Church plans events for 60th

May 16, 2008 12:29 pm

— BY RUTH RICE
RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Johnstown will celebrate its 60th anniversary May 24 and 25 with activities at its facility at 609 Walters Ave., Richland Township.
After a breakfast for past and present members at 8:30 a.m. May 24, the public is invited to view photographs and information on area families and the church’s history from 10 to 11 a.m.
“We’ve always had an interest in helping people explore their roots,” said Bishop David W. Rupper, the church’s pastor.
“Some call it genealogy. We want to share that information and make it broader than just the parents and show the family lines in the area.”
After a dinner for church members at 5 p.m. May 24, a reunion program at 6:30 will feature testimonies from members who have moved away, musical numbers from the primary schoolchildren and the showing of a 20-minute DVD on the history of the church in Johnstown.
“The DVD will give a feeling of the flavor of the past and also will feature the church in its current form,” Rupper said.
The weekend celebration will conclude with a testimony meeting at 9:30 a.m. May 25, followed by a luncheon.
“The service will be a testimony on the history of the church in Johnstown and its first members,” Rupper said.
The Church of Latter-day Saints was organized in upstate New York in 1830.
It didn’t begin to grow in the Johnstown area until 1948 when Alice Mihalcik read a newspaper article about two Mormon missionaries in the area and was baptized on May 23, 1948.
The early church members met in homes to worship, then after membership grew to 42, a chapel was built in Ferndale in 1955.
Soon after the chapel’s completion, Ezra Taft Benson, a church leader who was serving as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, visited Johnstown and gave encouragement to local members.
After years of sustained growth, members moved into a new chapel in Richland Township in June 1984.
Local church members have participated in activities and services that built faith, strengthened families and taught members economic self-reliance.
Twenty-four members have served as full-time volunteer missionaries.
The Johnstown Ward has nearly 400 members on the rolls with an average attendance of 125 each Sunday.