. Some stayed two years, others only five months. The Chapel became known as "the training post for Princeton Theological Seminary Pupils." One student, Orion Hopper, recalled how he traveled through knee-high snowdrifts for a over mile to get to the Chapel from the train station on Sundays. When he reached the church, he would stand at the door and watch the bobbing lanterns of the church families as they wended their way over the fields to the evening services. Years later the Rev. Dr. Hopper became an administrator at Princeton Seminary. Seminarian Arthur Miller (1924) was elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in 1959. The tiny chapel was also proud of the fact that many of these student pastors went on to mission work around the world.

Woodside Puts Down Roots (1945-1951)

After World War II, the area served by the Chapel was changing gradually. The time had come to leave the mother congregation at Newtown and become a church in its own right. A special congregational meeting was held on November 1, 1945 to discuss this new direction. The minutes of the meeting state Dr. Mackey of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions was in charge. He discussed the practical side of the question as to whether we could finance the Pastor's Salary and the Maintenance of our Property. Mr. Harvey spoke for the members of the Congregation and stressed the need for a pastor in this community to visit the members and also to increase the membership and attendance at the Church. Dr. Boyles stated that the minimum salary for a single man is $1,800. A married man would have to have a manse which usually made it around $2,400.

At a subsequent congregational meeting on December 18, it was decided that, since the church could not raise the $3,000 needed to cover a pastor's salary, manse and all the church's expenses, they would continue with seminary students but press on to be organized as a church. The total budget for 1945-46 was $1,221.95 of which $791 was the minister's salary.

On Sunday evening, April 28, 1946, with 80 charter members, the Woodside Presbyterian Church was organized by a committee of the Presbytery of Philadelphia chaired by Dr. John Mertz, pastor of the Newton Church. The committee, including several presbytery and denominational leaders, met at 7 p.m. to receive members and at 7:30 p.m. a service was held. The sermon was preached by a former student pastor, the Rev. Jay Kaufman who then served the Collenbrook Church in Drexel Hill, PA. The seminarian from Princeton at this time was Charles Brackbill Jr. Following the worship service, Dr. Mertz declared the church officially organized and conducted the election and ordination of elders. Robert Belmont, Hiram Cloud and Clarence Harvey became Woodside's first session. Woodside can be proud of the fact that before the year was out, it took the progressive step of electing its first woman elder: Sara Bond. Our entire denomination had only recently begun ordaining women elders. The first Trustees were Emma Dilliplane, Maurice Stradling, Carl Hahn, Norman Cloud, and William Eisenberry. The congregation began with a Sunday School of 57 members, a Ladies Aid Society, a Chapel Guild, a Christian Endeavor Society and a Choir. Woodside became the 171st church in the Philadelphia Presbytery. The back cover of the bulletin for the organizational meeting read:

The Charter Members of this Church now number 80. This is a fine beginning. Now let us press on to new goals. Let each member consider his duty and obligation to support and attend God's work in this place.

New Growth Sprouts Up: Jerold Ellison (1951-1956)

Lower Bucks County was transformed by the opening of the Fairless US Steel plant in the early 50s. To respond to these changes Woodside in June of 1953, with the help of the Presbytery, called its thirty-second seminary student to be its first full-time ordained pastor: the Rev. Jerold B. Ellison. A new manse for the pastor, his wife and four children was built the same year behind the Chapel where it still stands today. Much of the construction work was done by members of the congregation with a number of the ladies swinging a hammer with the men. Carl Hahn donated many hours of work to the effort. Under the Rev. Ellison's guidance a choir and several other church groups were organized and expanded to serve the fast growing congregation. There was even a church baseball team. The Manse basement and even the Community House (the ReMax Building) were used by the overflowing 9:45 a.m. Sunday School. Worship was held at 11 a.m., covered dish suppers at 5:30 p.m. and youth group at 6:30 p.m. The whole Ellison family was involved in Woodside. Sometimes even their dog came to church and laid under the back pews. As early as 1948 Woodside began to think of expansion. Preliminary architectural drawings were displayed showing an expansion of the Chapel sanctuary and, in the basement, pool table, shuffle board, pinball machine, and soda bar. This was evidence of Woodside's continual interest in youth ministry. At the Easter service in 1956, a special offering of $641 was received to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the church and to establish a fund for the purchase of property. In April, Jerold Ellison received a call to the Rhawnhurst Presbyterian Church in Northeast Philadelphia.

Woodside Branches Out: Jeff McConaughy (1956-1963)

The pulpit was filled in October by our second pastor, the Rev. John "Jeff" McConaughy. Worship in the Chapel at Christmas was a special time. "How beautiful and dignified our simple little church was decorated with greens and candles," Jeff recalls. A special Advent tradition was the annual job of stringing the Christmas lights on the blue spruce in front of the Chapel. As the tree grew it became more of a challenge each year until the local fire department offered their ladder.

The need for more Sunday School classes led to a ground breaking ceremony for our current Christian Education building on November 3, 1958 The estimated cost for the project was $71,560. A five acre property across the street from the Chapel was obtained from Samuel and Agnes Hillborn. The new building, consisting of Pastor's study, Fellowship Hall, kitchen, and classrooms was dedicated on October 11, 1959. In only thirteen years, Woodside was transformed by God from a tiny Chapel with no pastor to a growing congregation with a Christian Education building. In 1963, Jeff McConaughy said goodbye to the Woodside Church and took up a pastorate at the Central Presbyterian Church in Norristown.

The Congregation Blossoms: George Hollingshead (1964-1978)

The Rev. George Hollingshead arrived to lead the congregation on March 1, 1964. Though he was single at the time, Woodside celebrated his marriage in August to Roberta Ormiston. At the beginning of his ministry, George recalls, "I wrote to one of my seminary classmates telling him how excited I was at being a pastor. I told him, however, that the building was so small I could greet late comers at the door and show them to their seats - all without leaving the pulpit!" In fact, with church membership at 315 and Sunday school enrollment at 150, Woodside had outgrown the tiny 19th century Chapel. Ground was broken at 12:10 p.m. on Sunday, November 20, 1966 for our current sanctuary which was intended to seat 225 and cost about $100,000. The cornerstone was laid on December 3, 1967 and the first service was conducted in the new sanctuary on January 7, 1968. An article from the time remarked,

Two hundred members of the Woodside Presbyterian Church breathed a long sigh of relief yesterday as the dedication service for their new building was held. After 83 years the Woodside congregation had a new home and a building that would hold them all at one time.

The native field stone wall came from Southampton while the window wall on the opposite side was originally clear glass. Many current members still talk about the sunburn they received from sitting in those south side pews. In 1971 Willets stained glass was finally installed but this was later replaced by the "Testament in Glass" campaign due to the unstable wooden frames that held the heavy glass. The steeple was never built but a breezeway that was later enclosed by glass connected the sanctuary to the Christian Education wing. On April 29, 1971, the original Chapel and manse were sold to the Valley Day School. Ironically, this was exactly one day after the 25th Anniversary of Woodside's charter. George Hollingshead had a long and effective fourteen year ministry at Woodside before leaving to take up his current call at the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.

New Fruitful Ministries: Steve Janssen (1979-1992)

On March 4, 1979, the Rev. Stephen H. Janssen became our fourth pastor. A graduate of Grove City College and Princeton Seminary, Steve came from the Jersey Shore Presbyterian Church, Jersey Shore, PA with his wife Jan, who also attended Princeton. At the time their daughter Jennifer was two, their son Brian was only six months, and their daughter Katie was yet to be born. Woodside was having its own baby boom which resulted in cramped quarters in the building. The pastor's office was where the nursery is today. The Fellowship Hall comprised the parlor and the church office. The kitchen was the current pastor's office. This need for more classroom and fellowship space led to the construction of our current multipurpose Fellowship Hall in 1983. Darlene Stevens joined Woodside in 1984 and was promptly recruited to direct the children's choirs. She recalls starting with only four singers and then, after the first rehearsal, one quit. Thankfully she persevered and developed the excellent children's choir program we have today. In the Fall of 1985, Woodside rang with the joyous sounds of handbells under Darlene's direction.

With a growing number of children in the community, Steve Janssen spearheaded the formation of a Christian preschool. Among his first new members class in 1979 was Kathy Piscadlo, a teacher who also had experience in preschool administration. After much planning the Woodside Christian Preschool, a fully state licensed, Christ-centered nursery school, opened its doors in September, 1989. Steve made the Preschool the subject of his Doctorate of Ministry dissertation. With Kathy's dedicated leadership, the school has expanded and enabled the message of Christ to go forth from Woodside every day of the week. On June 30, 1992, Steve Janssen drew to a close his thirteen year pastorate over which time Woodside paralleled the rapid growth of Lower Makefield from quiet farm land to busy suburbs.

Two days before Steve left to become the Senior Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Orange, California, Lynne Inglesby was called to be Secretary and later Administrator of Woodside. She was instrumental in assisting Interim Pastor Lois Goodman during the busy transition between pastors. During this year and a half the congregation continued to expand through the installation of a new stained glass window wall, the addition of a balcony, which was envisioned in the original plans for the sanctuary, and the dedication of the Wright Memorial Window. In memory of her husband John and son Thomas, Ruth Wright gave this beautiful round window of the Risen Christ designed by Roy Kita to the Glory of God.

Woodside's Boughs Reach Up, In and Out: Doug Hoglund (1994- present)

The Rev. Douglas Hoglund became Woodside's fifth pastor on Febraury 13, 1994. A graduate of Princeton Seminary, Woodside found Doug, his wife Lisa, and children Peter and Kristin only twenty miles away where he served as Associate Pastor at the Lenape Valley Presbyterian Church in Central Bucks County. By emphasizing a vision of "Reaching Up to the Father in Worship, Reaching Out through the Son in Mission, Reaching In with the Spirit to Nurture," the congregation quickly added a Contemporary Worship service, a Summer Youth Mission Trip, and a Wednesday night Adventure Club for children. In 2002 Woodside took its first international mission trip to the Dominican Republic and now returns to the DR each summer.A second mission trip for youth has been traveling to the Bahamas since the summer of 2005. Following 40 Days of Purpose in 2004, Woodside began the transition to a Purpose Driven Church. Today the body of Christ at Woodside is structured around the five purposes of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and mission/evangelism. Staff members have been added to direct each of these areas along with the ministries for children and youth, administration, and the Woodside Christian Preschool. Small groups are the integral cells of our church body. Each of our twelve Deacons has a ministry of shepherding and keeping in touch with 20-25 families of Woodside. Three to four adult classes compliment our growing Family School and our Senior members enjoy a monthly fellowship gathering with Young At Heart.

Today we are 613 members with an average worship attendance of 375 and three distinctly different worship services each Sunday. Woodside has come a long way from the tiny mustard seed which God planted so many years ago. In obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, let us continue to stretch and reach out our branches that people in this community and around the world may find shelter and know that God is love. The challenge given sixty years ago is the same for us: "Now let us press on to new goals. Let each member consider his duty and obligation to support and attend God's work in this place."