Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 3175 Valley View Drive, Bath, plans two celebratory events to honor the church’s 300th anniversary. One is June 25, and the second is Oct. 7.

A special worship service is planned June 25 to celebrate the church’s historic longevity. The church service begins 9:30 a.m. with its pastor, the Rev. Rachel Ziese Hacker, conducting the service. She will introduce Bishop Christopher deForest, who will provide a sermon. DeForest is a bishop of the Northeast Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran in America.

Other special guests include Pastors Barry Mitchell, Daniel Clayborne, Paulette Obrecht and Christopher Druckenmiller. Other special guests are Anna Meck, Linda Dreisbach and Beth Falstich-McElroy.

After the June 25 church service, there is an anniversary celebration banquet noon at Northampton Banquet and Event Center, 1601 Laubach Ave. Call the church office at 610-837-1741 for information about tickets, which are needed to attend.

A fall festival/open house is planned for noon-6 p.m. Oct. 7 at the church. The theme of the festival is Emmanuel’s Church as a Community. It is billed as an event bursting with food, festivities, fellowship and fun.

The first pastor of Emmanuel’s was Samuel Hesselius in 1723. At that time, pastors traveled to serve many churches because there were small churches sprouting up all over southeastern Pennsylvania. Sometimes, a pastor might visit a church two or three times a year.

Since its founding, it appears there may have been as many as 50 pastors serving the congregation. It all began with services being held in a log cabin church. The name of the local village of the first church location was Petersville.

Because the Petersville area was on the fringe of Native American territories, the initial church had a dual purpose - for worship and as a place of refuge during the Native American massacres of the 1750s and 1760s.

In the early 18th century, it was a hardscrabble life on what was then the frontier of the Pennsylvania colony. Emmanuel’s success is a testament to the courage and grit of those early settlers and congregants.

With Emmanuel’s mission being to “reach out and grow in Christ’s love,” the congregation leaders see a long future for the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, perhaps another 300 years.