“I am a companion to all them that fear thee, all of them that keep thy precepts.”

SILVERHILL, Alabama --- In 1885 the Evangelical Covenant  Church was founded by Swedish immigrants, based on that concept from Psalm 119, verse 63.

Less than two decades later, Swedish immigrants came together with their Czechoslovakian counterparts to found an Evangelical Covenant Church in the tiny community of Silverhill based on those same concepts.

“The church was founded on the concept of working together to serve the community,” said the Rev. Jesse Adams, who has served as pastor of the church for the last 10 years. “That is what we are still about.”

On Nov. 20, 1902, according to the church’s history compiled by member Creighton C. “Peco” Forsman, a group of 10 people got together to organize a Mission Church. Eleven days later, on Dec. 1, the “Svenska Evangeliska Missions Forsamling,” or Swedish Evangelistic Mission Congregation of Silverhill was formed.

In January of 1903, two lots were given to the congregation by the town’s founder Oscar Johnson and the Silverhill Land Company, the lots were cleared and a 50-foot, by 30-foot structure was begun.

Plans called for the church to be built for $75 and by December, the traditional Swedish Christmas service, Julotta, was held at the church. A steeple was added in 1904 at a cost of $182 and the entire church was painted for $18.32.

Lay Pastor Nils J. Jacobson served as the church’s first pastor, according to records, serving from 1902 to 1913.

The original structure served the church until 1957 when a new sanctuary was built and remained in Silverhill until 1978, when the Blakeley Foundation was seeking to re-establish the historic town as a state park and asked to use the church building as an office space.

The structure was split into three pieces for transport by helicopter to Blakeley. Only two survived the journey when one piece was dropped during transport.

Plans were to rebuild the structure at the park, but before the pieces could be put back together, a monster storm known as Frederic hit the Gulf Coast in 1979, destroying the other two structures.

All that remains of the original church building now is the spire, which was used to construct the Mary Grice Gazebo, that still stands at Blakeley today.

Today, the church boasts 130 members and is touted as the oldest member of the Southeastern Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

This weekend, the church will host its 110^th anniversary celebration with a banquet set for 6 p.m. on Saturday in the banquet hall at Baldwin EMC in Summerdale.

All former pastors are invited to join in on the celebration with special guest Dr. Robert Owens, superintendent of the Southeastern Conferenced of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Owens will then serve as the special guest speaker at the Sunday morning worship serve on Nov. 4. Forsman will also give a presentation on the history of the church.

“I think it is fitting that we are celebrating 110 years of our congregation on All-Saints Day,” Adams said. “On the same day that we are honoring our fathers and all of those who came before us, we celebrate those who paved the way for this church to be built.”