A Return to the Old Log Church, Schellsburg

I just love this old church near Schelllsburg--which is not far from Bedford, Pennsylvania.  It doesn't look like much from the outside: just an old log structure sitting amid an enormous cemetery.  Many buildings around this part of the state date back to the 1700s.  This one is from the first decade of the 1800s, so a bit of a late bloomer.

But it's wonderful inside!  And it's unlocked daily in the summer for visitors to enjoy.  It is only used as a church once a year, for some sort of Memorial Day service, I think.  Locals have bedecked the place in flags, which NEVER would have happened back in the 19th century.  It would have been considered blasphemous to have national symbols in a holy place...

    Here's a view from the high pulpit.  Look at those torturous straight-back pews!  This building was shared by German Lutherans and members of the German Reformed Church--which are essentially Presbyterians.  Both groups eschewed a lot of unnecessary religious adornment back in those days.

What a beautiful "wineglass pulpit" with balconies to the left and right.

 This is Anna Marbourg, wife of Jordon Marbourg, though Jordon appears to be buried elsewhere.  I liked the name Jordon (or Jordan) Marbourg so much that I Googled it to see if there was any information about him.  And there is!  He was murdered in the streets of Johnstown in 1864 for having an affair with another man's wife.  How do some guys get cool names like Jordon Marbourg, and others get names so common that you can never find them on Facebook for the multitudes that share the same name?