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"The harvest is so great,
and the workers are few," he told his disciples. "So pray to the one
in charge of the harvesting, and ask him to recruit more workers for the
harvest fields." - Matthew 9:37-38
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 St.
John’s first Vestry Book, from 1729,
states: “We adventurers from those parts
of His Majesty’s dominions called England,
Scotland and Ireland transplanting ourselves and families into America and
taking up our first settlement in the township of Pequay, Lancaster county
and in the township of Salisbury, Chester County, both in the province of
Pennsylvania. We from a due sense of duty to God, finding no part of the
universe agreeable without a place of public worship where we might perform
Divine Adoration to the Great Creator of the universe after the form and
manner of the Episcopal Church of England, and that for the good of our own
immortal souls, as well as those of our posterity. We therefore according
to our small abilities did erect in the year of our Lord 1729 a wooden frame
church of about 22 feet long and 20 feet broad upon a plot of ground
containing about one acre.” Ever since, on this same plot of ground, the
body of Christ has persisted through obstacles and hardships to spread God’s
kingdom. Along the way, St. John’s has attracted people of various
religious and social backgrounds and has often acted progressively while
holding fast to its rich heritage. The congregation welcomed a Lutheran
pastor to its altar in 1783, and in 1926 elected a woman to its vestry.
Each ministry of priest and people, guided by the Holy Spirit, has added to
the foundation of St. John’s, Pequea, Compass.
The 1729 adventurers applied to the Society for Propagation of the Gospel in
England. The Society sent the Rev. Richard Backhouse who wrote on May
28,1743, that St. John’s was the “largest country congregation in
Pennsylvania.” In 1753, under the leadership of the Rev. George Craig, the
congregation built a larger limestone building.
The Rev. Thomas Barton, a beloved priest who came in 1759, was a Tory who
would not renounce the part of his ordination vows that required prayers for
the English royalty. In 1776, and for the duration of the Revolutionary
War, St. John’s was closed down for services, but served briefly as a
barracks for British soldiers. The Rev. Barton, though he could not hold
services, continued to baptize children in the local barns and visit the
sick.
In 1835, Edward Y. Buchanan, brother of James, the 13th President of the
United States of America, was ordained at St. John’s, September 25.
The Rev. Buchanan spearheaded the building
of the present fieldstone church, which was
completed in 1838. Under the Rev. Buchanan’s leadership, Bishop Henry
Underdonk confirmed several former slaves.
Following Buchanan, the Rev. Henry Tullidge inspired St. John’s to
contribute to the relief of the Irish during the Potato Famine and to the
building of a church in Columbia, Lancaster County.
Richard Backhouse who wrote on May 28,1743, that St. John’s was the “largest
country congregation in Pennsylvania.” In 1753, under the leadership of the
Rev. George Craig, the congregation built a larger limestone building.
From 1923 to 1929, dedicated lay people kept St. John’s alive without a
full-time priest and saw that supply priests and lay readers conducted
worship. The Rev. George McKinley led the congregation out of the
Depression and through two wars from 1929 to 1953.
During the Rev. Anthony Mattes’
tenure (1960-1965), a dream that began in the 1950’s was realized with the
building of a new parish house.
In January of 1967, the Rev.
Barton Berry (1967-1969) introduced liturgical changes involving the trial
use of the proposed liturgy, more Eucharistic emphasis, lay participation,
folk masses and a free standing altar.
In 1971, the Rev. H. Roberts
Lorenz served St. John’s Church as well as Ascension,
Parkesburg. In 1973 St. John’s called the Rev. Lorenz to come as full
time vicar. He established the Eucharist as the main worship service and
developed an ongoing program of worship, music, stewardship and outreach.
In 1982, the Vestry took a leap of faith by tithing ten percent of its
income for the Diocesan assessment and pledge, and by 1989 St. John’s,
celebrating 260 years of worshipping existence, became a self-supporting
parish for the first time since 1915.
In 1999,
St. John’s called the Rev. Elizabeth Bryan as rector.
Her ministry
identified and supported the individual talents of numerous members, and
served as a catalyst for many new spiritual adventures. She was followed in
2003 by the Rev. Scott Albergate, who focused on empowering the laity to fulfil The Great Commission.
St. John’s
founding “adventurers” in Christ have handed down their brave spirit from
one generation to another, even to the “adventurers” of today in the Pequea
Valley and its neighboring communities
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