Schlosser’s (Neffs) Church

In 1755, the Schlosser family donated approximately 100 acres of land in this area to be used for church purposes. The first log church was erected by the Reformed congregation that same year, and it was known as “Schlosser’s Church” in honor of the family who donated the land.

There were also Lutheran settlers living in the area of Schlosser’s Church, and because the church building was not used every Sunday by the Reformed congregation (because the preacher was often at another one of the churches in his charge), the Lutherans were invited to share the use of this church building. There are records indicating that a minister was serving the Lutheran congregation on a regular basis at least as early as 1762.

However, the formal Schlosser’s Union Church wasn’t created until 1795, when both the Reformed and the Lutheran congregations signed a contract agreeing to share all debts and assets.

In 1797, a new second church building was erected, built of stone. During this period, the church was sometimes also known as the “Scrub Oak Church”, due to the many scrub oak trees in the area. A pipe organ was installed in this church building in 1821.

A third church building, being built of brick, was constructed in 1871. The old pipe organ was moved to the new church building, and was used until a new pipe organ was installed in 1912. The current modern organ was installed in 1941. Stained glass windows were installed in 1930.

This third church building is still being used by the congregation of the United Church of Christ (as the old German Reformed Church is now known). Many repairs and improvements have been made to the old church buildings over the years, and many additions have been constructed. Much of the original land donation was sold off over the years, and the proceeds from these sales were used to finance some of the many repairs, improvements, and additions. [However, the Lutheran congregation has recently built a new church of its own, just south of the new cemetery located behind the old church.]

In the old cemetery, people were buried in rows, in the order of their date of death. This does make it somewhat difficult to locate family graves, especially since many of the earliest gravestones were made of soft stone or even wood, and most of them no longer exist, or are virtually illegible. The new cemetery was created in 1866, and much of it consists of family plots.

Felix² Arner, son of Hans Ulrich and Verena, is buried in the old cemetery. His gravestone is the oldest known surviving Arner gravestone in America. However, it is close to becoming illegible, except under certain exact lighting conditions.

Felix and his family were members of Schlosser’s Church from a fairly early date. [Since he received a warrant for land of his own in this area in 1752, it’s possible that he could have been one of the earliest members.] Whenever he moved to the homestead at what is now 5731 Paradise Road, the Schlosser’s Church would have been the most convenient church to that location. And it’s fairly certain that he was a member of this church at least by sometime in the 1760s. (See the Lehigh County Churches Timeline.)

Felix Arner is buried in the old section of the cemetery, across State Route 873, just to the north of the church. His gravestone is in the seventeenth row, the second stone from the right, under a lone tree, near Neffs-Laurys Road.