The Water Works Church congregation, like others of their time, started as mere house meetings by an itinerant minister. When they were able to move forward to build a church at the top of the hill overlooking the Swatty, within a year they dedicated the frame church with a cornerstone of 1843. The church’s denominational affiliation has its roots in the United Brethren in Christ. Over time, as denominations merged, they became Evangelical United Brethren, and then United Methodist.
Throughout the years, the Water Works Church has always been affiliated with the other Brethren churches in North Annville at Bellegrove and Kauffman’s. The ministers were usually circuit riders, who traveled from church to church each Sunday to conduct services at varying times. During the mid-1900s, the congregation recognized a need for a new building, and they held a groundbreaking in 1953. Progress on the new church was slow, but they finally dedicated the completed brick colonial structure in 1964. For 160 years, the congregation has remained small but faithful, comprised of generations of many of the same families from the immediate vicinity.
Reference:
- Water Works Church 150th Anniversary 1843 – 1993. Elaine Hitz Snyder. Edited by Elizabeth Snavely and Verna Snavely. Published by the Water Works United Methodist Church, Annville, PA, 1994.
- Complete cemetery survey.