Folsom Memorial United Methodist Church in Worthington (By Anna Rochelle) [Order this photo]

The people of the Folsom Memorial United Methodist Church in Worthington are extending an invitation to the public to join them in a celebration of their church's 175th anniversary on Sunday.

A day full of activities begins at 11 a.m. with a unique morning worship service at their current church building on the northwest corner of Main and Lafayette Streets one block west of the downtown Triangle area.

The day will include historical skits, a circuit-rider, a pitch-in dinner and tours of Old Point Commerce and other historical locations in town and around the countryside. There will also be ice cream on the lawn of the only home still standing from the original Point Commerce settlement.

Church historians have researched how early services were conducted and several members of the church will be re-enacting an early church meeting in place of the normal Sunday worship service.

Barbara Ferris, who serves on the committee that's planning the day, says a meeting in those days was very different from the ones we attend today.

"The people talked more. They talked about the problems they were having that week and everyone would then pray for them. People then were much more open about things going on their lives and they shared a mutual interest in each others' spiritual welfare," said Ferris.

The skit is designed to give a glimpse into the way our forefathers practiced their faith and how they interacted with each other.

"We have some very good actors and actresses -- Joe Hays, Dallas Fines, Vern Spoor, Erica Hostetter, Ann Noel and Heather Cress will all be dressed up to present this skit," said Ferris, noting that it was written by Marilyn Gladish, an accomplished writer.

Other highlights of the service will be the singing of old hymns and an old-fashioned sermon by the Circuit Rider, the Rev. Colin Cress.

Following the service, church members and guests can enjoy a pitch-in lunch around 12:30 p.m. in the church dining room -- it's appropriate to bring a "well-filled basket" but table service and drinks will be provided.

At the church, Joe Hays, whose family has lived in the Point area for generations, will give a short history of Point Commerce.

Groups will then be formed to travel by vans for a "Discover Point Commerce" tour. Church members are providing the transportation. Guides will accompany each van to give information about each site and point out landmarks. Refreshments along the way include ice cream at the historical home of Jerry and Betty Smith.

Besides the Point, the tour will visit the George Griffith farm, sites of the first and second churches, the Point Commerce Cemetery and will point out the locations of several old homes and business places.

Once back in Worthington, the tour will visit the sites of the third and fourth churches and former parsonages.

Joe Hays chairs the committee organizing the celebration and historical tours. Other organizers include Barbara Ferris, Earlene Vandeventer, Dallas Fines, Gia Spoor and George Conway.

Ferris said members of the church have been planning and working on this celebration for a long time and they're looking forward to it.

"This is a celebration of 175 years of Methodism in our area and we want to remember the faithful founders of our church. It's also a time for fellowship and spiritual renewal," said Ferris.

The current church was officially organized in 1833, but Ferris says prior to that year, meetings were being held in cabins, in groves, in any place where a handful of people could be brought together. Visits to this area by circuit riders and local preachers are recorded in Greene County history as early as 1819 and it's possible circuit riders from Vincennes may have preached here as early as 1811.

The first documented visit by a circuit rider to Point Commerce was made by the Rev. John Stewart in 1821.

The church's official beginning was when regular meetings started in the home of George Griffith in 1833. The first church building was built in 1838 in Point Commerce. It was a one-room brick building that served as both a church and the school.

In 1849, a more impressive church building was erected on the Point -- the Wesley Chapel. It was a two-story structure and the pews and pulpit were made of the finest black walnut. The second floor was the church. The first floor was the schoolroom.

In 1858, a modest frame chapel was completed in Worthington with a special bell brought in from Cincinnati by way of the canal system.

Ground was broken for the present church building in 1900 with the cornerstone laid on Oct. 15. The total cost of the project was around $10,000 and it was considered very innovative for that time.

Visitors on Sunday will enjoy morning worship in this Romanesque Revival building with beautiful stained glass windows that are believed to have been imported from Germany or Belgium. The church also has a Hinners pipe organ that was added in 1914. And the church bell that traveled into Worthington on the long-gone Wabash and Erie Canal -- it's still hanging in the bell tower.