Community Outreach

eclosetEmmanuel’s Closet

Emmanuel’s Closet is only offering food at this time until we get the “all clear” from the COVID 19 pandemic. There are restrictions as to how many clients will be allowed near the check-in station. Also, ALL YOUNG CHILDREN are to remain in the car. The clothing and household room is closed until further notice. THANK YOU! Also, we do need donations of food items to help clients who are in more difficult times for now.

Emmanuel’s Closet is a clothing and food pantry sponsored by several local churches. They provide service for people who live in the Dallastown/Red Lion School districts.

The closet is located in the basement of St. Paul’s U.C.C., 205 W. Main St., Dallastown. They are open every Saturday from 9:00 am – Noon. St John’s Blymire’s is always looking for volunteers to help the 3rd Saturday of every month from 8:30 am – 12:15 pm.  The contact phone number is 717-244-0655.

The closet has other volunteer opportunities throughout the year for special projects and transitioning clothes between seasons. If you are interested in becoming a client or a volunteer, please contact the church office 717-244-0655.

Red Brick Chapel

red-brick-churchThe Red Brick Church was used by the congregation of St. John’s Blymire’s for over 125 years. It stands in te community of Dallastown and was built in 1855 with the cornerstone laid on May 28, of that year.

In 1888, thirty-three years after the Red Brick Church was begun, extensive repairs were made to the building. Brick work was done, the spire was placed on the Church, as well as a stone doorsill. This was probably when the entry was constructed. It was at this time that the Church probably looked much as it does today.

St John’s Blymire’s makes available the Red Brick Chapel for marriage services as a religious institution and as a member of the Dallastown community. While it’s general conviction is that the service of mariage should be celebrated in the context of the local congregation and under the guidance of a pastor know to the participants, St. John’s Blymire’s recognizes that exceptional circumstances do not always allow for this.

This church still believes that services conducted in the Red Brick Chapel should follow several procedures that represent time-honored practice and which should have great potential for the benefit to the participants. These involve consultaion with the cleergy of one’s own tradition and opportunity for serious reflection of the nature and meaning of marriage. Clergy is available through St. John’s Blymire’s UCC if needed.

The Red Brick Chapel can be used for Weddings, Funerals, a Lecture Hall, Youth Fellowship activites and a meeting place for local groups such as 4-H or Scouts.

Contact Person
Sue Knaub (Red Brick Church)
717-244-2912

St. John’s Blymire’s UCC Cemetery

cemeteryThe burial ground at Blymire’s could have existed and been in use as early as 1755, but this cannot be documented. The oldest existing stone is for Margarethis Kayser born 14 November 1722 and died 4 August 1796.

Many people in this area chose to bury their dead in private family burial farms – but some looked to the church yard as the place they chose to bury. The lots of early church burial yards were not bought as they are today, but the right to bury was a privilege of membership in the church. When walking through the oldest sections of the graveyard, it would be noted that people were most often buried in the order of their deaths – thus husbands and wives and small children of the same family were not buried together as they are today. Many markers in the Blymire’s cemetery are simple slate markers with German inscriptions. These oldest markers have stood the test of time and the elements much better than later markers used in the mid-sections of the cemetery. Earliest inscriptions are still very clear and easy to read. With very little effort, some families of today would be able to trace their ancestors back through six, seven, eight or even nine generations.

No present stones show Revolutionary War service, but there are several which have emblems for Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic serving between 1861 and 1865. Of course, there are markers showing veterans of the Spanish American War, World Wars I and II, the Korean Conflict, and Vietnam. To many the Annual Memorial Day service, saluting these Veterans with American flags on their grave, is a beautiful and moving sight.

If you are trying to trace the gravesite of a loved one, please copy the following links:

www.http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/york/cemeteries/blymcem.txt

or:

www.https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/611197/saint-john’s-blymire-ucc-cemetery

Contact Person: Tom Ensminger
cell: 717-683-6926