#3 - St. Matthew's Church
St. Matthew's United Church of Christ has its roots as an evangelical mission by the Moravian Church to the Native Americans in the 1740's. The first European settlers soon followed and by 1770 worship services were being held in barns & homes.
A 26' by 34' log church was dedicated as St. Matthew's Church on October 27th, 1779 on land donated by Abraham Schmidt. It was a "Union" Church comprised of two separate congregations sharing one building - the German Lutheran and the Reformed Christians, each with their own ministers. The magnificent oak tree that you see outside the front door was said to have been planted at that time.
In 1846 a 40' by 60' stone church replaced the original church. (The log house church had been referred to by some as the Ross Township Church.) The building was retained after the stone church was built and used for storage of church records. Unfortunately, fire eventually claimed the log church and the historical records. (Note my fake newspaper photo). It is a reminder that in 1846 a Stroudsburg newspaper called Der Demokrotische Herold carried a story about the dedication of the new stone church. This is one of the earliest printed records of the use of the name Kunkletown for this area.
The building you see today was constructed in 1900 to replace the stone church. Some stones from the stone church were used in the foundation of this church.
Today's building, at first, had no electric and was heated by a pot belly stove in the winter. Of course, there was no indoor plumbing and we are told the outhouse was quite a distance from the church.
During the 225th Anniversary celebration in 2004, a 98-year old member recalled walking 3 miles to attend church services.
In 1975, the two separate churches "dissolved" and came together under the auspices of the United Churches of Christ.
In 2015 a new addition was added containing an elevator, handicapped bathrooms, new offices and classrooms. The lane that the church sat on, that ran parallel to Kunkletown Road (south of the church), was altered (it continued from either end but stopped at the church - no longer a through road unless you curve around the church). St. Matthew's is the 3rd oldest church in Monroe County.
At this stop we can also explore the two associated cemeteries before moving on.
