Historic Butler County church put up for sale
This Easter Sunday will be the last spent inside Covenant Presbyterian Church in Butler.
“Easter is about the resurrection from the dead. And in a way, Covenant is doing that,” said Rev.
John C. R. Silbert.
The doors on the historic sanctuary space will soon close for good, at least in its current form, but it is far from the end of the line for Silbert’s congregation.
“We have a tremendous history, a great legacy that we share and has been part of us for over 210 years. It comes again. It rises up into a new space and a new place. So, Easter Sunday is a really good metaphor for what’s happening with this congregation as we move forward,” Silbert explained.
Covenant Presbyterian was founded around 1815, originally as First Presbyterian Church.
“We were the very first church of Butler, ever,” said Silbert.
The current building was erected in 1832 and expanded multiple times into what it is today.
But that building is now for sale with an asking price of $325,000.
“It’s a wonderful space,” said Silbert. “It can be a marvelous event space, it can be certainly a worship space, but it could also be a concert venue or that kind of thing.”
The congregation will be moving about three miles away, renting an open sanctuary space at Trinity Presbyterian church on Staley Avenue.
“We will still be Covenant Church, while those folks continue in their space. And I think that’s a really good use of resources,” Silbert explained.
The move comes as the congregation size decreases.
At one point the church hosted hundreds of people each Sunday.
“Certainly, 250-300, a packed house, 350 back in the day,” according to Silbert.
But now, it’s a tenth of that, he said.
Even so, Silbert is looking forward to what the future holds.
“We will continue to be Covenant Presbyterian Church but in a new way and in a new place,” he said.
Covenant Presbyterian Church is set to decommission its current building on May 21 and plans to move into its new space in early June.
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