CASSOPOLIS — On State Street, just off of Broadway, United Presbyterian Church has stood for nearly two centuries as the downtown of Cassopolis has changed around it time and time again.

Now, the church will commemorate its place in the community with a 175th anniversary celebration.

The United Presbyterian Church will commemorate its 175th anniversary at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at the church, 209 E. State. The church is inviting other community churches to attend the event and bring a hymn to sing at the celebration.

“It was almost by accident that people remembered that this church was set up in 1842 and people realized this was our 175th year,” said Steve Kaszar, who has been the pastor of United Presbyterian since 2006. “We decided to have a celebration where we invited the community and community churches for a special service.”

The church was founded in March 1842, originally as the First Presbyterian Church, 20 years prior to Cassopolis’ incorporation as a village, when the settlement of Cassopolis was “little more than a clearing in the woods with a few log houses,” according to a document written by church member Tina Widerquist in 1992.

Construction of the building, where the church currently stands, began in the early 1890s, and was later merged with the baptist church at the time in 1938 to create a larger building. For much of the church’s history, it operated as a federation of churches and served as a place of worship for all denominations, but officially decided to identify with the presbyterian Church in 1968, earning it the name of the United Presbyterian Church it is known as today.

Even with such a long and full history, Kaszar said that the perhaps the most important part of the church’s history is its commitment to the community, citing the Martin Luther King Jr. events the church puts on in addition other community events the church hosts throughout the year.

“Everyone in a smaller community knows each other from everyday life, so it’s just natural to take part in those kind of activities,” Kaszar said.

Even more so than the interacting with the general public, Kaszar said it is the church’s collaboration and relationship with other community churches which has helped keep United Presbyterian prosperous for the better part of two centuries.

“Since I came here and even before, I have been amazed at how the church works with other churches through hosting events and other things,” he said. “We have connections with other churches and think we are part of a larger faith family. It’s part of who we are.”

It is this collaboration that prompted members of United Presbyterian Church to open its 175th anniversary celebration to other churches in the community.

“We’ve always been involved with other churches,” Kaszar said. “So, we invited them to bring a hymn or a chorus and a piece of their own history to talk about. We hope it won’t just be about this church’s history, but about the church history of Cass.”

Kaszar hopes the anniversary event will bring the community together and signal a way for the church to be a part of Cassopolis for centuries to come.

“[Cassopolis] is a community steeped in history,” Kaszar said. “If we stay firm to our faith and if we make that faith applicable to the neighborhood, we will last here.”