The church has its humble beginnings in town beginning in 1832 when religious services were conducted in homes. As the congregation grew, the church services had to be moved into barns to accommodate the crowd.

The first class leader of this congregation was Mrs. Elizabeth Suiter nee Witchey. She was the wife of Nicholas Suiter and sister of John Witchey.

These two, alongside John Feller, were the three families that first settled Swissdale.

Due to a controversy among the leaders of the Evangelical Association General Church, the general church was divided in 1895. This issue had a ripple effect that divided the Swissdale congregation. From 1895 to 1923, there were two churches in Swissdale — the Evangelical Association and the United Evangelical.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS Above is a present day Swissdale UMC. An old photo of the congregation throughout the years is seen.

Over the years, the church combined with other congregations to create a larger and a stronger church — the Swissdale Church of 1895 was enlarged, and a Sunday school unit of eight rooms were added, along with a basement that could be used as a dining area and kitchen space.

The church merged once again in 1968 with the Methodist Church and the Swissdale EUB Church to become the Swissdale United Methodist Church you see today.

For this church, music and missions have always been the forefront of the congregation’s focus.

In the 1990s, a church member named Shirley Probst went on a work mission that traveled to McCurdy School in New Mexico. Before she retired from teaching, she sent school supplies to the area as a class activity.

The congregation became interested and participated in many other projects from local carpentry and painting activities to travels to other states to help those in economically challenged areas.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS Above is a present day Swissdale UMC. An old photo of the congregation throughout the years is seen.

Along with the Bloomsburg Wesley United Methodist Church the congregation has traveled to Henderson Settlement in Tennessee to engage in repair projects for families struggling in that area, including building a house.

They aided in at least three different trips to Louisiana and Mississippi following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to aid those affected by the disaster.

Their youth fellowship began in 1981 after the discontinuance of the Young People’s Guild, which was created to fill a need for a social organization for the young people of the church.

The Young People’s Guild held box socials, festivals, picnics and monthly meetings and was instrumental in providing a social outlet in a farming community during the 1920s.

This guild always had a project to work on within the church, and this mindset continued through to the current day youth fellowship.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS Above is a present day Swissdale UMC. An old photo of the congregation throughout the years is seen.

“The children have what we call a ‘bucket fund’,” said congregation member Jeanne Shade, who explained how the children collect funds for missions. After church, members of the sunday school will stand outside and collect money from the congregation.

The money is put towards any issue the youth fellowship hopes to address that year — whether it be something local such as a donation to a local family in need, or whether they use the money internationally.

“The kids decide what mission they’re going to address. They just bought four cows,” said Shade.

The kids raised enough money to purchase cows for Heifer International, a global nonprofit that works to eradicate poverty and hunger throughout the world through sustainability efforts and value-based holistic community development.

The organization distributes animals and agricultural based training to families in need around the world.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS A painting of the church in 1974 is seen hanging on the wall.

The children have also raised money for bees, goats and chickens.

Music has been a large part of their church services for decades as well. During their 100th anniversary celebration in 1995 it was noted from the memories of the oldest church members that music has blessed the congregation for at least 75 years. Today, that would be 105 years of tunes.

Those who have been a part of the congregation for years can attest to the integral part of the worship service — the Swissdale Church Choir always bringing a special atmosphere to worship services.

A few of the members of the congregation have been active in the church since they were children.

Donald Weise and Patty Anderson are some of the oldest original members of the church. Both of them grew up in the congregation, and remember the Young People’s Guild.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS An old photo of the choir is shown in the church.

Having been a member of the church for decades, the two of them have deep family ties to the church. Weise’s great uncle was instrumental in building the church — Samuel Weise. On Anderson’s side of the family, on her mother’s side of the family, several of her relatives were married by the same Pastor — Reverend Herman. Anderson was lucky enough to be the last one in the family married by Rev. Herman before he passed away.

One of the highlights of the church family has been fondly referred to as the “Happy Hookers Fishing Club.”

Then-Pastor Marie Lewis, Joyce Treas, Martha “Marty” Munro and many others made up a gaggle of women who would travel twice a year to go fishing.

“They were a group of ladies that liked the great outdoors — they liked fishing and being outside. I don’t even know how many there were — they came and went,” said Shade.

“It was Mickey and whoever she could gather up. My mother was the treasurer and my grandmother went along. They all went up to New York state and salmon snag. Mickey never met a stranger. There are no strangers, just friends she hasn’t met yet,” said congregation member Sherry Barth.

The women made a name for themselves over the years in the areas in which they fished. From hotels to fishing shacks and restaurants, they befriended new people everywhere they went.

They were even featured in a fishing magazine. The article talked about their annual trips, and interviewed the ladies.

Above all, Swissdale United Methodist Church is known for their decades-long tradition: their Ice Cream Social.

Their ice cream social dates back to a time when they had to churn the ice cream with tractor motors. Weise’s mother and a woman named Elaine Goodman were the ones to spearhead the effort for many years before the job was passed down to Weise’s wife. Since then, it has been passed down multiple times.

They would churn around 125 gallons of ice cream for the event beginning the night before, and there were 7 flavors to choose from — vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, banana, peanut butter, pineapple and maple walnut.

According to Weise, they would put the ice cream in old fashioned milk cans and relied on local businesses to help keep it cool overnight. They would take gallons to the Tasty Freeze, Dean Muthler’s, Dean Laubscher’s, Reeder’s Market and more. Anywhere with freezers big enough to accommodate their needs.

“You’d hear the tractors at 6 a.m. going ‘putt putt putt’ coming to set it up. We would start the night before mixing up the custard — the goop, we called it. I can remember my mom calling me out of bed to get over (to the church) and help,” said Anderson.

The goop recipe still lives on in the church today, with the original recipe for it pinned to the wall.

“Total strangers walk up to us and ask ‘when are you going to have ice cream again?'” said Shade.

Though they haven’t had it in many years due to the sheer amount of work necessary to pull it off, people used to come from far and wide for their homemade ice cream. The congregation wants to bring the ice cream social back, but have not had the opportunity yet.

The congregation always welcomes new members, and delights in seeing new faces join their church family.

All are welcome to their Sunday worship services beginning at 11:05 a.m. with Pastor Jack Hocker. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS The sign for the 100th Anniversary in 1995 is pictured with offering baskets.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS The Swissdale UMC sign and surrounding landscaping is pictured.