Three Sunday Services on East Union Road
East Union Presbyterian Church sits along East Union Road in Cheswick, a small Allegheny County community about twenty minutes northeast of downtown Pittsburgh. Sunday mornings at the church move through three distinct worship services, each with its own style and feel. Children and families take part in all three through music, drama and creative interaction, and the same hour also welcomes mentally and physically handicapped friends and their caregivers into the Faithful Followers service.
Worship begins at 9:30 a.m. in person, with every service streamed simultaneously on YouTube Live so members at home can follow along. The dress code is casual. After the service, children ages four through fifth grade head to Sunday School from 10:40 to 11:30 a.m., working through the year's theme, "Awesome Adventures: God's People On The Move!"
Rooted in 1850, Looking Forward
The congregation traces its history back to 1850, long before the current campus bustled with weekday activities. Members describe the life of the church in plain words: "We are God's people and this is God's church." The same spirit that has kept the congregation going for more than 170 years shows up in a particular detail on the grounds. Years ago, longtime parishioner Jack Baker gathered walnut seeds from Deer Lakes Park and planted them on the church property, hoping they would one day provide income if the church ever needed it. The more than one hundred walnut trees that now shade the property inspired the name of the church's summer program, Walnut Woods Summer Camp.
Walnut Woods Summer Camp and Deer Lakes Nursery School
Walnut Woods Summer Camp is staffed out of the East Union campus and is directed by Mindy Young, the church's administrative assistant and financial secretary. Counselors must be at least high school graduates with two years of experience working with children, and they must pass FBI fingerprinting and sex offender registry screenings. The camp's philosophy is intentionally gentle: nurture children through age-appropriate stimulation, walk with families as they prepare for school, and do it all in a setting shaped by the fruit of the Spirit.
Across the rest of the year, the same campus hosts Deer Lakes Nursery School, a Christian preschool that now accepts applications for the 2026-2027 school year. Three programs run side by side:
- Mommy & Me for two-year-olds and a caregiver, Tuesdays 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., in eleven-week fall, winter and spring sessions or drop-in days.
- Beginners for three-year-olds, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with morning (9:00 to 11:30 a.m.) and afternoon (12:30 to 3:00 p.m.) options.
- Pre-Kindergarten for four- and early five-year-olds, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, in the same morning and afternoon blocks.
Tuition runs from $30 for drop-in Mommy & Me days to $200 a month for three-day Pre-K, plus a $50 non-refundable registration fee and a $100 activity fee. The school can be reached at (724) 265-1627.
Inreach Ministries and the Shape of the Week
The congregation organizes its life together under the heading "Inreach Ministries," a list of seven areas where members care for one another: Adult Bible Studies, Children Ministries, Community Events, Women's Ministry, Prayer & Care, Youth Ministry, and Young Families. Pastor Jo Ramsey, Associate Pastor of Family Life, oversees the children's side of that work. She has served East Union part-time since 2007, first as Director of Children's Worship and then in her current role starting in 2011. She coordinates Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and a long-running annual Christmas Pageant that she also writes and directs.
For older students, the church runs a youth group with off-campus events that require signed permission forms, and a Confirmation program that runs January through April each year. Confirmands complete three challenges and three worship reflection forms, and may earn their God and Church Award through Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts as part of the journey.
Mission Partnerships Far From Cheswick
East Union treats mission as something the whole church does together. Active partnerships link the congregation to churches in northern Haiti, Malawi in southeastern Africa, and rural West Virginia. Two of the partnerships have specific names: the Haiti Solar Water Project and the Malawi Partnership. A regional Family Mission Retreat draws members into that same work closer to home, and the church also supports Compassion International.
Closer to Cheswick, the congregation hosts the West Deer Food Bank on its campus, supplies workers and space for it, puts together Thanksgiving baskets each fall, and adopts a stretch of highway through the Adopt-A-Highway program. Exercise classes meet at the church as well, opening the building to neighbors who might not otherwise walk through the doors.
Spaghetti Dinners, Trunk or Treat and the Community Center
One of the easiest ways to experience East Union without a Sunday commitment is the monthly Spaghetti Dinner, held on the first Monday of every month (except Labor Day) from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the church community center. Chef Eric and a team of volunteers serve spaghetti and meatballs for $10 an adult and $5 for kids ages three to twelve. A drive-up take-out option lets busy families pick up dinner without leaving the car.
Each October the campus hosts the Trunk or Treat Fall Festival, a free evening of decorated trunks, raffle baskets and food for sale. The Christmas Pageant in mid-December and the women's retreat round out a year that keeps the buildings in near-constant use.
Leadership and Giving
Rev. James Ramsey has pastored East Union since 2004 and serves as Head of Staff, Mission Coordinator and Moderator of Session, the church's governing board of thirteen elected and ordained elders. He previously served churches in Watertown, New York (1991-1996) and Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania (1997-2003). A board of nine deacons cares for the sick and homebound, and a board of twelve trustees oversees the buildings and grounds.
Members and friends can give in several ways: cash or check in the Sunday offering plate, online, by mobile text through GivePlus, by bank payment through Venmo, by gift of stock, or by remembering the church in a will or estate plan. Sunday bulletins and sermon recordings are available, and a member directory keeps members connected through the week.