The Blue Church

(The Blue Church)

“Remember all the ways which the Lord your God led you.”  Deuteronomy 8:2

In 1832, the leader of a historic Springfield family, George Bolton Lownes, erected a small chapel on a parcel of his farm adjoining Baltimore Pike.  He had come to personal faith in Christ out of Quakerism and desired a means of honoring the Lord before he died.  In his will, he left the chapel as a place of worship, “free for the use” of any who would observe “…the doctrines of the Christian religion as set forth in the New Testament, and especially…the doctrine of the proper divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…”  This building, now the oldest standing church building in Springfield, came to be known as “The Blue Church” because Lownes had constructed it of Pennsylvania limestone (fieldstone) which turned pale blue in wet weather.  

For the next hundred years, the chapel was used as a place of worship only intermittently.  In 1933, a group studying the Bible in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wendell H. Walker of Swarthmore sought the use of the building to house a weekly Bible class which had become too large for the Walkers’ limited facilities.  After receiving permission from the Court of Delaware County, members of the class reopened the chapel in the summer of 1933 and, with twenty others, began regular meetings on Sunday evenings.

In 1934, the group expanded their ministry to Sunday mornings with classes for different age groups meeting in various areas of the one room church.  During these beginning years, Robert A. Cressy was instrumental with several other leaders in building up the work.  In 1938, the group took a major step of faith by calling him to be their first full-time pastor.  He began his official duties in January of 1939, and during his tenure, he completed both his college and seminary degrees.

For several years, as the congregation grew, classes for children and young people were held in automobiles while the adults met for Bible teaching inside the building.  In 1945, an old carriage shed at the back of the property was remodeled to accommodate five Sunday School classrooms.  In 1948, the new congregation was chartered as a non-profit corporation with 67 members, and two years later Delaware County conveyed the church property to the trustees of the Lownes Free Church, Inc.  

By 1956, growth required the building of a new educational unit consisting of eight classrooms, an auditorium, a pastor’s study, and a kitchen.  Records from the following year indicate that the membership of the church stood at 120, Sunday School enrollment of those 18 and over at 185, and the average Sunday morning attendance at about 300.  125 attended the Sunday evening services, and a regular mid-week prayer service was held.  A two-week daily Vacation Bible School program was also provided for church families as well as outreach into the community.

In the mid-sixties, a large field-stone colonial style edifice with seating for 400 was erected with a connecting wing at the rear for administrative and educational facilities.  A covered portico from the main entrance to the original Blue Church building completed the structure which was dedicated February 9, 1969.

The Early American architecture of the newer building was meant to complement the much older chapel.  A bell found in an antique shop near West Chester hangs in the steeple.  The original cemetery, nearly enclosed, is entered from the portico.  The tombstone of George Bolton Lownes lies at the front entrance of the building he constructed.

God has graciously provided pastors to serve at The Blue Church.  Pastor Robert A. Cressy, after 35 years of service, retired September, 1974, and was named Pastor Emeritus.  Pastor William J. Saal, who had come to serve as assistant pastor in September, 1972, became interim pastor after Pastor Cressy’s retirement.  In July, 1975, Pastor Saal accepted the call to become the second pastor of The Blue Church.  He served until the end of 1980 when he resigned to become the U.S. Director for Arab World Ministries.

In May, 1982, James M. Kutnow, formerly Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary and Associate Pastor of Scofield Memorial Church in Dallas, Texas, became the third senior pastor.  Then, in August, 1991, Robert S. Korn was called to become Associate Pastor.

In 1998 Pastor Kutnow accepted an invitation to pastor the Milan Bible Church (Milan Italy), where he served as one of our missionaries, and afterward the Church asked Robert R. Kinzel to become their fourth senior pastor.  Pastor Kinzel had shepherded Fellowship Bible Church of St. Cloud, MN, for over twelve years, and began his duties here on January 1, 2001.

On the cornerstone of the church are inscribed the words from Psalm 34:3, “Exalt His Name Together.”  This has been the consistent purpose of The Blue Church during its rich and blessed history, and our prayer is that we may continue to hold forth the Word of Life and exalt the Savior until He returns!