The Rev. Virginia Schlegel and her congregation members at St. John’s United Church of Christ, Mickleys, are looking forward to the 175th anniversary of the 2918 MacArthur Road, Whitehall, church.

To celebrate this significant moment, an event has been set for Nov. 10. Starting 9 a.m., there will be fellowship, light snacks and refreshments, and 9:40 a.m., guests will enjoy special music. During the 10 a.m. worship service, a rededication will be held.

On each windowsill in the sanctuary, there is a display of photos, certificates, plates and more highlighting the special historical occurrences of the church. Also, hanging from the balcony in the sanctuary is a handmade quilt dedicated for the church’s 100th anniversary. Needlepointed on the quilt are a picture of the church, the names of the Lutheran and Reformed pastors and their time serving and the members’ names who were there for the anniversary.

“It is just gorgeous. It’s one of those things you have to see it to believe it,” Schlegel said.

Schlegel has also put together a bulletin board and table display of historical photos and memories in the hallway. To put all this together, Schlegel received a lot of loans and donations. It was a full church and community effort.

Pastor Vee, as her congregation calls her, came to the church in December of 2017, with her ordination held March 4, 2018.

Schlegel is the 17th minister to serve St. John’s UCC. The first pastor of the church, the Rev. Joseph S. Dubbs, served from 1850 to 1852. Other pastors throughout the church’s history include Joseph H. Dubbs (1860-63), the Rev. Thomas H. Krick (1901-30), the Rev. Charles Buffington (1957-71) and William S. Falla (1994-2015).

In the fall of 1848, individuals began meeting at the old Mickleys Schoolhouse, which was later named Butz Schoolhouse, on Mauch Chunk Road. The official church building was completed about a year later. The cost was $5,494.42. A dedication and celebration were held Nov. 17 and 18, 1849.

“The original building was prominently built by the members of this congregation,” Schlegel said. “The first church here was basically a no-frills church. It had plain glass windows and no tower or steeple. It was a lot different than what we see today. And they built upon that and added things later.”

There were additions and modifications completed in 1881 (steeple), 1907 (fellowship hall), 1922 (sanctuary extension) and 1984 (office).

“This building has been well maintained,” Schlegel added.

Some of the well-known names in our area — John Schadt (Schadt Avenue), John Jacob Mickley (Mickley Road and John Jacob Mickley Jr. Homestead), Eberhart (Eberhart Road), Thomas Butz (Butz Schoolhouse) — are directly related to the history of this church.

“If you look at the names and history of the church, there they are,” Schlegel said.

One of the well-known facts about Mickley was that he was a wagon driver transporting the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Bethlehem. When a wheel broke, another driver took the bell from Bethlehem to Allentown at Zion’s Reformed United Church of Christ.

“It’s nice to have that connection to the Liberty Bell and have one of the founders of the area of Mickleys and the church to the wagon driver,” Schlegel said.

Some of the current members of St. John’s UCC, Mickleys, are descendants of the original founders of the church, Schlegel added.

The title of the church was not always UCC. The history entails it being a Union church, which means it served both Reformed and Lutheran congregations. Later on, Reformed became UCC.

A particular challenge for Schlegel recently was during the COVID pandemic.

“When you’re a pastor and at the pulpit, you need the energy and passion of the congregation. You need to see their faces, and I didn’t have that,” Schlegel said. “So I made a congregation. I found every stuffed animal I could and put them in the pews. That gave me something to talk to.

“They were socially distanced,” Schlegel joked.

When it was safe to come back in person to worship, Schlegel left the stuffed animals there, so the congregation members could stay 6 feet apart. Parishioners became so used to and attached to the stuffed animals that they noticed when their doll, bear or bunny was switched with another.

“They (congregation members) were so cute,” Schlegel said.

Services are still recorded live on Facebook, but Schlegel said all of her parishioners came back in person to worship.

“There is so much potential for this church to grow,” Schlegel said. “I hope that there is growth. I believe that we have a wonderful location here on MacArthur Road at Eberhart (Road). We’re able, with the congregation that we have, to hopefully continue to grow and move forward as far as doing projects and things.

“It’s an older congregation. I would love to do a mission trip to various areas hit by hurricanes or tornadoes, but that’s just not in the wheelhouse right now. Locally they could do it. I’d like to see them do Habitat for Humanity and those types of things. But they are very passionate about what they do,” Schlegel said.

And they do a lot, according to Schlegel. She said her congregation is very active in the community. Throughout the year, the church gets involved in various events, programs and projects, such as an ashes-to-go drive-thru for Ash Wednesday, collecting backpacks for the beginning of school, volunteering for Whitehall Food Pantry, supporting The Kindness Project, giving out free books and conducting the popular Blessing of the Animals service.

If you’re looking for upcoming holiday events, the church will host pictures with Santa, crafts and snacks from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 1. There will also be a Christmas cantata 10 a.m. Dec. 22.

“I am just so proud of this church, this community and this congregation,” Schlegel said.