The one hundredth session of the West Pennsylvania Eldership of the Churches of God was held October 1-4, 1943 with the Lillyville Church, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

      The Centennial sermon was preached Sunday morning to a crowd, that filled the Bethel and overflowed into the yard, by Rev. J. L. Updegraph, who had been an ordained minister for forty-seven of the fifty years, which years are included in this history.

      Some time after the Eldership was held, the Board of Education requested the publication of the statistics used in the sermon, in The Church Advocate and later requested Rev. Updegraph, assisted by Rev. J. D. Patterson and Rev. J. I. Kalp, to prepare material for, "A Brief History of the Second Half Century of the Eldership," similar to the Our First Half Century, edited by Dr. S. G. Yahn in 1893.

      The material used has been gleaned by the reading of the Journals of the fifty sessions of the Eldership. The first sixteen written in long hand in a large Journal and the last thirty-four in printed form and Dr. Yahn's book referred to above.

      This book does not pretend to be a complete history by any means, but a record of events, actions, church extension, finances, missionary and educational interests and interesting items, that should be of interest to the present and coming generations.

THE EDITORS [6]      

[OSHC 6]