What We Do
Our mission statement says we are “a diverse community of believers following Jesus in building relationships by serving those among and around us with love and offering the good news of peace, hope, and healing.” Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Worship
We gather for worship in our building every Sunday from 10:30–11:30 am. If you can’t make it in person, you’re welcome to attend on Zoom. Email us to request the Zoom link. Kids are welcome to stay for the whole service. Nursery care is also available. You can dress however you want. Some of us wear collared shirts and slacks; some of us wear Eagles hoodies. On the first Sunday of each month, we stick around after worship for a potluck meal. If you forget to bring a dish, don’t worry. Just stay and eat!
Sunday School Classes, Bible Studies, and Discussion Groups
We schedule periodic Sunday school classes, Bible Studies, and discussion groups around topics we care about. These have included gathering in small groups to worship around backyard campfires (pictured above); studying the history of race in our congregation; running women’s and men’s Bible studies; field-tripping to Lancaster to watch Exodus brought to life on stage at Sight & Sound Theaters; and listening to the stories of gay and lesbian Christians. We announce in advance when a new series is starting, and we invite everyone, both adults and children.
Youth Group
Youth group, for middle and high schoolers, meets once a month. We do a mixture of check-in, discussion, Bible study, games, adventures, and service projects (like sorting clothes at Care & Share Thrift Shoppes in Souderton, pictured above). Email us for more information.
Summer Retreat
Every summer, we pack our overnight bags and spend the weekend together at Camp Hebron Retreat Center outside Halifax, PA. Most of the congregational legends we tell and retell come from this yearly outing. Do you remember when one of our members received a stern letter from the camp for scaling the climbing wall barefoot? Do you remember when two of our members tricked the pastor into eating a mustard s’more? Yes, we have a good time.
Wissahickon Valley Boys and Girls Club
Our members were some of the first to push for a branch of the Boys and Girls Club to come to West Ambler. When the Club did open here, we hosted them in our basement. Now, after several years away, they’re back with us as they wait for their new facility to be constructed. We love having the Club with us. Several of us have volunteered with their after-school programs; we do a “Boxes of Love” food drive for the kids and their families every Christmas, and we host them for an annual grillout at the church. Click here to check out what’s new at the Club on their Facebook page.
Family Promise
Through Family Promise MontCo PA, we team up with other local churches to host and provide meals for people who don’t have homes. It’s one of the ways we get to know our neighbors.
Service Projects
When we go out to serve, we try to go where we can work side-by-side with the people we’re serving. Most recently, this meant a week-long trip with Mennonite Disaster Service to Hurley, Virginia, where we rebuilt houses damaged by flooding and mudslides during Hurricane Ida.
WFCA, Mosaic Mennonite Conference, and Mennonite World Conference
We love making friends with other Mennonites, other Christians, and other people of faith. We’re a member of the Wissahickon Faith Community Association, an interfaith group bringing together the leaders of churches, synagogues, and mosques in Ambler and the surrounding area. We’re a member of Mosaic Mennonite Conference, which is made up mostly of churches in southeast Pennsylvania but also includes a handful in Florida, Vermont, and California. And we’re a member of Mennonite World Conference. Every few years, MWC brings together delegates from churches all over the world to worship and get to know each other. In 2022, we sent a member of our congregation to Indonesia for this assembly (pictured above)!