Hillcrest Presbyterian to observe July 4 with colonial reenactment of outdoor worship service

On the Fourth of July, the Hillcrest United Presbyterian Church will observe Independence Day with a colonial reenactment of an outdoor Presbyterian worship service on the Pennsylvania frontier.

The 10 a.m. service will feature Dr. John Lolla’s preaching and psalms from the 1645 Scottish Psalter.

Hillcrest’s celebration of America’s 245th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence remembers the role of colonial Presbyterians in the national effort to gain freedom from England’s monarchy.

The sermon will refer to Scots and Scots-Irish families living in the Monroeville area on the western Pennsylvania frontier who joined the militia in defense from England and its Indian allies.

King George III of England once described the American Revolution as the “Presbyterian War.”

“There is no good crying about the matter,” Whig politician Horace Walpole told the House of Commons when news of the American Revolution arrived in England. “Cousin America has run off with the Presbyterian parson, and that is the end of it.”

The service will include the sacrament of communion in a manner that was prescribed in the Scots 1560 Book of Discipline. The public is encouraged to join the congregation in the service of celebration. Plan on bringing a sack lunch to share in fellowship after the service. The Church is located at 1622 James St., above the Monroeville Mall.

For more information, call Dr. John Lolla at 412-735-0108 or visit the church website.