Where in the world are we, anyhow?

Traveling Rt. 286 between the villages of Clymer and Mahaffey in Indiana County, Pennsylvania:
• you can turn left (if coming north from Clymer) in village of Hillsdale at Post Office -- proceed up hill through horse ranch and keep on main road for about 5 miles -- at stop sign proceed straight about 200 yards -- church is on right side of road.

• if coming from Mahaffey direction you will be coming to the village of Glen Campbell -- continue on Rt. 286 about another 2 miles -- you will come to a sharp turn -- look for green road sign on left side of road which says "Gipsy - 2 miles" -- turn right at sign and continue for 2 miles -- church is on left side of road.

Brief Statement of Faith & Conviction:

We believe that Jesus Christ meant every word when He said:
• "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by me." (John 14:6) as well as many other absolute claims He made concerning Himself coupled with absolute demands made upon us humans such as "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3).

  For further reference on Jesus' claims concerning Himself and the radical demands He placed upon us humans, see The Way, The Truth, The Life -- use return feature on your web browser to come back here.

  Furthermore, these statements have been confirmed and reflected in the lives of all who have made a positive reponse to this same Jesus by:

• honestly and fully repenting of all known sin in their lives, whether that sin exists in forms of motives, desires, attitudes, words, or actions!

• seriously and intentionally commiting themselves to a life of obedience in following Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives!

• seeking to be regularly involved with others in public worship and fellowship of the church on Sundays, and to faithfully invest time, talent, and treasure (money) with fellow Christians in being obedient to the commission given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ when He said:

  "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
  Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

• seeking to exercise daily disciplines of Bible reading and study, and the discipline of prayer involving the elements of praise/worship, confession, thanksgiving, intercession, and personal petition!

• refusing to compromise with growing popular heresies that are invading the ranks of those who profess to follow Jesus Christ -- a very deadly heresy which is gaining ground suggests that other religious expressions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. in addition to Christianity have a legitimate claim when it comes to relating to God and determining eternal destiny, with the admonition that we need to cease our narrow and intolerant insistence that Jesus is the only way of salvation and hope for time and eternity -- a second heresy that is attempting to rewrite the sexual standards as originally and clearly defined by a holy God wherein sexual immorality which was (and still is) condemned by God is now considered quite acceptable and even encouraged -- a third heresy which attempts to redefine God's standard of marriage between male and female (that is, 2 males in a sodomite relationship or 2 females in a lesbian relationship should be permitted to marry), and a redefining of family and the rearing of children in the family (that is, 2 sodomites or 2 lesbians should be permitted to adopt and raise children) -- certainly a fulfillment of Isaiah 5:20!

Sunday Schedule:

• Sunday School: 9:30 AM -- Now studying the book of The Revelation with Bob Kinnan teaching -- you are invited to join us.
• Worship Service: 10:30 AM

Gipsy Christian Church Hall
Gipsy, Pennsylvania

Many activities take place here such as
fellowship dinners, Easter Sunrise
fellowship breakfast, craft fair event,
apple butter festival each October,
and anticipated Bible School in 2009.

Calendar Dates and Informational Items:

• June 21 "celebration":
  • Special service in observance of Pastor Harriger's half century in the ministry -- it will be 50 years to the very day (June 21) that he preached his first sermon in two Methodist churches to which he was appointed in New Castle PA.
  • He will be referring to that first sermon, which he has all written out in purple ink!
  • It is the goal of the Harriger's to have all their family present on this occasion.
  • A fellowship meal will follow in Gipsy Christian Church Hall following the service to which all are invited to attend.

• July 13 - 17 Vacation Bible School each evening at Gipsy Christian Church in cooperation with Smithport United Methodist Church -- all welcome! Closing program on Friday, July 17, with picnic and hayride.

• Gipsy Christian Church is supporting mission outreach in the U.S. and in foreign countries.

• Local food bank operating from the Presbyterian Church in nearby village of Arcadia is now being supported each month by the congregation of Gipsy Christian Church -- support is by means of cash donations and non-perishable food items.

• Loyal Berean Class - Second Tuesday of each month - Next: June 9, 2009 at 7:00 PM. The class has a project going -- see Gipsy Christian Church Cookbook - Cooking for the 21st Century

• Official Board - meeting on Tuesday evenings as announced.

• 1st Sunday of each month - Children receiving a special offering for their mission project, St. Jude's Research Hospital in Memphis TN. Since the founding of St. Jude's Hospital many catastrophic diseases/illnesses affecting children have been treated with a great increase in survival rates.

• Mid-November each year - supporting Operation Christmas Child - preparation of shoe box gifts to be given to children throughout the world via Samaritan's Purse. See below for past activity in support of Operation Christmas Child.

• Christmas Eve Service - December 24, 2009 -- special offering received for local ministry outreach.

A Bit of Special History!

April 24, 2005 - Day of Dedication and Celebration was held at 10:30 AM with a fellowship dinner which followed at noon. The reason for this special service taking place is given in the paragraph just below. After that there are items listed in the ongoing history of Gipsy Christian Church and the people who make up the congregation.

The major improvements to the sanctuary of Gipsy Christian Church included: new windows, replacement pews with cushions, new ceiling blocks, painting of sanctuary with 3 coats of paint, painting of vestibule, adjorning rooms off the sanctuary, and hallway to basement, new lights in the sanctuary, and new hymnals. The carpet was commercially cleaned after removal of old pews and before the new pews were brought in. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
It was a blessed time of celebration -- many visitors joined with us on that day and the fellowship meal was also a great time -- appreciation is due to many who gave time and work to the celebration experience.

In summer of 2006 an upstairs restroom was installed -- a major cleanup of the basement also was done with removal of some old carpet and disposal of accumulated materials which were no longer needed. A new church steeple has been ordered from Rainesville Church Pew Co. in Woodstock GA and will be installed shortly after delivery which is expected to be in mid-October.

Vacation Bible School was held in association with the Smithport United Methodist Church during the last week of June 2007. Average attendance of children and youth was in the 20's plus a good number of adult staff persons. Theme was on Noah's Ark and lessons to be learned from Noah's experience. Closing program involved participation by all the students and a visit from Noah who had a conversation with a donkey which did not want to get off the ark after it settled! Evening concluded with a picnic and hay ride enjoyed by all ages!

Gipsy Christian Church obtained ownership of the former Montgomery Township Community Center which is located on the west side of the parking lot next to the church. This transaction took a bit of time but was finalized by mid summer 2007 -- work sessions were held for a time each Tuesday evening to do major improvements to the building which is now named Gipsy Christian Church Hall. Many thanks to those who helped as they gave of time and abilities to bring about those improvements.

Sunday, September 23 A service of dedication of the Gipsy Christian Church Hall and the new steeple which was installed on the church took place during the service of worship at 10:30 AM. A fellowship dinner was held at Gipsy Christian Church Hall following the worship service.

Monday & Tuesday, October 9th & 10th Preparing apples -- washing, cutting, and boiling down into sauce -- this is first stage of getting ready to make apple butter the old fashioned way!

Wednesday, October 10 Making the first batch of apple butter which will be available for sale on Saturday, October 13th, at the Gipsy Christian Church Apple Butter Festival. Starting time is about 4:30 AM with apple butter bubbling all day until late afternoon when it will placed in jars.

Gipsy Christian Church Apple Butter Festival was held on Saturday, October 13, 2007 at the Gipsy Christian Church Hall, located at 108 Trojan Road in Gipsy -- the Hall is next to the parking area west of the church. Apple butter was available for sale in pint and quart containers. There were also craft items, special gift baskets for highest bid, cookbooks, soup and food items available. A kettle of apple butter was made on that day so that visitors may see how our apple butter has been produced. The event was well supported by folks in the community and outlying areas as well. Thanks to all who worked and supported the 2007 festival sponsored by Gipsy Christian Church.

November 2007 - Gipsy Christian Church supported Operation Christmas Child which is sponsored by Samaritan's Purse -- packing of shoe boxes with gifts for children which will be distributed world wide. 40 shoe box gifts were collected for 2007! Thanks to all who helped make this possible. Some of those gifts were provided by a Girl Scout group from Ebensburg PA.

Other:

• Pastor Harriger now has a BLOG going which has comments plus links on various subjects relating to his web site. To go to the BLOG click on Musings of a Maverick

• Congregation of Gipsy Christian Church continues to use Bible Pathway in devotions -- if each daily reading is followed, one will read the entire Bible in one year's time. If anyone would like to obtain a copy of Bible Pathway, please contact us at address information given. Contact Pastor Harriger for a copy of the current issue of Bible Pathway.

• We have received an interesting email from Bulgaria inquiring about the possility of Pastor Stoyan Todorov -- he is pastor of Gypsy Christian Church in Bulgaria (sometimes spelled Gipsy) in text on their web site! To see what his ministry involves go to Bulgarian Christian Gypsy Church -- click on the "Enter" link when you get there -- is God opening a door for mission involvement here?

• How to Become a Christian! -- NOTE: Use reverse on your web browser to return here.

What in the World Are We Doing, Anyway?

Go to Gipsy Christian Church and Mission Involvement
• And be sure to check the Gipsy Christian Church Cookbook - a project of the Loyal Berean Class.

Making Contact with Us

• Gipsy Christian Church address:
  P.O. Box 52
  Gipsy PA 15741
  

  The church's physical address is 112 Trojan Road in the village of Gipsy.

• Pastor Harriger's address & phone:
  P.O. Box 32
  Belsano PA 15922
  Phone: 814-749-6960
  Email: cdharriger@hotmail.com

• Click on Clayton & Jean to meet them and to access links to their backgrounds and his commentaries.

Harry the Hammer, our construction foreman, says,

"Be sure to come back because we'll be posting
more information at this location in days to come!"