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Members of the Society of Friends settled in upper Bucks County,
a few miles south of Lehigh County, as early as 1715. Their
large farms, bisected by a heavily traveled road between
Bethlehem and Philadelphia, were surrounded by dense forests.
The community received its name, Quakertown, in 1803.
When incorporated as a borough in 1854, coupled with the
arrival of the railroad two years later, it started to attract
small industries -- cigars, tools, stoves, clothing, shoes and
the like. In 1860 it had a population of 863 persons; two
decades later the population doubled.
The oldest religious society in Quakertown was the 1730 Friends Meeting.
A hundred years would go by before other religious groups came
to the village. Episcopalians waited until 1887 before they had
their first service in the Union Chapel. It drew enough
Episcopalians in and around Quakertown for the convocation of
Germantown to establish a mission in the town.
The following year, Bishop Whitaker appointed J. Thomas Carpenter the
missionary for upper Bucks County with his headquarters in
Quakertown. Carpenter immediately started to raise money to
build a church. By 1889 the congregation had their church
building consecrated. Carpenter gave up his work for reasons of
health in 1895. The mission was either served by students of
the Philadelphia Divinity School or by ministers who stayed for
short periods.
Quakertown remained a rural community well into the 20th
century. The mission congregation grew following World War II,
and under the leadership of the Rev. Richard K. Bauder in 1956,
was admitted to convention as a self-supporting parish. Father
Bauder became the first Rector. In 1959, the congregation
called The Rev. Frederick Kettle as its second Rector to assist
them in building a new Church. Property was found on the south
side of town and the construction was finished in 1963. Father
Kettle served Emmanuel faithfully until his retirement in 1980.
The Rev. George Wilkinson served briefly as rector from 1981-2 and was
followed by the fourth rector, the Rev. Robert Granfeldt. Under
his leadership, the membership grew, as did the Christian
Education program. He resigned in 1987 due to his illness in
his family.
The Rev. David Danner began as the next rector in 1988. He enhanced lay
participation in the services and initiated far more involvement
in the community through joint outreach programs. In 1995, he
received a call to a new parish in New England. The Rev.
William B. Fulks accepted the call to come to Emmanuel in 1996
and initiated several programs for long range planning. He
retired as rector in 2000.
In 2001, the Rev. Jeffrey A. Ross was called as the seventh rector of
Emmanuel Church. Under his leadership, the church grew in
spirituality and self sufficiency. The Christian education
program grew with the addition of adult classes, the addition of
a summer bible school, and a greater emphasis on the youth
education. The Rev. Jeffrey A Ross accepted a call to Saint
Peter's Church, Lewes, DE in July of 2005.
Emmanuel's eighth and current rector, the Rev. Lisa Keppeler,
arrived in January of 2007. |
