In our June column we told you about the origins of the St. John’s parsonage that was built attached to the original church building in 1891 and remained standing when the church building was razed in 1965. The old parsonage was used for Sunday School classes, the Associate Pastor’s study and storage, renamed as “the Parish House.”

The Herald of March 4, 1973, included a special message from Interim Pastor William E. Cameron, Jr. The congregation was asked to remain after worship for a meeting. The church council recommended leasing the Parish House to an agency of the Lutheran Church to renovate it and use it to house a program for teenagers referred by the county Juvenile Court, with funds from the federal and state governments, on a year-to-year basis. The April 1973 Enlightener said the meeting “was a healthy give and take of questions and answers, doubts and assurances, reluctance and enthusiasm” which resulted in a ‘yes’ vote to allow the Parish House to be used as a group foster home.

There had been some opposition to opening group foster homes locally, especially in residential neighborhoods. The youths would be 6 boys aged 13-17, who needed an alternative to their family lives, who would live with houseparents and attend local schools. The social ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church had been planning this home since 1971. Now they were awaiting final approval from the Pa. Governor’s Criminal Justice Planning Group and funding through the Law Enforcement Assistance Agency. Funds were required to refurbish the over-100- year-old building. A campaign to ‘sell’ the project began, with door-to-door visits in the neighborhood and speakers at civic groups promoting this ‘Anchor House,’ and many groups ‘adopted’ the home, making donations and holding fundraising events. The Anchor House was dedicated on December 8, 1974, and the first 3 boys moved in that month. The home operated successfully for 42 years, until the building was beyond repair and the last boys left in 2016. It was razed soon after, the surrounding trees taken down, and the property since has been a grassy area with a bench, flowers, walkways and an expanded shared parking lot. We still refer to this as “the old Anchor House lot”.

The next step in the life of the property where St. John’s was founded 150 years ago is to become home to our new “Blessing Box” – our mini-pantry and little library!