175 Celebration Events Schedule
Living into Christ’s Call for Us and our Neighbors for 175 Years
Through the rest of 2026 we will be honoring the past, celebrating our current church community and looking forward to the future. We have a variety of activities planned and hope that you can participate in this time of celebration. Look for this page each month in Church Chat and follow the Sunday announcements prior to worship for current events. Check out the calendar on the church website and watch Facebook.
Major Themes for our Celebration
Assembling 175 food bags of “shelf stable” items to make a meal for a family. Collecting stories from previous and current members for a living memory album. Fun activities and learning events.
May Events
May 3: The Mission Team is preparing meals for the congregation to sample that can be assembled from canned meats and vegetables as we launch our 175 meal bags project.
Artist in residence Angie Cooper is painting a “family tree” which will be displayed in the Welcome Center. You are invited to write your name on a leaf to attach to the tree. The names of our founding families and previous members who contributed so much to our church will also be added.
May 31: Observing Decoration Day. The original Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30th and was called Decoration Day as family members decorated the graves with flowers. Congress changed the date in 1968 to a three-day holiday weekend at the end of May. Cassie Brooks will lead a tour through our White Lick Cemetery after worship and recognize the veterans and church leaders who are interred in their eternal rest. Invite your history buff friends who love to walk through old cemeteries.
Save the date: A White Lick 4th on July 12th. Food, fellowship with returning past members, sharing our stories. The highlight of our year of celebration.
June 28, 2026: Conversations that Challenge Christians
Old Tyme Religion with Mary Mitchell, MDiv, candidate for ministry
As we look back at our history, we also look back at the history of the Presbyterian denomination and what was happening in the United States. At the time of our founding in 1851 the country was divided over the issue of slavery and tensions were building up to the civil war. The Church was also divided, many denominations split over the issue of slavery as did the Presbyterian denomination. It is vital that we are honest about our history and the issues that impact us to this day. In this session we will explore the challenges that have shaped us as a denomination including the issue of slavery, the ordination of women and the issue of women preaching in public. We will explore the theological controversies that arose in the 19th century in American Presbyterianism. The founding of White Lick was likely shaped by these issues, just as we continue to be shaped by the issues and controversies of the 21st century.
Mark Your Calendars: “A White Lick 4th on the 12th”
Sunday, July 12th we will celebrate our 175th year with an old-fashioned church picnic. The church will provide fried chicken, and you are asked to bring a side dish or dessert. Think of a dish your grandma would bring to a church pitch-in. Check out an old cookbook for ideas or just bring your family favorite.
You are encouraged to dress in vintage apparel whether from the 1800s or a favorite historical time frame such as the flapper 1920’s, your military uniform from any era, or 2026. There will be parlor games to play. We will have an “open mic” for story telling about your White Lick memories. We are inviting young adults who grew up in the church as well as those who have been a part of the history of White Lick.
Come for worship at 10:30 and stay for the food and fun as part of our 175th celebration.
Here is a picture of a church July, 1960 festival.
