Welcome to Inside the Red Doors – Stories from the St. John’s Archives!

As we approach St. John’s 150th anniversary in 2026, we are digging deep into the church archives to connect with the stories that shaped us. John Hendricks, our Photographer and Archivist, has worked faithfully for 15 years to maintain and share important pieces of our history. Leaning on his extensive knowledge and storytelling ability, we are excited to share these artifacts and anecdotes as a way to honor the past and imagine what the next 150 years could bring.

Rev. H.F. Seiple – St. John’s First Pastor!

by John Hendricks, St. John’s Archivist

In the 150-year history of St. John’s church, the role of our first pastor, Rev. Henry Franklin Seiple, has sometimes been downplayed, as he was a shared pastor with the Hilltown and Dublin Reformed churches, and was only pastor here 5 years. But looking at his life story and his work, he was a very interesting and well-respected pastor!

Henry Seiple was born in Catasauqua, Pa. in 1843. His parents died within a year, and he was raised by an aunt and uncle. He graduated from Amherst College in 1866, then studied law (with W. H. Gibson, an attorney and judge who had just returned home to Tiffin, OH. as a colonel in the Civil War) and was admitted to the Bar in 1967. He practiced law in Bowling Green, KY. and Tiffin, OH. until 1870. In 1871 he returned to Pennsylvania and studied at the new Ursinus College of Theology under its founder, Rev. J.H.A. Bomberger, part of the Ursinus College first graduating class in 1873.

(Before we continue, let’s define a few old-church words: a ‘classis’ was similar to what we call a conference except covering a smaller area, a ‘charge’ was a pastor being assigned to several churches, usually an established church plus new ones, a ‘mission’ a new church under the leadership of a classis or an existing church.)

Rev. Seiple was ordained by the Mercersburg, PA. Classis in 1874, and installed as pastor of the Woodbury, PA. Charge, while also serving as principal of the Woodbury schools! In 1879, he became pastor of the Hilltown Charge, which also included the Reformed church in Dublin and St. John’s, previously founded and run by the Tohickon Classis but attached to Hilltown in 1878. On May 18, 1979, Rev. Seiple preached his first sermon, ‘The First Communion’, at St. John’s, and on June 30, a congregational meeting was held where Seiple was unanimously elected as St. John’s first pastor and was installed on September 23. His first salary as pastor of the Hilltown Charge (the 3 churches) was $550 a year. In 1868, Seiple had married Salome Gross of Ontario, and she joined St. John’s in July of 1879.

Rev. H. F. Seiple served as our first permanent pastor, preaching in both English and German, from 1879 (3 years after our founding in 1876) until St. John’s left the Hilltown Charge in 1884 and became an independent church of the Reformed denomination. We will continue the story of his years at St. John’s and beyond (remaining as a Lansdale resident until his passing in 1908) next month.