A Historic Congregation on East Baltimore Avenue
Media Presbyterian Church sits at 30 East Baltimore Avenue in the borough of Media, the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The congregation has been part of the community for hundreds of years, and from its downtown location the church continues to serve as both a place of worship and a hub for ministry across the region and around the world. The building is open and the doors are open: visitors are welcomed with what the congregation describes as the joy of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Worship is central to life here. A single Sunday morning service gathers the church at 10 a.m., in person and streamed live on YouTube, blending traditional and contemporary music, prayer, preaching, and the sacraments. Around that weekly gathering the church has built an unusually wide range of programs for children, youth, adults, and seniors, plus a long list of local and global mission partnerships that reach from Media to Liberia and from Chester to Hungary.
Worship on Sunday Morning
The Sunday service begins at 10 a.m. and is offered both in the sanctuary and through a YouTube livestream so that members who are traveling, homebound, or otherwise unable to attend in person can still participate. The service follows a pattern familiar to Presbyterian congregations, with a call to worship, hymns, prayer, scripture readings, a sermon, and an opportunity for response. Communion is observed regularly, and the Deacons' Fund receives the monthly Communion offerings that fund the church's Benevolence program.
Music is one of the church's particular strengths. The Sanctuary Choir presents choral music for weekly worship from Labor Day through Memorial Day and rehearses on Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. A four-octave handbell choir plays in traditional services roughly once a month and welcomes new ringers, with no previous experience required. A contemporary Worship Team, led by the Director of Contemporary Music, teaches and leads re-written hymns, Scripture songs, and newer worship songs, and collaborates with the choirs on special services such as the Christmas concert, Christmas Eve, Holy Week services, and Ash Wednesday. A free three-octave handbell program supports the Sanctuary Choir and offers another avenue for musical service.
The congregation is in the middle of a significant musical refresh. After more than forty years with the red Hymnal (Hymns for the Family of God) and about thirty-five years with the blue Presbyterian Hymnal, both are being replaced by The Sing! Hymnal, edited by hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty and a team of pastors, theologians, and musicians. The pew Bibles are also being upgraded from the NRSV translation to new NIV Bibles, with one large-print Bible in each pew for those who need it. A donation program invites members to dedicate books in honor or memory of loved ones, and a deadline of October 25, 2026 has been set to complete the effort.
Children and Youth at MPC
Children are at the heart of Media Presbyterian's ministry. The Children's Ministry, known as Cornerstone Kids, serves children from birth through fifth grade with the goal of helping them know, grow, and show God's love. The nursery is available for children four and under during the 10 a.m. worship service, opening at 9:45 a.m. so families can drop off little ones before the service begins.
Sunday School meets at 9 a.m. for preschool through fifth grade and uses the Orange curriculum. After the Children's Message in the 10 a.m. worship service, children in the BLOC program (Building Lives on Christ) gather for their own age-appropriate activities from age four through second grade, with parent and congregational volunteers serving as co-leaders. A wide range of family resources, including the Parent Cue, the Parent Cue App, and curated YouTube channels for kids, is shared with parents to help reinforce the same lessons at home during the week.
MPC Youth brings together students in grades six through twelve from five area school districts. The group describes itself as diverse in interests - sports, band, gaming, art - and united by a desire to grow in faith together. Regular youth group nights include time to hang out, share a meal, play games, and study the Bible at each student's own pace. Throughout the year the youth take part in hikes, day trips, service projects, retreats, and summer camp. Vacation Bible School is another highlight; the most recent VBS was themed True North, with a focus on Jesus as the one who can be trusted in every direction life leads.
Adult Discipleship and Spiritual Formation
The Spiritual Formation Committee, a committee of Session, supports the congregation's growth in faith through a range of resources. A 52-week Bible Reading Plan invites the whole church to read through the Bible together, and a Summer Reading List and Spiritual Formation Brochure point members toward additional reading. A library of recorded teachings covers books of the Bible (Gospels of John, Mark, Matthew, and Luke, the Epistles of Peter, Hebrews, Acts, and Revelation), Christian basics (Basic Christian Beliefs, the Words of Jesus, Parables of Jesus), and apologetics (Evidence for Christianity, Creation and Evolution, America's Christian Roots). Many of these are available as video series on Rumble and YouTube.
Bible studies meet in smaller groups throughout the week, including a Wednesday-evening BLOC group for adults that meets on Zoom. Adult Sunday School and small groups are also available, and the Stephen Ministry program offers one-to-one lay care for anyone going through a difficult season such as grief, hospitalization, divorce, unemployment, a terminal illness, incarceration, chronic illness, or the birth or loss of a child. Stephen Ministers are trained members of the congregation who provide a confidential, listening presence under the supervision of a Stephen Leader.
Music Ministry in More Depth
Music Ministry leadership sees the role of musicians in the church as first and foremost glorifying God by letting Christ increase through worship. The program is intentionally cross-generational, mentoring younger musicians alongside seasoned ones and offering a growing variety of high-quality musical outlets. The Sanctuary Choir is the backbone of the traditional service; rehearsals on Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. prepare anthems, responses, and choral offerings for weekly worship from Labor Day through Memorial Day. New singers are always welcome.
The four-octave handbell choir rings in traditional services about once a month and for special services as needed. Because bells are taught in-house, beginners can join without prior experience. The Worship Team and Voices of Praise bring contemporary arrangements to the same service, including re-written hymns and new songs drawn from contemporary and local songwriters. The two streams meet in collaboration during Christmas, Easter, and other combined services, reflecting the church's blended worship style.
Local Mission: Serving Media and Delaware County
Media Presbyterian describes its mission as being a welcoming Christian fellowship of all ages and walks of life that worships, grows, and serves together. In practical terms, that mission shows up in deep partnerships with ministries throughout Delaware County.
Members volunteer on the first four Thursdays of every month at the Media Food Bank, located at 350 West State Street in Media, helping to stock shelves, sort donations, and serve neighbors facing food insecurity. Joseph's People Central Delco, a program of Media Presbyterian Church, provides information, guidance, and emotional support to job seekers and people exploring a career change, regardless of religious affiliation.
Across the Delaware River in Chester, the church partners with several long-standing ministries. Chester Eastside Ministries, an evolving mission of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, provides food, clothing, after-school activities, a library and computer lab, and adult education including GED preparation. CityTeam International in Chester offers meals, shelter, clothing, and a residential recovery program for men, along with a Mother-Baby Program that provides food, diapers, and clothing to families in need. Frederick Douglass Christian School, founded in Chester in 1995, has been supported by MPC members who have volunteered in classrooms, libraries, and after-school programs, and a few have taught there full-time. The Greenhouse Project and 912 House provide free recovery counseling, life coaching, food outreach, youth mentorship, and church fellowship for neighbors in Chester who are struggling.
The church's Deacons also run a Benevolence program that provides emergency financial and tangible assistance - help with utility bills, rent or mortgage payments, groceries, prescription medications, transportation tokens, and seasonal needs such as Christmas gifts. Funding for the program comes primarily from the monthly Communion offerings. A separate Member Care hotline, staffed by Deacons, handles requests for home repairs, pastoral visits, or rides to medical appointments for members of the church family.
Global Mission: From Liberia to Hungary
Media Presbyterian supports missionaries and partner organizations on several continents. Compassion for Life, chaired by MPC member Bill Strine, supports the Cheerful Givers School, distributes water filters, runs vocational programs, and has built marketplaces in Liberian villages. Caring Hands, founded in 1995, runs Homes for Children in Asia, an after-school Share and Care Project serving nearly three thousand children at forty-two centers, an HIV/AIDS ministry for women and children, and regular camps and training for women, families, and children. Compassion Corps, co-founded around 2004 by Delaware County resident Beth McMillen and headquartered in Chester Heights, partners with indigenous leaders in Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Liberia, Tunisia, Egypt, and Uganda on clean-water projects, medical and construction work, women's training, and youth programs.
Members Paul and Lori Dickason serve with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) in Budapest, where Lori is the middle school principal at the International Christian School and Paul teaches, preaches, and disciple-makes. In Asia, partners run a home for forty boys and have planted seven churches, several of them led by men who themselves grew up in the home. In Ghana, Wells for Relief International - co-founded by MPC member Dave Powell - partners with Africa's HOPE to build St. Michael's Children's Hospital near Berekum, and the church's own Lifetime Wells International has helped bring clean water to communities in need. Many MPC members have accompanied these leaders on short-term trips.
A monthly Mission Committee Meeting, held on the first Tuesday from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 102 or on Zoom, lets the congregation hear directly from these partners and pray with them.
Care for Every Season of Life
Media Presbyterian has built a thoughtful network of pastoral care ministries. The Stephen Ministry program offers one-to-one Christian care for individuals facing crises or life challenges - grief, hospitalization, divorce, loneliness, spiritual crises, unemployment, terminal illness, incarceration, aging, birth, adoption, miscarriage, infertility, chronic illness, relocation, or recovery after an accident. Referrals can be made by emailing StephenMinistry@MediaPresbyterian.org.
The Elder Care Ministry serves older members of the church through lunches, Bible studies, and home visits. Rev. Rose Sparrow is available to come to a home for prayer and fellowship on request. A regular outreach at Lima Estates, a local senior living community, takes place on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. The ministry also points members to Surrey, a non-profit serving older adults in the community for thirty-five years, and to a free bereavement group offered through Riddle Hospital.
The Prayer Ministry gathers on Wednesdays to pray for the pastor and his family, the staff and their families, the church, and its members. A weekly prayer chain email distributes prayer requests to those who sign up, and a private prayer request form lets individuals send confidential concerns directly to the pastor. Men's and Women's Ministries host monthly book clubs that bring members together around a shared reading, and the Men's Ministry also includes Senior Craftsmen, a group of men who assist with repair and upkeep projects around the church.
Leadership and Governance
Media Presbyterian is led by three kinds of ordered ministry described in 1 Timothy 3: ministers of Word and Sacrament (called pastors), ruling elders (making up Session, the church's ruling body), and deacons (leading ministries of compassion, witness, and service). Senior Pastor Rev. Doug Forsberg also serves as Moderator of Session and preaches at the 10 a.m. service most Sundays. He is supported by Transitional Pastor Rev. Rose Marie Sparrow, Parish Associate Rev. Dr. David Cagle, and a full program staff that includes Director of Traditional Music Lisa VanHeldorf, Director of Contemporary Music Andrew Behringer, Organist Emily Barth, Director of Children and Youth Ministries Ty Harvey, Church Administrator Camryn Gavula, Business Administrator Sandy Campbell, and Facilities Manager Scott MacDonald.
Session is organized into committees covering Administration, Children's Ministries, Finance, Investment, Mission, Outreach and Evangelism, Property, Spiritual Formation, Technical Ministries, Worship, Youth Ministries, Congregational Nominating, and Stewardship. Each committee is staffed by the relevant church leader and meets on a regular monthly schedule. The Board of Deacons is co-moderated by Jean Furey and Kim Gilchrist and oversees Benevolence, Member Care, Hospitality, and New Initiatives, with a special focus each year on the Second Time Around Parents (STAP) ministry for grandparents raising grandchildren. The Clerk of Session is Joe Hare.
Joining in the Life of the Church
Visitors can expect a warm welcome at the 10 a.m. Sunday service in the sanctuary, with parking available in the area around East Baltimore Avenue and clear directions provided online. The service is also livestreamed on YouTube for those at home. New members are invited to take a next step through the church's Becoming a Member pathway, and a Communication Request Form, online directory, and weekly newsletter (MPC This Week) help newcomers stay connected.
For those who want to give, Media Presbyterian accepts cash and checks in the offering plate or by mail, online gifts through the Presbyterian Foundation portal, gifts of stock and other securities, qualified charitable distributions from IRAs, and planned gifts through wills, retirement accounts, life insurance, trusts, and annuities. Donations to the Bible and Hymnal Fund are being accepted through October 25, 2026.
Whether someone is looking for a Sunday worship home in Media, a place for their children or teenagers to grow in faith, a way to serve neighbors in Delaware County, or a community that takes seriously the call to love and serve others, Media Presbyterian Church offers a steady, well-organized place to begin.