Our History

In 1964 "a new chapter in church history was written......when four churches of two denominations issued a joint call to a minister(the Reverend C.R. Thayer ) to serve them all as pastor, each to share in his support and service. (The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, August 15,1946)

        Two of these churches were in New Florence, The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and the United Presbyterian Church of North America. When these two denominations merged in 1958, the congregations actualized the merger by physically uniting their two church buildings. One (the Presbyterian) was literally moved several blocks and joined to the other (the United Presbyterian) to form one church facility.

        The other two, the West Fairfield Presbyterian Church and the West Fairfield United Presbyterian Church, merged on January 1, 1959, to become the West Fairfield United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The former Presbyterian building was retained by the church, while the former United Presbyterian Church was deeded to the Fairfield Boys Club in 1972.

         The two-church arrangement continued until 1997 when, after much discussion and planning, and facing the reality of declining populations, the two congregations merged to form Trinity Presbyterian Church of New Florence.