By Winthrop Rodgers
Contributing Writer

Music carried to the rafters of the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Mendenhall as the choir practiced ahead of the service. A pre-Christmas bazaar to support a homelessness charity was set up on one side of the church. Congregants greeted each other as old friends, while the winter light drifted in through the stained glass.

“Every church has its own ethos. They do certain things, and they do them with a spirit,” Anne Barnard Nuse, the commissioned ruling elder pastor of the church, said as she got ready ahead of the weekly service on a recent Sunday.

“The spirit here is one of generosity, of caring, of just a whole family feeling,” she added.

Fresh off its 125th anniversary last year, the church’s members feel connected to their past, but are firmly looking to the future.

Bethany was founded in 1899 after a congregation in nearby Fairville split and the Mendenhall group built a small church on what is now Kennett Pike. The church’s corner stone, tucked away on the front behind a bush on the southeast side, is evidence of the site’s long history. In 1911, it was received into what is now called the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Throughout the 20th century, it served as a center of the community and a place of worship for local workers. Last year, when it celebrated its big anniversary, it made getting back out into the community a major priority.

“We started a year before thinking about what we wanted to do. And one of the things that's very important to Bethany is supporting the community and reaching out to the community and so we offered what we called ‘faith events,’” said Tess Schirmer, an elder in the congregation.

They held one a month from April until the anniversary in the fall, including a talk about the Underground Railroad in Kennett Square, events with local businesses, and seminars from congregants about various topics. In the field behind the church, they planted a tree to mark the anniversary.

“It was a busy year and then everything sort of culminated in the fall. In October, we had sort of an Oktoberfest where we had an outdoor barbecue. We had hayrides and music. It was fun,” said Schirmer.

It was also a time of transition, with Nuse taking up her position. She had been a member of the congregation for fifteen years, but decided to become a minister during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I wish I'd done it 20 years ago,” she said. “It was a crazy ride all the way through.”

Nuse was formally installed in October on the day that they formally celebrated the 125th anniversary.

“It was a way of looking back, but also looking forward,” she said. “Most of the Presbyterian churches, we look back, [and say] things were great 30 or 40 years ago… That's defeatist thinking in my mind; we have to look forward.”

Nowadays, that future-oriented thinking is focused largely on how to grow the congregation, which, like many churches around the country, have slowly lost members as society has changed.

Currently, Bethany has about 35 active members, with most coming on a weekly basis. Others watch services from their homes on a livestream that was set up a few years ago.

“Unfortunately, membership is declining and has declined over the years,” Schirmer said.

“That's one of our biggest concerns, being here for our congregation and, of course, always inviting new people to come in and see us and hopefully continue to attend and eventually become a member,” she added.

On the morning that the Chester County Press visited, her husband, Bob Schirmer, was attending a nearby megachurch to get ideas for how they might structure a contemporary-style service that could happen during the week as a way to attract new members who might feel more comfortable with something more modern.

Its sign out front is famous in the area for its humorous messages, which Schirmer said has brought in more than a few people to services.

“Our congregation is like fudge — mostly sweet, with a few nuts,” it read that morning.

Music is also a major part of life at the church, with opera singer and teacher Elizabeth Joy Kelly serving as music director. In addition to leading the choir and playing piano during services, she organizes concerts, including an upcoming Christmas program, as a way to serve the community and attract new members.

With their 125th anniversary now part of their past, the congregants and leadership of Bethany are getting down to the hard work of the ensuring their community’s future.

“We have to look at the world as it is and address that world,” Nuse said. “I hope for outdoor services in the summertime, for people coming because they want to be here, because there's something they find here. Whether it's peace or love or Jesus Christ or all of the above or just a shelter from a storm. It's here.”