A Reformed Congregation on South Newtown Street Road
Tucked into the rolling country of Delaware County, Springton Lake Presbyterian Church gathers at 3090 South Newtown Street Road in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. The congregation was planted in October 1978 by Tenth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, and more than four decades later it remains a community shaped by that Reformed, gospel-centered heritage. Today Springton Lake, known to most of its members simply as SLPC, belongs to the Presbyterian Church in America, the denomination formed in 1973 to carry forward the historic Presbyterian commitment to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Bible as the inerrant Word of God.
The church's stated vision is to see people enter a relationship with God through saving faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and to see that relationship reshape every part of life. Pastor David White describes the body as a diverse community, gathered from a fractured culture and united by a single desire: to see God exalted and the kingdom of Christ expanded. Springton Lake welcomes those investigating Christianity for the first time, long-time believers looking for a new church home, and anyone in between who wants to ask honest questions about the Christian faith.
Sundays at SLPC
The Sunday morning schedule is built around two worship services and a wide-reaching Christian education hour. The first service begins at 8:30 a.m. The second service starts at 11:00 a.m., and it is the service that is livestreamed for those joining from home. Between those two services, at 10:00 a.m., Sunday School meets for children, youth, and adults in classrooms throughout the building.
Worship at Springton Lake is blended. Services aim to be insightful and inspirational, balancing traditional hymns with the best of a more contemporary, meditative musical style. Ushers greet visitors at the door and offer directions as needed. During the 11:00 service, children are dismissed partway through the morning for the church's Roots and Shoots program. After the second service wraps up, the congregation gathers in the Coffee Café at 12:15 p.m. for fellowship.
Dress is intentionally relaxed. There is no formal dress code, and the average tends toward business casual, but jeans and sweaters are common and ties are rare. Springton Lake invites visitors to come as they are in whatever attire will make them most comfortable.
Recordings of both services are kept in the sermon archive, and the church maintains a podcast feed that makes the same sermons available through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. A digital bulletin accompanies each livestream, and a Welcome Form on the church's site offers first-time visitors a way to introduce themselves.
Getting to the Building
The Springton Lake campus sits in the southeastern corner of Newtown Square, a short drive from the shops and restaurants along West Chester Pike and from Delaware County Community College. A private parking lot in front of the building offers reserved parking for visitors along with van-accessible handicapped spaces. Riders using SEPTA can walk about six minutes from the Media Line Road and Drew Circle stop, served by routes 112 and 115, or about eight minutes from the Delaware County Community College stop, also served by routes 112, 115, and 118.
The building has been fitted for accessibility. A ramp leads into the foyer, an elevator connects the floors, and the sanctuary sound system is paired with wireless earpieces for anyone who needs hearing assistance. These features are part of a deliberate effort, the church says, to make Sunday worship accessible to people of varying ability.
Children and Camp Treasure Island
Children are a central part of Springton Lake's life. The church runs a Children's Ministry led by Joni Mindrebo, the Director of Children's and Family Ministries, and Sunday School classes for children from age two through fifth grade are offered at both the 10:00 Sunday School hour and the 11:00 worship hour. Nursery care is available for babies under two at both of those times.
The signature children's outreach is Camp Treasure Island, known around the church simply as CTI. Each summer the church's property is transformed into a free weeklong "tropical island" day camp for children entering kindergarten through fifth grade. Campers move through a rotation of games, crafts, music, and a Bible lesson. The week is themed around special dress-up days: Crazy Hat Day on Tuesday, Water Day on Wednesday, Clash Day on Thursday, and Island Day on Friday. Campers are also challenged to bring school supplies to donate to classrooms in need, a small gesture that ties the fun of the week to a wider mission of generosity.
Over thirty years, CTI has hosted more than 9,000 children and 3,000 volunteers. The youngest children of volunteers, called "diamonds," have their own track in a nursery program while their parents serve. Adult volunteers and middle- and high-school junior counselors fill a range of roles, from group counselors who walk a small group of campers through each station, to craft counselors, games counselors, kitchen staff, registration, parking, photography, and nursery support. Adult volunteers are required to submit Pennsylvania clearances before serving.
The church's Child Safety Policy sets out formal screening and training for every adult volunteer who works with children, along with reporting procedures that comply with Pennsylvania law. The policy is available from the Director of Children's and Family Ministries.
Youth Ministry
The youth ministry at Springton Lake serves students in grades six through twelve and operates on the conviction that teenagers are not just the church of tomorrow but a vital part of it today. Sunday School for students meets at 10:00 a.m., with a middle-school class studying the Gospel of John and a high-school class meeting in discipleship groups.
On Sunday evenings, the youth group gathers from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. The night begins with hangout time, games, and plenty of food, then transitions into a time of worship and a practical Bible message, after which students break into small groups to go deeper into the passage and its application. Throughout the year the calendar adds special events such as Nerf nights in the church building, hayrides, bonfire nights, and an annual summer mission trip.
Adult Sunday School
Three adult Sunday School classes meet at 10:00 a.m. during the school year. In the Sanctuary, Bill Clark leads a continuing, in-depth study of the Epistle to the Hebrews, walking through its vision of Jesus as the clearest and fullest revelation of God and the way the letter ties the Old and New Testaments together into a single story of salvation.
In the Conference Room, the Marriage and Parenting class, also called MAP, is team-led by Mark and Shannon Schreiber. The class opens its discussion to couples and parents of every age and stage. In a recent rotation the group has worked through marriage books like Winston T. Smith's Marriage Matters and parenting books like Julie Lowe's Childproof, all in an effort to apply biblical wisdom to the everyday details of family life.
A third class, Christian Discipleship, is taught by one of the pastors and meets in Fellowship Hall (or in a classroom in some rotations). The class shifts attention from what Christians believe to how they grow, working through titles such as Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp's How People Change and Sinclair Ferguson's The Christian Life.
Women's Ministry
Springton Lake's women's ministry gathers around three weekday Bible studies each fall. On Wednesday mornings at 9:30 a.m., three studies run at the same time with coffee, tea, and childcare provided. Recent studies have included Mama Bear Apologetics, which equips mothers to address their children's questions about God; Behold and Believe, a study of Jesus's "I Am" statements in the Gospel of John; and Blessed, Nancy Guthrie's study of Revelation. Studies meet in Classroom 7, the Conference Room, and Fellowship Hall.
On the first and third Wednesday evenings at 7:15 p.m., a women's group meets in a member's home for a study in the Gospel of Luke. On Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m., the women gather in the Conference Room for Jen Wilkin's study of Joshua. Special events throughout the year include a Women 2 Women evening gathering, an annual Women's Dinner Conference featuring a guest speaker, and an Artful Women Advent Evening.
Men's Ministry
The men's ministry at SLPC is built around three regular weekly gatherings. On Wednesday mornings at 6:00 a.m., the men's prayer group meets in Fellowship Hall for an hour of sharing and prayer over coffee and pastries. On the first and third Thursdays at 7:00 p.m., Iron Sharpens Iron meets in Fellowship Hall and works through a sustained study of the Old Testament patriarchs. On the second and fourth Thursdays, also at 7:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall, the men's Bible study works through the same book of the Bible that is being preached in the current sermon series.
Special events rotate through the year: a Saturday men's breakfast with plenty of meat and a testimony or guided discussion, a men's networking night held every fifth Wednesday in a member's home, a winter retreat at Camp Skanakac's Traber Center, and a calendar of service projects, axe-throwing nights, trips to car museums, and Eagles watch parties. The ministry is overseen by Associate Pastor John Rohrman.
Community Groups
Community Groups, the church's small-group ministry, are designed to be the next step beyond Sunday morning. Groups meet in homes and at the church across Newtown Square, West Chester, Berwyn, and Springfield, and they gather on nearly every day of the week. The format is intentionally simple: a meal or snack, a Bible study, and prayer. Both long-time members and recent visitors are welcome to step into any group, with the recommendation that they contact the leader first to confirm that the group is meeting as scheduled. Associate Pastor John Rohrman oversees the ministry as a whole.
Refugee Ministry
In response to what the church sees as a clear biblical call to love and show hospitality to the stranger, Springton Lake has launched a refugee resettlement co-sponsorship with Bethany Christian Services, the resettlement affiliate for eastern Pennsylvania. The ministry works to walk alongside a refugee family through their first months in the United States, helping with housing, basic furnishings, income support, government benefits, school enrollment, English language learning, transportation, finances, healthcare, and cultural orientation.
The work is organized into eight sub-teams, each with its own leader and volunteer sign-up form: Housing, Home Setup, Arrival and Orientation, Employment, Education and ESL, Transportation, Finances, and Healthcare. The ministry is led overall by Dana Swieson and Andrew Lee. Every volunteer who will have direct contact with the refugee family is required to have current Pennsylvania State background clearances on file with the church.
Counseling Ministry
Christ-centered counseling is available to individuals and families across Delaware County through the church's counseling ministry, regardless of their connection to SLPC. Cris Clark, who holds a master's degree in counseling and has more than two decades of experience, sees clients on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with the flexibility to schedule additional days when needed. Her specialties include depression, anxiety, life adjustments, family issues, marital counseling, and personality issues. Thanks to the church's support, she is able to offer a sliding scale fee structure so that the ministry remains accessible to those who are struggling financially. Confidentiality is a cornerstone of the practice, and the church itself does not review or discuss her cases.
Reaching Beyond Newtown Square: Missionaries and Partners
For more than thirty years, Springton Lake has supported missionaries and ministry partners in the United States and around the world. Its mission philosophy rests on a single conviction: lost people matter to God and therefore ought to matter to the church. The church supports international workers and U.S.-based ministries that bring a wide variety of gifts to the task of gospel proclamation.
Globally, Springton Lake partners with Norm and Ruth Ann Leduc, who serve with Pioneers in Orlando and use digital media to engage Muslims of the Arab world, and with Anees and Fareda Zaka, who lead Church Without Walls, a ministry to Muslims in North America and around the globe. In Asia, the church supports Phil and Barb with Mission to the World, working on church planting partnerships among Muslim peoples, and Sardar and Anila Din with Westminster Biblical Missions in Lahore, Pakistan, where Sardar oversees a Presbyterian seminary, two K-12 academies serving more than 2,750 children, and a medical clinic for the poor. In Africa, the church supports Pamoza International in northern Malawi and Ted and Dana Witmer with CrossWorld in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Ted teaches Old Testament at Shalom University of Bunia and Dana serves as a pediatrician at Rwankole Hospital. In the Middle East, John and Terri work alongside national pastors to plant churches and disciple church planters.
In the United States, the church partners with Shelby and Rachael Abbott, who serve with Cru's family ministry and lead the Ocean City, MD Summer Mission each year; Amnion Pregnancy Center in Upper Darby, a life-affirming resource for women, men, and families facing unplanned pregnancy; FOCUS in Philadelphia, which hosts weekly Bible studies on the campuses of local private schools; and Brenda Smith, the director of Child Evangelism Fellowship of Delaware County. Short-term mission giving is directed in part to Rebecca and Ian Miller with Mission to the World.
Beliefs and the Historic Creeds
Springton Lake is unapologetically confessional. As a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, the church holds to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. Two of the most ancient summaries of the Christian faith are recited and taught on the church's site: the Apostles' Creed, with its affirmation of God the Father Almighty, of Jesus Christ's incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and return, of the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body; and the Nicene Creed, with its description of the Son as "begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father" and its confession of the Holy Spirit as Lord and Giver of Life.
The church frames its understanding of evangelism with care. Sharing the Christian faith is to be marked by generosity and love rather than guilt, by humility rather than superiority, and by hope for even the hardest cases, since all Christians are themselves saved only by grace. Effective witness, the church teaches, depends on the work of the Holy Spirit, on transformed lives that bear witness to the gospel, and on prayerful readiness at every hour of every day.
Pastoral Care and Giving
Spiritual support is built into the life of the church. A Spiritual Help page on the church's site walks visitors through the basic content of the gospel, the claims of Jesus, the offer of forgiveness, and a sample prayer for those ready to receive Christ. Members who would like personal conversation can reach out to the church office, and staff, elders, and deacons are available to meet, hear stories, and pray.
Two giving funds support the church's daily work. The General Fund underwrites all of SLPC's ministries and administration, including its support for missions. The Deacons Fund allows the diaconate to meet mercy needs within the congregation, to support local para-church organizations, and to respond immediately to disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. Additional designated funds cover short-term missions, youth events, men's, women's, and children's ministry programs. Online giving is available through PayPal using electronic check or debit card; the church asks that givers not use credit cards because of the transaction fees involved. Gifts of stock, bequests, and trusts can be arranged through the Treasurer.
Reformed Roots, Local Mission
Springton Lake's story is in many ways the story of twentieth-century confessional Presbyterianism. The church carries forward the threads of the Old School tradition that prized subscription to the Westminster Standards, of J. Gresham Machen's stand for orthodoxy in the northern Presbyterian church, and of the formation of the PCA in 1973 as a denomination "loyal to the Scriptures and to the Reformed Faith." Planted by Tenth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia in October 1978, SLPC continues to share that Reformed and gospel-centered DNA, while also building out ministries that respond directly to its own neighborhood: a day camp that has served thousands of children over three decades, a refugee resettlement partnership that walks alongside newly arrived families, and a counseling ministry that serves the wider Delaware County community.
Visitors who step onto the campus at 3090 South Newtown Street Road will find a church that takes its theology seriously and its fellowship warmly. Sunday worship is offered twice, Sunday School runs in between, and a deep network of small groups, Bible studies, men's and women's gatherings, and children's and youth programs fills out the rest of the week. Whether someone comes looking for a church home, a place to ask hard questions, or simply a place to belong, SLPC positions itself as a community ready to welcome them and to walk alongside them in the grace of Jesus Christ.