About Meadowcroft Presbyterian

History & Heritage

The origins of Meadowcroft Presbyterian Church go all the way back to 1939. That is when an investment broker named John Marsden saw the need for a Bible-teaching Sunday School for the children in Concordville, Pennsylvania, and decided to start one himself. As these classes for children grew, they eventually added a Bible study for the parents. From its beginning, Meadowcroft has always had a vision for teaching and discipling people in the Word of God.

Another constant in the history of the church has been movement and change. The Sunday School and Bible study met in a wide variety of locations (including homes, a borrowed church, a barn, and even an ice cream stand) until 1949, when we were able to finally purchase the old Concord School Building #1 at Baltimore Pike and Route 322. In 1960 they were given a plot of ground on Cheyney Road, just north of Baltimore Pike, and they built their new church building. In 2002, after a period of growth caused us to outgrow our building and property, we purchased the 11-acre Meadowcroft Farm on Westtown Road, near Cheyney University and the Westtown School. The congregation is in the process of renovating the large barn into a new worship facility.

When the congregation organized as a church in 1949, it was known as Hope Chapel, but it then became the Bible Presbyterian Church of Concordville in 1951. After the move to Cheyney Road the church became known Covenant Presbyterian Church of Concord. As its parent denomination went through mergers with other denominations, Covenant first became part of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod in 1964, and finally the Presbyterian Church in America in 1982.

In October of 2004, the church changed it's name to Meadowcroft Presbyterian to reflect the new property purchased - Meadowcroft Farm.

Vision

What we believe

John Calvin

A Synopsis of the Beliefs of the Presbyterian Church in America
- also available at http://www.pcanet.org/general/beliefs.htm>

1. The Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
2. There is one God, eternal and self-existing in three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) who are to be equally loved, honored, and adored.
3. All mankind participated in Adam's fall from his original sinless state and is thus lost in sin and totally helpless.
4. The Sovereign God, for no other reason than His own unfathomable love and mercy, has chosen lost sinners from every nation to be redeemed by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit and through the atoning death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ.
5. Those sinners whom the Spirit quickens, come to believe in Christ as Savior by the Word of God, are born again, become sons of God, and will persevere to the end.
6. Justification is by faith and through it the undeserving sinner is clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
7. The goal of God's salvation in the life of the Christian is holiness, good works, and service for the glory of God.
8. At death the Christian's soul passes immediately into the presence of God and the unbeliever's soul is eternally separated from God unto condemnation.
9. Baptism is a sign of God's covenant and is properly administered to children of believers in their infancy as well as to those who come as adults to trust in Christ.
10. Jesus Christ will return to earth, visibly and bodily, at a time when He is not expected, to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.
11. The Gospel of God's salvation in Jesus Christ must be published to all the world as a witness before Jesus Christ returns.

Copyright © 2007 Meadowcroft Presbyterian Church