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| In
l95l, the Comity Committee of the Syracuse and Onondaga County Council of
Churches conducted a survey that showed a need for additional protestant
churches in the eastern suburbs of Syracuse. Presbyterian seemed to be the
denomination most needed. Acting on this report, the Cayuga-Syracuse
Presbytery formed a Church Extension Committee to verify this need and poll
the Presbyterians living in the area concerning their desires and
willingness to support such a project. From a small nucleus of members of the downtown churches, the project gained momentum, but held back during the time the only protestant church in the area was having a major new building campaign. By the spring of l955, the group had optioned six acres of property on Jamesville Road in DeWitt, which included a large house that could be used as a church, and a smaller house for a manse. They then issued a call to the founding pastor, The Reverend Forster W. Freeman. The name, Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church, was chosen to perpetuate the popular name of the local terrain. Financing of the property purchase was by a grant from Presbytery and grants and loans from General Assembly. Presbytery also provided a three-year salary subsidy to the minister. Gifts from area churches included a bronze cross, pulpit bible, hymnals, and other items to enhance the services. On October 23, l955, 60 members of First Presbyterian and Park Central Presbyterian churches in downtown Syracuse were dismissed by their own congregations to "colonize" the new DeWitt church. That afternoon, these persons and 16 others committed themselves in a service of Colonization, held on the first floor of the large house on the property. Regular Sunday services were held thereafter. The Manse basement was used for these meetings while the first floor of the large house was remodeled to combine three rooms into a sanctuary which could seat 150 people on folding chairs. The first service in the renovated space was held on Christmas Eve, l955. Sunday school would be held in the second and third floor bedrooms. A first floor library became the pastor's study. The formal organization of Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church was conducted by Presbytery on January 8, l956, the first new congregation in the Presbytery in over half a century. An adult baptism was held, l08 charter members were received, and officers were elected. Mr. Freeman was installed as pastor on February 12, l956, the same day that saw the first infant baptisms. A new sanctuary and fellowship hall were constructed on the southern part of the property in l963. The first service in this building was on Christmas Sunday, December 22, 1963, using folding chairs, and with clear glass in some windows and boards on others. By January l0, l965, when the sanctuary was dedicated, these items had been replaced by custom-made pews and chancel furnishings and distinctive stained glass windows. A pipe organ was later added in the choir loft. A fire in the large old house on November 9, 1968, forced a decision on whether to rebuild that or add a new Christian Education wing to the new sanctuary. The latter option was chosen. The new addition in l970 was mostly open space except for staff offices and two classrooms for the youngest children. Other Protestant churches have since come into the community, but Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church continues to serve its neighbors who prefer the Presbyterian tradition.
Rev. 8/03/97 |
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