History of Advent Church

Historic preservation and local history

Historic preservation and local history sometimes combine to produce new and surprising insights into a community's past. Such a surprise lay in wait when the Advent Historical Society was formed in 1985, to save a rural Centre County church from demolition. 

Atop a hill nestled among the "ridges" north of Balcl Eagle Valley, the Advent Church on Moose Run Road seemed like many other pretty countries churches, distinguishable only to the local residents whose families had worshipped there and whose ancestors were buried in the adjoining cemetery. Simply as a surviving symbol of the community of farmers and iron workers who settled the area in the 19th Century, the old Advent Church building seems to merit preservation; local history landmarks should be preserved. Research that accompanied the building's restoration, however, revealed a more complex story. The white neoclassic structure and its idyllic setting beside a quiet country road conceal a past distinctive not only in the religious history of Centre County, but in the national ferment accompanying the Second Advent movement of the 1840s, known as Millerism.

The History of the Advent Church

Missionaries to Meeting House 1844- to Civil War

The Marsh Creek Advent Church, established in 1849, resulted from the activities of missionaries who converted local families to the beliefs of the Second Advent Movement, based on the teachings of William Miller, a Vermont farmer who predicted the second coming of Christ would occur in 1843. When that day came and went, "the Great Disappointment" did not discourage a core group of believers who continued the work of preaching the Second Advent message.

Jacob D. Boyer of Shiremanstown, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, was one of the lecturers who answered the call. As early as 1844, it was reported that "Bro. Boyer has gone out among the mountains of Pennsylvania to seek out the wandering sheep and feed them with the bread of life." At first, these Adventist preachers were welcomed into the churches of other Protestant denominations and the first Advent Camp Meeting was held in Centre County in 1847.

Following the camp meeting, a church was formed with groups meeting at the Union Meeting House, schoolhouses, and meeting houses at Wallace Run, Half-Moon Village, Milesburg, Johnson's Run, and Mash (sic) Creek. After the second camp meeting ni 1848, it became more difficult to find places to worship, and the decision was made to build an Advent meeting house.

In 1849, the Marsh Creek Chapel was dedicated. The land had been donated by General Irvin and Colonel Greg. The funds to build the church were raised by subscription.

Mash Creek or Marsh Creek?

The earliest accounts of the church in the Advent Herald, published in Boston, list the location as "Mash Creek." Central Pennsylvania was known for its whiskey production early in the 19th century. "Mash" is the process of cooking the grain prior to the fermenting process in the production of alcohol. It is interesting to speculate that after the temperance message of the Advent missionaries, "Mash" Creek became "Masrh" Creek. What do you think?

Evangelical Adventists Civil War to 1900

The original leaders of the Second Advent Movement came to call themselves Evangelical Adventists to differentiate themselves from the Seventh Day Adventists who broke away in the 1840s under the leadership of ...and the Advent Christian Church that separated in ...Evangelical Adventists were active supporters of the reform movements abolition and temperance. In 1847 the Adventists were invited by the pastor of the colored church in Bellefonte to preach one evening, which they enthusiastically accepted. It is not coincidental that so many of the graves in the Advent Cemetery are marked with the insignia of the Grand Army of the Republic. During the Civil War period, Adventists began to use "Messianic Conference and "Messiah's Church" to describe themselves.

Civil War Involvement of Centre County

Following the Civil War, a new era of revivalism in the 1870s brought renewed interest in the Adventist message. State conferences were set up and Centre County Adventists participated in these efforts under the guidance of ministers who included M.C. Jackson, Thomas Holland, and Henry P. Cutter.

A second meeting house was built at Bush Hollow in 1868

Conference proceedings.

The minister most associated with the Advent Churches of Centre County is John Zeigler, a native of Cumberland County who studied with the Rev. Jackson and took over the Messiah's Churches of Centre County Under Zeigler's leadership, the Marsh Creek Church was remodeled and rededicated in 1870. Additional churches were built at Dick's Run, Snow Shoe, Spring Township, and Pine Glen.

Continuing Traditions 1900-1940s

Reverend Ziegler's journals from 1903 to 1915 in the collections of the Centre County Historical Society, help fill out the declining years of Evangelical Adventism. Zeigler records his preaching activities at Marsh Creek, the United Brethren Church ta Runville, and a Free Methodist Grove Meeting. AS late as 1914, he records receiving checks from the American Millennial Association "for the performance of faithful duty." After 1914, the Evangelical Adventists and the American Millennial Association disbanded. According to historian David .T Arthur, their steadfast adherence ot the Advent Message of the 1840s, made them an anachronism in the changing world of the 20th century. "Progressive America seemed but little interested ni a denomination whose sole emphasis was on the evil of the present world and the glory of the next."

Sunday school books

A variety of preachers served the little congregation at the building that continued to be called the Advent Church. A Cemetery Association was created to manage the burial ground for community families. Traditions of the Adventists continued in the religious practices of the congregation. Watch night services on December 31st and Harvest Home services to collect funds and produce to support the minister were continued. A strong Sunday School tradition and adherence to a literal reading of scripture continued, but the congregation did not affiliate with a particular denomination.

Ministers:

Baptist minister baptized Albina and Le. .c 1910-1920

Charles .C Shuey .c 1920-1940

L.F. Sheetz: United Brethren or Church of the Brethren. Wore plain clothes and bonnets. Lived in Bellefonte and also sold tracts and Bibles.

1943 Bill Rachau William and Marion from Milesburg-

Fred Watson-God's Missionary Church 

Dean Confer

Tommy Franz