By Amy Smith PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Killinger seems like an unlikely hub for a celebration that spanned continents and 2 1/2 centuries.

But the little village was just that Labor Day weekend when David’s Community Bible Church celebrated its 250th anniversary.

People participated in the event from as far away as Mexico, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Belarus and came from distant states including Colorado, Arizona, Missouri and Connecticut.

With the church’s year-long theme being “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” many speakers spoke of God’s faithfulness to the church since its beginnings in 1770 – and to them personally

The celebration included greetings from many of the church’s former pastors, choir anthems, history presentations – and even comedy. The event originally was slated for the first weekend of May, to coincide with the earliest records of the church, a baptism May 4, 1770.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was postponed and scaled back.

Still, some 325 people were on-site Sept. 7 with social distancing attempted by assigning seats in the main sanctuary, placing people in the balcony and using overflow seating in the church’s basement. Many more people participated from varied locations via livestreaming.

Saturday evening

Cory McCloskey was the headliner for the Saturday evening, Sept. 5 program. The Millersburg native spent his teenage years at David’s and joked about youth retreats with no hot water and his brother Joel passing out and hitting his head on the piano during Cory’s wedding 35 yeas ago.

McCloskey now is the weatherman for the Fox station in Phoenix, Ariz.

The program also included a church history presentation by church historian Brian Snyder.

Sunday morning pastoral remarks

The church’s Sunday morning, Sept. 6 program ran 2 1/2 hours with opening remarks by Allan Briggs, current pastor. “We’re not just having a feel-good service here,” he said, “We are proclaiming the gospel SEE FAITHFULNESS • PAGE A2

Photos: Pastor Allan Briggs leads the Sept. 6 celebration. LEFT: State Sen. John DiSanto (right) presents a proclamtion to Briggs (left) and Bruce Walter, president of the church’s consistory. RIGHT: Former Pastor Brooke Solberg (center) and his wife Ruth (right), greet Jeff Forney on their way in the door. (Photos courtesy of Todd Gearhart)