I grew up in a small town in southwestern PA called Markleysburg. The length of the town was less than a mile long and about a half mile width. The population when I grew up was around 350. Today the population is around 280. The poverty rate is 26.1%. Over a quarter of the residents fall below the poverty line. The median property value is $91,700. It is a borough (really small town) surrounded by a township (primarily farm land). Within a mile of Markleysburg is a stone that marks where three states converge, PA, MD and WV.
When I grew up, the town had 6 places of worship.
- Union Church
- Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses (I do not consider this as a church, but a place of worship.)
- Gospel Center Church
- Church of the Brethren
- The House of Prayer Tabernacle
- Church of God
Since there were not enough churches within a mile of our house ;-), our family traveled across state lines, 8 miles each way, about two times each week to attend my dad’s church, Blooming Rose United Methodist, near Friendsville, MD.
Every summer, I attended 3 Vacation Bible Schools, one at the Union Church, one at the Church of the Brethren and one at the House of Prayer Tabernacle. These churches held a wide range of beliefs, but there were core common beliefs.
These churches were tight communities and they were the people you could count on when you had a need. The social fabric was tight. This did not mean there weren’t divisions in each community, but for the most part they resolved because no one could hide in these small congregations.
I think most of these churches came out of camp meetings or itinerant preachers in the 19th century. I would consider them all to be what I would characterize as “revivalist churches.” The emphasis was on the preaching and a few on ecstatic worship. Communion was infrequent. Baptisms were few and far between. Most of the Sunday preaching was emphasizing how to live the Christian life. About every year one of these churches would have a revival. This would usually mean “fire and brimstone” preaching and special gospel music. People from all of the other churches would attend the revival even if it was not their regular church. The few that did not attend a church, would often be encouraged to “come along” to the revival. Revivals meant altar calls and getting people who had “drifted away” back to church and “right living.”
The thing about the country churches is that often there is a mixture of theology borrowed from all manner of traditions. They don’t look like city churches where the doctrine is more firm in each expression. But, even in the city churches, the congregations tended to borrow from other traditions often to the church leader’s dismay.
The theological culture:
- Pre-tribulation, pre-millennial belief was held because of Hal Lindsey’s book whereas most of the parent denominations were a-millennial.
- Believer’s baptism was preferred whereas most of the parent denominations preferred infant baptism.
- Catechism was almost non-existent.
- Liturgy was almost non-existent.
- Calvinism was almost non-existent.
- Losing one’s salvation was possible or at least losing one’s sanctification was and this is why revivals were so important.
- Young-earth creationism was fundamental.
- Science was suspect.
- Advanced learning was best done “by hand” and higher learning was often viewed as elitism.
- Work clothes were overalls and jeans, but “church clothes” were double-knit pants and collared shirts/long, plain skirt and blouse or long, plain dress.
- Music was from the hymnal, but not the denomination’s hymnal, it was the American Standard country hymnal.
- Hippies were strange and when the denomination assigned a pastor to the church and the pastor wore sandals, he must have “liberal” theology.
- Town outsiders were best first approached with suspicion.
- Everyone seemed to know who were “church people” and who were not.
- The Bible was the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth handbook dictated from God to the authors.
- “Fundamentalism” was the true Christianity and everyone else was going to Hell.
I swam strong in this cultural current. Some may think this sounds strange. Some may think this sounds unfair or wrong. I do not mean to denigrate my cultural upbringing at all. I love my upbringing! This was my foundation. This is where I first heard about Jesus and what he did for me. This is where I learned that Jesus loved me. This is where I first “cast all my lots” on Jesus one evening in a Vacation Bible School. This is where I was challenged to examine my allegiance and thus experienced many revival altar call moments.
Although my paradigms would shift back-and-forth over the years as I dug deeper and deeper into Jesus, this foundation was strong enough to handle the shifts.
First posted May 2, 2021
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