Youngstown Presbyterian Church celebrating 200th anniversary

Apr. 30—YOUNGSTOWN — In preparing for celebrating her church's 200th anniversary, Barb Castilon looked up its history and the same names kept popping up on who felt Youngstown needed a church.

"There were only 12 buildings in Youngstown at the time," Castilon said. "And of those 12, three of them were taverns. There was the fort, so I guess they probably felt that a church was needed, and those steadfast people came together and this is the result."

She and Jan Howard are serving as the co-chairs of Youngstown First Presbyterian Church's 200th anniversary committee and have planned all manners of events to happen throughout the year honoring the bicentennial. The most obvious sign of this celebration is the planting of 200 daffodils on church grounds, which were planted in October and will fully bloom later this year.

Other events the church already put on this year were a family movie night, a performing visual art talent show and participating in the village's St. Patrick's Day parade as a kazoo band. There is also a wall of envelopes marked as 200 days of kindness where money can be donated to help defray costs throughout the year. The church is selling merchandise commemorating it like T-shirts, mugs, aprons, and hoodies.

"We walk the walk and talk the talk," Howard attributed the church's longevity too, with members being welcoming, caring, and involved with the community.

The First Presbyterian Church of Porter was first organized in Youngstown in 1823 with eight original members. Early meetings took place in the member's houses and a local schoolhouse. In 1835, John Young, whom the village of Youngstown would be named after, donated a parcel of land located at the current Church Street where the church would be built. A neighboring parcel would be used as a universal cemetery.

Construction on the church started in 1836 and was completed in 1837 at a cost of $2,600. It was enlarged in 1841 with the addition of extra pews and the center steeple. Other remodels and additions carried out to increase capacity were completed in 1897 and 1956.

The minister's home was deeded to the church in 1840 by Catherine Young, John Young's wife. He had originally built the home for her and her husband, but they never ended up living there. It continues to house the church's pastors up to the present for Rev. Bob Hagel and his family. Of the 75 Presbyterian Churches in Western New York, only three of them have such manses.

Howard has been raised in this church her whole life, with her most memorable moment being when she was ordained as an elder, as the other church elders put their hands on her shoulders, symbolic of the continuity of the church and passing the yoke from one generation to the next.

"Those were the people that took care of my in the nursery, who were my Sunday school teachers, were my parents and uncles," Howard said, who was moved to tears from it.

Castilon has been a church member since 1987, having bought a home in Youngstown and previously attended Riverside Presbyterian Church in Niagara Falls. Her first encounter was getting a doorbell ring and finding the minister at that time wanted to introduce himself. He also invited them to come to the church so that they would not have to go to the city in bad weather. After attending once, the rest was history.

"To me, I enjoy coming to church because we consider and many people refer to it as a church family," Castilon said. "So you have your blood family and your church family. They get you through bad things."

That sense of family also comes out in the number of different church groups present, like their fixit group, music programs, youth groups, mission trips, and a joy team that takes on a different service project each month. Outside groups like the Boy Scouts, a garden club, and jazzercise will often use the church's space to hold their own events.

With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the church hardest the most recently on attendance, there have always been ebbs and flows in membership. The construction of the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant brought in an influx of workers who want to go to mass, and the influx required a new addition to be added for Sunday school. As different factories in Niagara Falls were closing and workers had to go elsewhere, attendance dipped.

"We were kind of a bedroom community for the factories in Niagara Falls," Howard said. "And that isn't true anymore because the factories aren't there. But we've gone beyond that. We lost membership when the factories moved out, but other people moved in."

As of 2023, the church has around 450 members with an average service attendance of 120. Howard considers them fortunate when churches worldwide are struggling with their attendance figures. Castilon attributes their successes to strong leadership they have had, as the two reverends they had before Bob Hagel served for more than 25 years. The two look to continue the church's mission as they look to see the next generation of church members take leadership roles.

"We used to be told, 'You girls have to take over for our jobs when we're too old to do it,'" Castion said. "Somehow we went, 'Oh, we're not old.' We learned from our predecessors. And now we're going to pass the knowledge that we've learned onto the next generation."

The schedule of events planned for Youngstown Presbyterian Church's 200th anniversary the rest of year are as follows:

—May 21: Heritage Sunday with multi-choir concert.

—June 11: Worship service and picnic at Porter-on-the-Lake Park

—Aug. 19: Progressive dinner for adults

—Sept. 4: Labor Day parade with food and games at the church

—Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Play performance of "We Gather Together," written by Claudia and Jerry Andres

—Dec. 2: St. Andrew's Day celebration

—Jan. 27, 2024: The final 200th celebration event, a banquet and worship service.