Bethany
Presbyterian Church, formerly Second United Presbyterian Church
Second United Presbyterian Church.
—The date of the origin of this congregation is shrouded in mystery.
It has been variously estimated from 1802 to 1820. The first evidence of
the existence of such a society, is found in the minutes of the
Associate Reformed Presbytery: “On April 10, 1805, a petition came
from Mercertown for the dispensation of Gospel ordinances. May 15, 1805,
Mercertown put in the statistical table for synod as a vacancy. Mr. Kerr
was appointed to preach in Mercertown the third Sabbath of November,
1805. August 26, 1806, Rev. Mungo Dick was
called to the united charge of Mercertown, Neshannock and Sandy Lake.”
From this it will be seen that an organization certainly existed prior
to 1806. The “Mr. Kerr” referred to was Rev.
Joseph Kerr. The first ruling elders of whom any record is made
were John Findley and Joseph
Junkin. The first regularly installed pastor was Rev.
James Galloway, a young man of the age of twenty-five, who began
his labors in 1810, which were closed May 10, 1818, by death. During the
early years of his ministry no house of worship was had, and services
alternated between the groves, the private residences of Messrs.
Findley, Junkin and others, and the old court-house. In the
latter, it is related that Rev. Tait secured
the pre-emption of the courtroom, and the flock that followed the
leadership of Rev. Galloway was thus forced
to resort to the grand jury room, and when simultaneous services were
held, as was often the case, a competition of voices occurred between
the two pastors, from which Rev. Tait came out victor, his opponent
having a slight frame and weak lungs. The inconveniences of this sort of
worship impelled the congregation to begin the erection of a suitable
church building. A lot, now [1888] owned by Mr. Benjamin Ride, was purchased,
and a structure, built of plain boards, was placed in construction. This
was not completed, however, until after Rev. Galloway’s death. In 1820
Rev. James L. Dinwiddie was called to the
pastorate.
continued
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What
the History of Mercer County 1877 says about the Second United
Presbyterian Church 
