Friday, March 03, 2006

Where They Sleep--St. Peter's



Nestled atop the rolling hills of Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, stands St. Peter's United Church of Christ. All of the recent cemetery pictures were taken on its grounds. In 1771, land was purchased by German immigrants to establish St. Peter's Lutheran. One of the founders of this church was George Emerich. Perhaps Anne Emrich, whose grave was pictured earlier, was a member of his family.

In 1811, a one-half interest in the church and land was purchased by a German Reformed congregation which had been worshiping in private houses. The church then served a combined congregation. Later, the church joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church, which combined with Congregational Christian Churches to become the United Church of Christ in 1957. Local lore holds that the early church building served as a hospital during the Revolutionary War.

Amid this history, these souls sleep.

16 comments:

Linda said...

A beautiful resting place. :)

Bernita said...

The crowded dead
who whisper as we walk,
and mock
our innocence of day's ahead.

Terri said...

and the individuals come together to make a whole

nice :-)

Jeff said...

I really like the bottom picture with the gravestones and the church in the background. Great photography, Jason. :)

Anonymous said...

BeadinggalinMS, it's a gorgeous area of Pennsylvania!

Bernita, so very true. Is the verse yours?

Terri, thanks. :)

Jeff, thank you. I'm looking forward to getting more diverse photographs in the warmer weather.

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Very cool, Jason. =D

Bernita said...

Yes.
You tend to cause that, Jason.

Shesawriter said...

That church is real creepy, Jason. It would make a nice gothic bookcover.

Tanya

anne frasier said...

beautiful, jason.

Erik Ivan James said...

Great photography, Jason.

I lived in SE PA for about 10 years, Kennett Square and Landenburg. That entire area offers so much of our history.

Anonymous said...

Kelly, =)

Bernita, my compliments to you! I thought it might be a famous verse.

Tanya, such a striking area. It would also be the perfect setting for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Anne, thanks. :)

Erik, wow! Kennett Square can't be more than half an hour from here. I'm in the Coatesville area, and I went to college in Lancaster (Franklin & Marshall). Small world.

Jay said...

You do the place justice.

WannabeMe said...

Blogger's at it again. Where's my former comment???

Anonymous said...

Miss Jay, :)

Dana, when did you leave the comment? I don't have it on my email notifications either.

Trista Bane said...

Another chilling post, Jason. Just beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Trista, thanks so much!