Penningtonville Presbyterian Church (PPC) will celebrate its 175th anniversary on Sunday, May 17, at the church, 406 Main St., Atglen.

The day will commence with a coffee hour at 9:30 a.m. before the worship service begins at 10:30 a.m. The service will be given by former PPC minister Jason Link. Current interim pastor Rev. Greg Hall and former congregation member Amy Wade, who now ministers at Doe Run Presbyterian Church in East Fallowfield, will also assist with the service.

During the service, PPC will recognize 12 members who have been part of the congregation for over 50 years.

The church's new mural, painted by members of the congregation and the public, will be unveiled following the service.

"We're all going to walk out and have a bagpiper who will lead us out to the mural," said Lisa Rudisill, a member of the celebration committee. "Then the bagpiper will lead us up to the park, and we will have a meal at the park."

Rudisill said that the mural represents generations of legacy at the church. Steve Wilson, the son of one of the 100th anniversary committee members, helped design the mural for the celebration this year.

Invitations have been mailed to congregation members.

"We are just so looking forward to the friendships and revisiting all of those memories," Rudisill said. "We're looking forward to a great celebration."

Rudisill is part of a six-person committee that has organized the event. The group has met at least monthly since the fall.

"Everybody contributed," she said. "We had somebody who has the gift of food, somebody who has the gift of organization, somebody who was good with photography. Everybody kind of had their own piece of the puzzle. It was a great team effort, for sure."

Penningtonville Presbyterian was founded in 1851, shortly before Penningtonville became present-day Atglen. The church's numbers have been dropping over the years, but it still boasts a congregation of over 100 members.

Rudisill noted the Presbyterian Church's ties to Chester County and how important remembering history is.

"These days, we sometimes can forget about history," she said. "It's pretty cool to remember those things every once in a while."