Copper Hill Church founded in 1816
Our church has been planning and looking forward to this year for some time. Two hundred years ago in 1816, six lay persons, Aristarchus Griffin, Seth Griffin and Calvin Gillet and their wives under the oversight of Rev. Billy Hibbard of the Granville Circuit organized Copper Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, as it was then called.
Two hundred days set for celebration
This year our church has chosen to designate a period of about 200 days in which to celebrate and remember the blessing of God upon our church over two centuries and the faithfulness of laypersons and clergy that has brought us to today. We feel so privileged to be the generation that is here to celebrate this great milestone. The key verse for the celebration is, “The Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations” (Ps 100:5 NRSV).
For us it is not just a time to look back, though we will do lots of that as we remember together, it is also a time to look forward. We believe that since God has allowed this church to stand firm for 200 years, he has purposes for its future too. So as we prepared, we have also developed a Vision 2020 Plan to help point our way into the future we believe God has for us.
The celebration has begun
The logo above was designed by JoAnne Jones and approved by the 200th committee. Please watch for items marked with that logo.
The 200 days of celebration commenced last Sunday and will continue through Sunday, October 23, 2016. During this time we will host various special events and seek to publicize the history and work of our church. Pastor Kelvin Jones is planning two sermon and service series that bookend the celebration. The first series began last Sunday and is called “Foundations for 200 Years and Counting.” It will continue through May 1. On each of these Sundays there will also be a special emphasis and a testimonial by a church member on the topic, “What Copper Hill Church means to me.” Last Sunday and tomorrow lay leader, Robert Loomis, is highlighting moments in our history. Pastor Kelvin is including more interesting and relevant historical info as illustrations in the messages of this series. Last week we read from an 1839 Bible. This week we will read from an 1836 Methodist hymnal.
JoAnne Jones wrote a song some time ago that is especially fitting for church anniversaries. This inspirational piece called, “Keep the Flame Burning” will be a featured part of the music. Did you notice that Pastor Kelvin is growing a beard to commemorate the celebration too?
More to come
Please watch for more articles featuring special events such as the Victorian Lady Tea coming up May 15th at 2 PM. Watch for the logo noting 200th series events.