By Ruth Luse, Managing Editor
SOLEBURY — Thompson Memorial Presbyterian Church, 680 Aquetong Road, will conclude its year-long 200th anniversary celebration on Saturday (Oct. 15), when the church community, along with past pastors of the church, will hold a candlelight dinner of commemoration, beginning at 6 p.m.
A walk through the cemetery at Thompson Memorial will give visitors a chance to learn about the church’s history, as well as that of Bucks County,
The church has a long local tradition. On the tombstones — some of which date back to 1814 — the names of the church’s founding members, as well as early Bucks County leaders, including the Inghams, the Pidcocks, the Neelys and the Thompsons, can be found. The cemetery dates back to the founding of the church and the original 2 acres of land.
One of the activities of the 200th anniversary celebration has been creating a walking tour of the cemetery, as well as publishing a 200th anniversary cookbook, commissioning a 200th anniversary hymn and holding an old-fashioned picnic at Deer Park in Solebury — at which the congregation of 2011 recreated a photograph much like one taken of the congregation of 1896.
The church membership has come a long way since 1811, when 34 subscribers, mostly local farmers, first started Solebury Presbyterian Church. The church almost had to close down during the Civil War, but William Thompson Neely’s generous offer to remodel the church and enlarge the cemetery in honor of one of the first elders, Thomas M. Thompson, kept the doors open. The church was renamed Thompson Memorial Presbyterian Church.
The church enjoys a view of Bowman’s Tower, has had 26 pastors, including the current pastor, Stuart Spencer, who has served the church for 16 years. Thompson has seen many renovations and additions, too; most recently in 2009, when a renovation of the kitchen, Fellowship Hall, Music Room and Youth room were completed.
TO LEARN more about the church, visit www.tmpc.org, where one can find the following information:
The beginnings of Solebury Presbyterian Church go back to 1811 when land was acquired for $40 from Robert T. Neely, who was born on July 16, 1769 and raised in the Thompson-Neely “House of Decision” in what is now Washington Crossing State Park on River Road. There was no Presbyterian Church nearby. The nearest churches were in Newtown and Doylestown, in Pennsylvania, and Mt. Airy and Pennington, in New Jersey.
The original subscription paper, dated Aug. 19, 1810, contained the names of 34 subscribers pledged to a total of $1,066. They were: Wm. Neely, Richard Corson, John Keith, Robert T. Neely, John Ely, John Vandycke, Cornelius Van Horn, Solomon McNair, John Poor, James Simpson, Garret Johnson, Anthony Torbert, Samuel Torbert, Barnard Van Horn, James Slack, James Torbert, David McNair, William McMaster, John Harman, Cornelius Slack, Abraham Slack, Oliver Erwin, James Vance, James McMasters, Abner Torbert, James Kennedy, Henry B. Slack, Archibald Graham, Christian Van Horn, Thomas Gain, Joseph Johnson, James Johnson, Phineas Jenks and Thomas Jenks.
Four Elders were chosen at the beginning: William Neely, Benjamin Pidcock, David Wynkoop and Thomas M. Thompson.
In 1822, when the First Presbyterian Church of Lambertville, was organized, SoleburyChurch sent some of its members to strengthen the new congregation. Ministers serving Solebury also gave pastoral assistance to growing Presbyterian concentrations in Forest Grove and New Hope, as well as Lambertville.
During the Civil War, when the Solebury church was in danger of extinction, as noted above, the “impassioned plea on the floor of Philadelphia Presbytery saved the little congregation.” It was in 1875 that William Neely Thompson’s offer, also described above, “gave the church a new lease on life.”
”From 1876 through 1896, Thompson Memorial conducted regular Sabbath School and Worship on the present site. In addition to this, however, weekly Sabbath Schools were conducted by this congregation in the Brownsburg, Buckmanville and Woodhill school houses nearby. One evening each month, a preaching service was conducted at the schoolhouses in turn. These three schoolhouses are still standing. In 1910 the Woodhill Chapel was constructed at the intersection of Woodhill and Eagle roads. In it Sabbath School and Worship were conducted regularly for a number of years. Today this building is a private residence.
”From 1876 until 1966, a unique relationship existed between the New Hope Presbyterian Church and Thompson, often sharing ministers.
”In 1928 a temporary building was erected next to the church for educational facilities. By1957 a campaign had been completed to raise funds, construct and dedicate a new Educational Building. A fire in 1966 destroyed this building, but a new one was immediately completed in late 1967. Further renovation and expansion of the Christian Education Building was done in 1994,” according to the website.
Church music programs have expanded over the years. The purchase in 1970 of a rebuilt pipe organ (dating from 1895), greatly enhanced worship. Malmark Handbells were first purchased in 1976, and that program now includes children and adults, as well as a training choir on Handchimes.
Thompson Memorial “has continually reached out to help the community.” The Women’s Missionary Society was begun in 1877. Activities have included: aiding victims of the flood along the Susquehanna River at Forty Fort, in 1972; and undertaking (during 1980 and 1981) the sponsorship of a refugee Vietnamese woman, Be Le and her brother, Tam Le.
In 1985 the youth fellowships became involved in helping the “street people” of Philadelphia through a program called “Trevor’s Place.” In the same year, the Bucks County Housing group began receiving help from a group of Thompson Church members in the form of clothing, food and financial assistance, which has continued to the current day.
Since the 1980s the youth and adults of the congregation also have been active in service projects, such as Appalachian Service Project and Lambertville Food Pantry.
In 1995 the congregation began supporting children in poor areas of the world by taking part in Compassion International.
