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A Brief History of United Christian Church
REFORMATION UCC
The communities of Levittown and Fairless Hills, consisting of prefabricated single homes, were begun in the early 1950s in response to the housing needs of workers attracted to U.S. Steel's Fairless Works.
The building which houses United Christian Church was started in 1955 by the congregation of the Church of the Reformation of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, which was gathered in 1954. That congregation became part of the United Church of Christ in 1957. The same year, Plymouth Congregational Church, which had formed in 1955 a mile away, lost about half of its members when the first black family bought a Levittown house and the pastor supported the family's right to purchase here. Reformation's pastor took a similar stand, with more favorable results. Plymouth never recovered from its loss and closed in 1963, when many of its members transferred to Reformation.
Meanwhile, St. Stephen's United Church of Christ formed three miles from each of the above-mentioned churches in 1962 and closed in 1971. Few of its members transferred to Reformation, which changed its name in 1978 to Reformation United Church of Christ.
FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
First Christian Church of Lower Bucks County formed in 1954. A church was built in 1961, and by 1964 membership had grown to over 260. A split in the congregation resulted in an exodus of members to form a new church. [Ed. note: This break reflected the national split between the Disciples and the more dogmatic "Christian Church."]
First Christian founded the Human Growth Center, a private, nonprofit counseling agency which moved its offices to another community; and The Nursery Center, a preschool now operating at United Christian Church.
UNITED CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Early in the1986 union of Reformation and First Christian Churches, the congregation worshipped in the First Christian building. Both that structure and Reformation's were put on the market with the understanding that the congregation would use whichever building that remained after the other was sold. The First Christian property was bought by a Korean congregation and United Christian occupied the Reformation building in the summer of 1988.
When the need for a homeless shelter became apparent, the vacant Reformation building was offered to the American Red Cross as a shelter during the winter of 1986-87. Some church members volunteered to work with shelter residents and that contact developed an awareness of their problems. Meanwhile, some neighbors of the Reformation property were incensed at the presence of those they deemed undesirable.
The shelter experience of United Christian, and other area churches which provided volunteers, inspired an effort to establish a permanent shelter building and to expand the supply of low-cost housing. Bucks County leased a portion of its property in Levittown, at $1 per year, to the American Red Cross. Funded by private donations, a 100-bed shelter was constructed by the county Homebuilders Association and opened in 1989.
When the Reformation shelter closed, the issue of affordable housing prompted the formation in 1987 of Interfaith Housing Development Corporation (IHDC). United Christian was one of three founding churches and its pastor became IHDC's executive director until 1992. His salary in that capacity was paid by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pennsylvania.
At the September 1991 congregational meeting, after years of considering details of the transaction, members voted to sell (for $1) a portion of the United Christian Property to IHDC. Valued at $25,000-35,000, the parcel was intended for the construction of single homes. In the zoning battle launched by some of the church's neighbors, church members attended meetings to support IHDC. Five single two-story homes were built on the parcel, named St. Barnabas Circle and completed in May 1994.
Also about that time, the first Liberian refugee family began to attend United Christian. They had attended a church closer to their home, but felt unwelcome there. As more refugees arrived in this area, word spread that they were welcome at United Christian. Some of the Liberian members have now left the church, but others have stayed, several taking leadership positions.
After Pastor Alfred Krass retired in 1999, members of the church who are ordained clergy, but are not employed as clergy, volunteered to preach at Sunday worship on a rotating schedule. Their service allowed the church to build enough savings to call a pastor. Meanwhile, strong lay leadership kept administrative matters functioning.
In September 2003, the Rev. Susie Brannon Smith accepted a call to be pastor. Her energetic and imaginative leadership have inspired enthusiasm in the growing congregation.
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