In 1878, First Presbyterian Church was officially established in a one-room New England style building that is still the basic structure of our current building. In 1900, with a growing membership, plans were accepted to revamp the small church by adding lower floor classrooms, a kitchen and a furnace room. Other windows were replaced with art glass as memorials. The bench-like seats were replaced with grained oak pews circling the pulpit. The original pulpit chairs are still in use today.

     In 1890 we helped organize the New Rochester Union Church. In 1905 we opened a Sunday School in Woodside to meet on Sunday afternoons (led by members of this church).

     In 1911, the Union Church asked to disband. Their church furnishings were given to Woodside, except for the bell which was brought to our church through the generosity of Mrs. H. E. Ward.

     In the 1920's, two of our young women went to Puerto Rico as a teacher and a nurse, and another did summer volunteer work in the mountains of Tennessee, all under the National Board of Missions.

     Our original reed organ was replaced by a new pipe organ which was dedicated in 1924 and rebuilt and expanded in 1978.

     The church gave $2,000 for the Restoration Fund solicited be the Presbyterian Church USA for war-torn countries after World War II.

     In the early 1950's, our church began giving assistance to Wood County migrant workers, both financially and in the migrant camps.

     In 1950, Presbytery purchased a camp in Michigan and several of our men spent a workday there. The next week three senior highs with their Bibles, paint brushes and small tools attended a work camp there in preparation for the continuing summer program.

     In 1963, the church expansion committee proposed buying a home on Hickory Street for the manse, using the old manse for classrooms, the pastor's study and the library. The proposal was approved.

     Our church exceeded their suggested goal by $2,000 for the UP Church's 50 million Fund and received a commendation from the Presbytery.

     In 1966 Angus Watkins and Terry Conaghan were taken under the care of the Presbytery in preparation for church vocations.

     In 1973 we made a seed contribution of $200 to the proposed Home for the Aged which later became Otterbein-Portage Valley, and we continue our support financially as well as in many other ways.

         Since 1976 we have participated with the other churches in Pemberville in an outdoor Community Church Service in Harrison Park in connection with the Pemberville Fall Fair.

     In 1977 we sponsored two refugee families who came to Pemberville from Laos, and in 1979 we helped them move to a Laotian settlement in Minnesota.

     In the fall of 1975 the Long Range Planning Committee presented plans for the church restoration and building program, and in November of 1977 the restoration began. In 1978 the building was complete and we celebrated our 100th anniversary.

     Through the years our church organized and led the Eastwood Community Choir which served the community for 25 years. We have sponsored Hymn Sings, and have worked with the Methodist Church in our Vacation Bible School and special services throughout the year.

     We will continue to serve this community as we celebrate a God who came into our world in Christ and turned it upside down. He showed us that God's Kingdom is a Kingdom of Forgiveness, hope , healing and love. We celebrate what we believe with a song, a touch, a prayer, a listening heart, and in the nurturing of faith in our children and one another, and in outreach to our community and the world.

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