DeLancey United Presbyterian Celebrates 175th Anniversary

DELANCEY — The DeLancey United Presbyterian Church will celebrate its 175th anniversary with a community picnic July 20 and a special service July 21.

The community picnic will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday behind the church at 444 county Highway 2 in the hamlet of DeLancey. Hamburgers, hotdogs, salads, drinks and desserts will be served. Table service will also be provided.

The church’s session invites the whole community to the picnic as a way for people in the community to meet new neighbors or visit with people they have not seen in years.

In addition to the picnic, people can play lawn games or tour the historical display inside the church. Part of the display includes a quilt listing the members from 1897 and a service flag listing members who served during World War II.

When the Associate Congregation of Delhi at the Turnpike and the Associate Congregation of Hamden agreed to join and form a church, it was decided to hold services in Lansingville, which is now called DeLancey, because it was centrally located between the two congregations. The Associate Congregation of Lansingville formed Feb. 26, 1849. Presiding over the organization was the Rev. William J. Cleland, who was pastor of the West Delhi Church, and the Rev. John Graham, who was pastor of the Bovina church.

Members of the Christian Society in Lansingville let members meet at their church until their church was built two years later. Members of the Bovina Presbyterian church gave the congregation the frame of their meeting house and $100 toward the building of the church. That church burnt down near Christmas in 1896, and the current church was built and dedicated by October 1897.

There will be a special service at 11 a.m., Sunday, July 21, with the Rev. Lisa Ruth Mays and the Rev. Patty Wolff. A coffee hour will be held after the church service.