Lehigh University history professor John K. Smith spoke recently about the connection between the Church of Nativity and Lehigh University. Approximately 70 people gathered at Maginnes Hall to learn about the founder of these two institutions, railroad entrepreneur Asa Packer. Packer's circle of friends, the elite families of Fountain Hill, also supported Lehigh University and the Church of Nativity. The Lindermans, Wilburs and Sayres were business partners and socialized together. Smith counted 12 marriages between these families.

Smith related that Asa Packer had a fortuitous meeting with the Rev. William Bacon Stevens, a well-educated rector and future Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania and of the American Episcopal churches in Europe. Packer saw the need for establishing a new college that would educate young men in technical studies as well as the classics. He was unsure how to undertake such an enterprise.

Stevens assured Packer that he would assist him in this worthy endeavor. Stevens guided the beginning years of Lehigh as the first head of the trustees. Lehigh University severed its connection to the Episcopal Church when in the 1890s the school was near bankruptcy. The railroad stocks that were endowed to Lehigh by Packer were worthless. When the school approached the state of Pennsylvania for help, they were informed that no school with a religious affiliation could receive funds. Religious services were no longer held at Lehigh by 1902 and daily chapel was stopped in 1930.

The Cathedral Church of Nativity celebrated its150th anniversary in 2012.

Smith was invited by The Dialogue Center and the Departments of History and Religious Studies of Lehigh University to present this informative talk in honor of the anniversary.