This message extends a warm, cordial greeting from the Presbytery of Lake Erie. The year 2001 marked the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Presbytery as well as the establishments of the first congregation in the area here at Middlebrook (Summer of 1801). We have cause to give thanks for the deep commitment of our pioneer spiritual ancestors. They kept the faith, erected congregations in the wilderness of the early nineteenth century and provided for our Christian heritage. We relish their commitment, sacrifice, and determination to "be the church." Let us be sensitive also to the important part which each one of us, our congregations, and the Presbytery play in the mission of the Church today.

As crucial as our presbytery history is, this gathering of believers seeks to be forward looking.  God has done great things in our midst.  People have believed.  Lives have been transformed.  Marriages and baptisms have been celebrated.  Although we lean heavily on the faith of our foremothers and forefathers, we realize God is calling each of us to live as people of the promise, faithful in the present.  We invite you to join with us as we dream dreams and see visions of God’s intention for our congregations!

    Prior to the beginning of the Nineteenth Century there were two Presbyteries west of the mountains, Redstone, organized in 1781, and Ohio, organized in 1798. They belonged to the Synod of Virginia. The new churches in northwestern Pennsylvania began to think of a Presbytery of their own and the organization of a new Synod, seeing that Virginia was so far away. On the second day of October, 1801, the Presbytery of Erie came into being. It included all the Presbyterians west of the Allegheny River and north of the Ohio. There were five ministers: Samuel Tait, Thomas Hughes, William Wick, Joseph Stockton and Robert Lee.

    The new Presbytery of Erie met for the first time at Mt. Pleasant, in Beaver County, on April 13, 1802. It embraced the region covered by Beaver, Butler, Mercer, Crawford and Erie Counties, with part of Warren and Clarion. It also extended up into southwestern New York and over into the Western Reserve of Ohio.

    On September 27, 1801, shortly after the building of the first church in this county at Middlebrook, and out in the deep woods on the property of Mr. Dundass at Lower Greenfield now (North East), a great gathering took place. The day was Sunday, the weather fine. For some time missionaries had been preaching to scattered families in the county. But a definite plan of organization took shape in the fall of 1801, and Rev. Elisha McCurdy, the "Father of Presbyterianism on the Lake Shore," accompanied by his famous "praying elder", Phillip Jackson, with three other ministers- Rev. James Satterfield, Rev. William Wick, and Rev. Abraham Boyd, were sent here by the presbytery to preach and to organize churches. Of course the news of their coming was sent far and near, and on this memorable day about three hundred persons gathered under the trees to hear the Word of God. Mr. Robert J. Moorhead states that the spot is upon the west side of his lot, and a little back from Main Street, in North East Boro; being to the east of the little brook that sportively takes its way over the pebbles in its course through the boro.

    At the service under those noble trees in this primeval forest wilderness, a congregation was organized according to the tenets of the Presbyterian form of government, by this group of godly men. About forty persons sat down at this first communion service to be held in this county, and of this number twenty-five pledged themselves to be true and loyal servants of the Lord and united in this first organization in the county. It was an occasion of historical moment in the life of Erie County. The surroundings for such an event were unique; and as we now view it, would form the substance for a noble historical painting. It is believed that this spot was where Judah Colt and his wife made their profession of faith, and united with their friends in the organization of the church of Lower Greenfield. From his journal of 1801, we may be permitted to take the following extracts:

    "In 1801, in the course of the summer and fall, we were visited by a number of clergymen who were sent out by the Ohio and Redstone Presbyteries, who preached in a number of places, and took much pains to collect and establish churches, and to convene the scattering inhabitants for religious service. Among those who came among us was the Rev. McCurdy, who appeared a very zealous man and well calculated to be useful as a traveling minister. On the Sabbath of the 27th of September (the first time the Sacrament was administered in the county) it was appointed and agreed upon to have the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper administered in the township of Greenfield, on a plantation than occupied by William Dundass, and a congregation of three hundred assembled. The day was pleasant. I accompanied Mrs. Colt to the place of meeting; on our way the conversation turned upon religious subjects, and my consort had come to the determination to offer herself as a communicant, and to become a member of the church - her mind appeared much occupied meditating upon the subject. While conversing with her I became more thoughtful than usual, and shortly after arriving at the place of meeting I became more and more impressed with the evil nature of sin, and of the importance of leading a sober, orderly, and religious life, and it was not long after service that I found myself much distressed in mind, and my body considerably agitated. Although I felt a load of guilt upon me I resolved to come forward and make a request to become a member of the church, provided I could become admitted at that late period. Accordingly, at the interval between those who sat down at the first table and those who were preparing to come to the second, I came forward and kneeled at the feet of the ministers and elders, and explained to them as well as I could the situation I was in, and what I had a desire to do. After asking me a few questions, and after having a short conference among themselves, I was invited to rise, being overwhelmed with grief. A token of admittance was given me by one of the elders - I arose and took my seat at the table. So it was that I and my beloved consort were both permitted to partake of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper on the same day, and I hope and trust it will be a day of grateful remembrance while we live, and of unceasing praise beyond the grave.

    "The ministers present were Rev's. McCurdy, Satterfield, Wick, and Boyd, from the Ohio and Redstone Presbyteries. After service we were invited to go home with Mr. McCord, and on Monday, being the last day of the feast, people were again assembled and a sermon preached - it appeared a good day to me. Toward evening, service being ended, they returned to their respective homes, this being a new epoch to my life as it was a beginning of years."

    From the same journal we learn that in 1801 "Rev. Mr. Wood, from Washington County, intended preaching at the Middlebrook Church, but getting lost by taking the wrong path, could not find the meeting house, and returned to Colt's Station after a fatiguing day's ride."

    As a prelude to the services in August, 1801, at Middlebrook, and of September 27, 1801, at Lower Greenfield (now North East), we learn from Mr. Colt's journal that earlier gatherings were probably held in this county, although not resulting in the building of meeting-houses, or the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. One such he records as follows:

    "This season was one of much business, and owing to the opposition of adverse settlers, one of much trouble and perplexity. We were compelled to keep from forty to eighty or one hundred men in the service of the Company (Penna. Pop. Co.), to defend the settlers and property. More than once mobs of men, from twenty to thirty, would assemble for the purpose of destroying houses and other mischief, some of whom I had indicted, and bills were found against them by the grand jury of the then Allegeheny County the court being held in the borough of Pittsburg."

(Note: This was prepared by Mr. Colt from his journal and arranged in Mss. Form, and entitled "Life". - Ed.)