Middletown First Church of God, 245 W. High St., Middletown, will celebrate its 195th year of ministry with a community anniversary celebration on Saturday, Sept. 10, from 4 to 7 p.m. on the church grounds. The event will include food and live music.

Highlights of the event for children will be a free inflatable slide and carnival games. Music will be provided by John Messick on the keyboard and SweetLife Music.

Food selections will be offered by Blazing Swine BBQ; Creekview Food Company, which will sell wraps and sandwiches; The Twisted Cart, which will serve snow cones; Temple Courts Coffee, which will offer coffee, specialty drinks and boba tea; and Sweet Dawgz Frozen Desserts.

The church congregation celebrated Anniversary Sunday on Aug. 28 with guest preaching by pastor Bill Reiset, a Blessing of the Backpacks and lunch on the church grounds.

According to a written history of the church provided by the Rev. Kim Shifler, pastor, the First Church of God was founded by the Rev. John Winebrenner and his followers in 1827.

The first church building was completed in 1832 on the east side of Union Street, and services were held there from 1832 to 1873. In 1873, after a wall of the church gave in, the congregation agreed to construct a new building. The second Church of God building was dedicated on Oct. 22, 1876. The new brick church was located on Spring and Water streets, and it featured a bell tower that was 168 feet high.

From 1876 to 1949, the congregation continued to grow, and in 1949, the Rev. C. Allen Byler was appointed pastor. He outlined a five-year program for the church, which was adopted by the church leaders in November of 1949. In 1951, a dedication was held for the 75th anniversary of the First Church of God.

Between 1951 and 1963, the congregation envisioned an educational building to be added to the church. However, in March of 1963, the ceiling of the sanctuary collapsed, making it unsafe to hold worship services in the church. The congregation decided to build a new church on a larger site. While the new church was being built, worship services were held in the Presbyterian Church at Union and Water streets and later in the gymnasium of the old high school.

Under the leadership of Dr. C.H. Weigle, a groundbreaking ceremony for the new church was held on July 26, 1964, and the first service in the new church was held on Easter Sunday, April 18, 1965.

In recent years, various pastors have served the church and in September 2002, Shifler became the first woman senior pastor of the Middletown First Church of God.

The church holds Sunday worship services at 8 and 10:30 a.m. A coffee hour is offered at 8:45 a.m., and religious classes for people of all ages take place at 9:15 a.m. The church also holds a weekly Wednesday Night Live program, which includes dinner at 5:45 p.m. and classes and small group discussions at 6:30 p.m.

For more information, contact the church at 717-944-9608 or visit http://www.middletowncog.org or http://www.facebook.com/middletowncog.