Our History

Our church was founded as a German Reformed congregation on October 15, 1833 as Christ Reformed Church. In the beginning, this Reformed congregation and our neighboring Lutheran congregation shared a common building, as a "union church." The worship services were held in the same building, located directly across the street "on the eastern side of the great road called, 'Sumneytown Road', Towamencin Township in the county of Montgomery."

It was under the ministry of its ninth pastor, Rev. D.K. Laudenslager (1903-1910), that the Reformed and Lutheran congregations began plans to dissolve the union arrangement. Marked by several changes, including the discontinuation of German singing in the worship services and the formation of Sunday School, it was during his pastorate that the agreement to separate from the Union Church was signed. In 1911, each congregation decided to build its own sanctuary. Completed in the summer of 1912, the new church building (our present fellowship hall) was dedicated June 30th of that same year. The new sanctuary and educational facilities were built in 1965.

Rev. Henry S. Basler, the first pastor of Christ Church, preached his last sermon in the German language on May 12, 1839. Our current pastors, Jim and Cathy, first preached (in English!) on January 10, 2010.

In the 20th century, our church was part of an ecumenical movement that led to a series of denominational mergers. The Reformed Church in the United States (formerly the German Reformed Church) merged with the Evangelical Synod of North America in 1934 to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church. The E&R church, in turn, merged in 1957 with the Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ (UCC).

In 2006, our church decided to leave the UCC and seek a new affiliation. Our search led us to the Evangelical Covenant Church: in February 2007 our congregation voted to seek to affiliate with the ECC, and we were welcomed into full membership in the Covenant in June 2007.

We look forward to our common ministry together with the Evangelical Covenant Church! From the beginning, the members of Christ Covenant Church have been called to be God's witness in this community, and our calling has not changed. Our mission remains the same: "to help all men and women love and serve Jesus Christ."