At Salem Hellers Church, faithfulness is a two-way street.

It's a road that church members have been navigating every day for the last three centuries. And it's a type of faithfulness worth celebrating.

"I don't want to talk about our faithfulness to God," said Joann Cooper, a longtime member of Salem Hellers Church and the head of the planning committee for the upcoming celebration. "God has been faithful to this church and kept it together. For some reason, He's been faithful in keeping this little church on the hill going."

That 300-year-old faithful pact between God and the church's members will be just one of the things that will be celebrated when Salem Evangelical Reformed Church, Hellers conducts its Service of Thanksgiving at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 2555 Horseshoe Road, Lancaster.

"The fact that we're 300 years old is a pretty big deal," said Cooper. "It certainly is a long time. Lancaster wasn't even a city when our church was established, and the United States wasn't even a country."

Salem Hellers' Service of Thanksgiving will feature a traditional hourlong worship service enriched by hymns and anthems from the Salem Hellers choir and musicians and a special message from retired pastor Bruce Tully. The service will be followed by a dessert reception and an open house.

"The emphasis is on giving thanks and being thankful for God's protection over the years," said Bill McLain, Salem Hellers Church's consistory chair. "There will be opportunities for people to be led through the stories of the church's stained glass and some very old photos and artifacts that tell the history of the church."

The organizers of the church's Service of Thanksgiving sent out 400 invitations to former Salem Hellers members, current members and their families and friends and former staff members to attend the event.

"We're anxious to see who comes," said Cooper, a resident of Manheim Township. "Some of our former members don't live in the area. They're people who had a detachment at some point. We told our current members to invite members of their families to come celebrate with us."

On any given Sunday, about 60 individuals attend services at Salem Hellers Church. Sunday services begin at 9:45 a.m., and the church also offers a youth Sunday school, a vacation Bible school in the summer and adult education. It sponsors and supports numerous community events and causes, as well.

"I think it's a congregation that seeks to serve the Lord and that cares very deeply about one another," said McLain, a resident of East Lampeter Township. "We constantly hear that the church is friendly to outsiders. The Gospel is preached every Sunday, and people are reminded why they need Jesus as a Savior."

"With our location on the hill, we hope that our church building is a lighthouse for the community," said Cooper. "Throughout the years, we've had various concerts, and we've helped out in the community. We've also had fun days for kids. For many years, we've been giving to local ministries."

After meeting for worship in neighbors' homes, German settlers to the Conestoga Valley area built a permanent log cabin house of worship near the Jacob Heller family farm in the early 1700s. The present sanctuary was constructed in 1896, and the education building was added in 1958.

Since 1725, Salem Hellers Church has been led spiritually by 26 pastors.

"Many people from the Germanic cultures came to the United States because of religious persecution, and many settled in the Conestoga Valley area," said Cooper. "They began coming in the 1700s, and they settled in a 20-mile area. Because transportation was slow, meeting places had to be close by. We had a very humble beginning with a log cabin with dirt floors and slab seats. If you look at the level of sanctuary we have today, it's been quite the evolution."

"I think Salem Hellers is following the trajectory of what you see in society," said McLain. "Not as many people go to church as they used to. Certainly, in the 1700s, it was different and everyone went to church."

For additional information, go to https://salemhellers.com.