From Old Goschenhoppen to Landis Road
Advent Lutheran Church of Goschenhoppen sits at 470 Landis Road in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, in the same Lower Salford Township neighborhood that has shaped its identity for more than a generation. Its name, though, reaches much further back. The congregation is one of the oldest Lutheran bodies in Pennsylvania, with roots in the village of Old Goschenhoppen, a few miles away in what is now Woxall, Upper Salford Township. In the early 1700s, German settlers there formed two congregations - one Lutheran and one Reformed - that together purchased 38 acres from the sons of William Penn. By 1732 they had erected a small log building known as the Gemeinhaus, where the two congregations held separate worship services. A stone church replaced it in 1748, and a third, larger building (seating 800) followed. That third building was expanded in 1915 and housed the Lutherans until 1991, when the Lutheran congregation relocated to Landis Road. The shared arrangement with the Reformed congregation lasted 259 years, the oldest Union church in the United States at the time.
The move to Harleysville came in response to a calling to serve newcomers in the rapidly growing Harleysville-Lederach area. A groundbreaking for a 6,900-square-foot building was held in October 1990, the first worship service in the new location was celebrated in July 1991, and the 30th anniversary of that move was marked in July 2021. The name Advent Lutheran Church of Goschenhoppen was chosen at relocation to retain a connection with the historic Goschenhoppen identity while signaling an openness to growth. In October 2006, the congregation broke ground on a $1.2 million expansion that added a 3,700-square-foot wing with classrooms, a nursery, and office space, dedicated the following September.
Two more building milestones followed. The Advent Memorial Pavilion was completed in early September 2024, after a capital campaign that began in February 2024 and was jump-started by memorial gifts from several Advent families. The pavilion contains plaques honoring those whose memories helped seed the project, and it now provides an outdoor worship and gathering space for everything from Sunday services to Vacation Bible School lunches. In 2022, on Sunday, September 18, the congregation marked its 290th anniversary with a day of hymns old and new, an Adult Forum on the congregation's history, and a hymn sing at the Old Goschenhoppen Reformed Church in Woxall, followed by a presentation outside the historic Gemeinhaus.
Worship in the Lutheran Liturgical Tradition
Worship at Advent is built on the Lutheran liturgy, in part because the liturgy, understood as the work of the people, draws the assembly into responsive prayer, liturgical song, and hymns. Music and hymns come primarily from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW), the ELCA's 2006 hymnal. Every Sunday morning service includes Holy Communion, served by intinction: communicants receive a piece of bread and dip it into either wine or grape juice, with individual communion packets and gluten-free wafers available for those who prefer them. Real bread and wine are normal; two chalices are used, the larger for wine and the smaller for grape juice. Worshipers come forward by the center aisle and return by the side aisles, and at well-attended services an additional station is set up in the narthex or Fellowship Hall. Those who cannot come forward are served where they sit.
The fall and winter schedule, in effect from September 13 through December 20, 2026, has two Sunday services. At 8:30 am the service takes place in the sanctuary and is live-streamed on the church's YouTube channel, where it can be watched live, joined in progress, restarted, or replayed at any time after 8:30. At 9:30 am there is a Fellowship Time in Fellowship Hall, and at 9:45 am the Education Hour runs in classrooms, Fellowship Hall, and the sanctuary. A second in-person service follows at 11:00 am. During the summer, the schedule condenses to a single 9:30 am service. The order of service follows the shape of Lutheran worship: Gathering, Hearing of the Word, Sharing of the Meal, and Sending of the Disciples.
Visitors are invited to come as they are: some dress up, many are casual, all are welcomed. Pastor Mark's preaching works from one of the morning's Bible readings, drawing the text into present-day life. Communion is offered with what Advent calls eucharistic hospitality. If a guest comes from a different tradition, the congregation believes God's grace is larger than their differences and offers the sacrament as the guest understands it; those who prefer not to commune may come forward for a blessing or remain in the pew in prayer or song. The church also practices open hospitality around the elements: anyone uncomfortable with shared bread and wine may bring their own and have it blessed before partaking.
Music Program: Ryan, the Pipe Organ, and the Cherubs
Music is central to worship at Advent, and the music program is led by Vincent M. Ryan, Minister of Music since 1997. Ryan directs the congregation's varied ensembles and brings extensive experience as both accompanist and choral director; he has performed with the Gospel Choir of Wittenberg, Germany, has participated in the Orgelfestwoche organ festival week in Wittenberg since 2016, and has sung with the Adam Rener Schola Cantorum in Strasbourg, France. He is the organist for the Lancaster-Franconia Choral Singers, directed by Ralph Alderfer, and for the Souderton Alumni Men's Chorus, directed by Jon Leight. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in piano and a Master of Arts in organ from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with James Staples, Carol Teti, James Dearing, and James Jordan, and was the 1995 recipient of the Twila A. Hoover Organ Scholarship. He has composed or arranged more than 300 works, with pieces published by Lorenz, Shawnee Press, Neil A. Kjos, Oregon Catholic Press, and St. James Music, and he has served in leadership roles in the American Guild of Organists, the North Penn Chapter of Choristers Guild, and the Philadelphia Chapter of the AGO.
The primary worship instrument is the 1992 Patrick J. Murphy Pipe Organ, a two-manual, 14-rank instrument installed a year after the sanctuary was built. The sanctuary piano is a Cunningham 5'10" grand, purchased in 2012. A music scholarship program, started in 2010, provides two lessons per month for members who, in turn, support worship musically. The Cherub SCS Choir, directed by Carrie Ryan, introduces children age three through second grade to favorite songs and a monthly turn at singing in worship, while the Junior SCS Choir serves children in grades three through six with a similar monthly rotation. Youth in grades seven and eight (the Confirmation class) participate in worship by ringing handbells and playing percussion. Adult and high school singers are welcome in the Sanctuary Choir, which rehearses on Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. Advent also hosts concerts by outside musicians each year, with past guests including the Souderton Men's Chorus, flutist Melissa Freilich, the Perkiomen Valley High School choirs and jazz band, the Souderton Area High School Choir, Celtic band Seasons, and the duo of Jazplash with Pete Smyser and Ted Lis.
Ryan has also been a leading advocate for Orgelkids USA in the Philadelphia region. Orgelkids USA, a small fully functional pipe organ designed to teach children how a pipe organ works, originated in the Netherlands and was brought to the United States by Erin Scheesele. During Advent's first experience with the program, in mid-March 2019, the kit was built 33 times by 460 people, with Ryan presenting it to 29 classes in local schools and communities before the kit moved on to York, PA. The American Guild of Organists has featured Advent in its 2020 virtual Organfest video.
Children, Youth, and Bear Creek Camp
Sunday Morning Faith Formation runs during the 9:45 to 10:45 am Education Hour, from the beginning of September through the end of April, with fellowship opportunities but no formal classes in the summer. Sunday School classes are available for children age three and up, and the hour also includes music and rehearsal time for the Cherub and Junior SCS Choirs. Adults can join the Adult Forum for round-table discussions on what's happening at Advent, in the wider church, and around the world, or opt for coffee and conversation in the Fellowship Hall.
Confirmation at Advent is a two-year program for youth in grades seven and eight, meeting most Wednesday evenings during the school year with occasional weekend projects. Confirmands are paired with adult mentors, meeting monthly for Mentor Sunday activities and working in small groups to lead mid-week Lenten worship. First Communion and Confirmation classes are supported by the Christian Education ministry team.
Vacation Bible School is a major part of the summer rhythm. In 2026, the program ran from Monday, August 3 through Friday, August 7, from 9:00 am to noon, under the theme Compassion Camp. Sixty-seven VBS participants and 31 extended-care participants were served by 19 adult helpers, 20 youth helpers, and 11 young adult helpers, with over $1,000 raised for Advent's youth funds. Service projects during the week produced 175 suncatcher hearts for Meals on Wheels clients, 60 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the Bread Drop Program, 250 filled bags for the EMeal Ministry, 100 thank-you notes and goody bags for local first responders, and a book collection for local Little Free Libraries. Becky Fisher serves as VBS Director, and Carrie Ryan coordinates the program in her role as Coordinator of Spiritual Development.
All Youth Nights for grades 5 through 12 take place once a month on Sunday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, with a theme meal followed by a social, a service, and a spiritual activity. Friends are always welcome. Each summer, many of Advent's youth spend a week at Bear Creek Camp, a ministry of the Southeastern and Northeastern Pennsylvania Synods of the ELCA. Bear Creek's 3,000-acre property in the Pocono Mountains offers summer residential youth camp, nature day camp, environmental education, weekend retreats, and outside group rentals. Advent supports its campers through subsidies and full camperships: every Advent youth attending summer camp can receive $150 toward registration, first-time campers an additional $150, and Advent families attending Family Camp $300. Confirmation-age and high-school youth also take part in the synod's Junior Youth Gathering, the Tuscarora Lutheran Youth Retreat, and the triennial ELCA Youth Gathering, with the next national gathering scheduled for late June and early July 2027 in Minneapolis, MN.
Adults, Seniors, and Bible Study
Adults at Advent have several avenues for study and fellowship. The Adult Forum meets Sundays at 9:45 am, while Pastor Mark leads Bible study series throughout the year. Recent offerings include a three-week deep dive into the 23rd Psalm, Psalm 46, and Psalm 8 on Wednesday mornings at 10:00 am in Room 5-6 or via Zoom. The study is followed by a four-week Advent-season focus on the year's Advent themes.
Prime Timers, the congregation's seniors' group, gathers quarterly for lunch at noon in the Fellowship Hall, followed by a presentation or entertainment. Other fellowship opportunities - a church picnic, Lenten Soup Suppers, Sunday coffee, the Women's Tea, a progressive dinner, and other special events - are organized by the Fellowship ministry team throughout the year.
What Advent Believes
Advent's vision and mission are the same statement: Saved by God's grace, renewed through word and sacrament, we are sent as disciples to share the Gospel of Jesus. From that foundation flow five guiding principles, all centered on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior: salvation is a gift from God, available to everyone; faith is strengthened as disciples grow; the congregation is a good steward of all God provides; it serves the needs of one another, the community, and the world; and it follows God's will, not its own. These beliefs are exercised through worship, through service in and beyond the community, and through faith development.
The Lutheran Church celebrates two sacraments. Holy Baptism is the one-time sacrament that brings a person into the Church and connects their life with the Cross of Christ and the promise of everlasting life. Holy Communion is the repeated sacrament that assures the assembly of the new life and forgiveness given by God. At Advent, Holy Communion is celebrated as part of the liturgy every Sunday. The Small Catechism prepared by Martin Luther during his 1528 travels through Saxony - with its sections on the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, Baptism, Holy Communion, Confession and Absolution, Morning and Evening Prayer, Grace at Table, and household duties - is still used as the basis of Confirmation classes.
Advent is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), one of the church bodies that grew out of the sixteenth-century Reformation, and it belongs to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA. The congregation also maintains close ties with its ecumenical neighbors. Advent and Salford Mennonite Church have built a relationship that includes shared work in a community garden, combined outreach projects, and a joint Thanksgiving Eve worship service each year. In 2010, Lutherans publicly apologized to the Mennonites at the Lutheran World Assembly in Stuttgart; in 2011, the SEPA Synod publicly apologized to local Mennonites at its Synod Assembly in Franconia. More recently, the SEPA Synod elected a new bishop, Bryan Penman, at a Synod Gathering that Advent members attended as congregational representatives.
Welcome, Mission, and Wider Church Life
The Welcome Statement, alongside the mission statement, sums up who Advent is. It reads in part: Advent Lutheran Church of Goschenhoppen, a welcoming community of God, believes all people are made in God's image and boundless love and all are valued equally within the congregation. Empowered by God through faith, the congregation seeks to nurture and celebrate the vast diversity among individuals, including single, married, partnered, and divorced; embracing uniqueness in race, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, physical or mental abilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and age. It cares for the environment and strives for racial equity and social and economic justice. All are affirmed and welcomed to share life with the congregation and to participate in God's ministry.
Congregational life is shaped by ministry teams that meet on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm, currently using email and Zoom alongside in-person gatherings. The Social Ministry team directs outreach within and beyond Advent, including transportation, meals, and personal care for members. The Welcome Team handles community outreach, hospitality, advertising, and online presence through Facebook, and assists with member classes and inactive-member outreach. Fellowship plans the church picnic, Lenten Soup Suppers, Sunday Coffee, the Women's Tea, the progressive dinner, and special events. Worship & Music works with the pastor and minister of music on the worship experience, including altar guild, worship supplies, lectors, and ushers. Christian Education oversees Sunday Church School, Vacation Bible School, First Communion, and Confirmation. Stewardship helps members deepen their faith and respond to God's grace through time, talents, and financial gifts. Property & Grounds maintains the building and grounds, including the Memorial Pavilion and Advent's Meadow, and organizes clean-up and volunteer days. Finance oversees the treasurer, financial secretary, offering counters, and accounts, working with all ministry teams and Council on the annual Ministry Spending Plan. Appointed teams include the Audit Team, Endowment, Mutual Ministry, the Cemetery Association Board (which works with Old Goshenhoppen Reformed Church in managing the shared church cemetery), Altar Guild, and Caregivers, who visit homebound members.
Advent's Meadow and Care of Creation
Advent's property at the corner of Landis Road and Route 113 (Harleysville Pike) includes a playground, a gaga pit, and the Memorial Pavilion. Some of the remaining land is designated by PennDOT as right-of-way for a possible future bypass of the six-point intersection in the Village of Lederach, so it cannot be put to permanent use. After the pavilion was completed, a group of Advent members proposed turning other portions of the mowed grass into meadows of native wildflowers, plants, and grasses, both for beauty and to support pollinators and other beneficial species. The project, called God's Creation, Advent's Meadow, is led by an informal Meadow Team. The team is starting small with two test plots, one for grasses on the east side of the parking lot near the church office entrance and one for wildflowers in front of the sanctuary's outside wall, and is working with Ernst Seeds of Meadville, Pennsylvania, on seed selection, including a Mesic to Dry Native Pollinator Mix and a Deer Resistant Mix. The work is part of a wider Care of Creation interest that connects Advent to the SEPA Synod Care of Creation Team and a shared garden project with Salford Mennonite Church.
Mission and Outreach in the Community
Service at Advent extends well beyond the building. Recent projects include the ongoing collection of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for homeless ministries, layette items for community donation, support for the Keystone Backpack and School Supply Drive, support for Young Adults in Global Mission through Sunday School offerings, and regular giving to Lutheran World Relief, the ELCA World Hunger appeal, and the ELCA Good Gifts program. The congregation has taken part in ELCA's 40 Days of Giving program, and Social Ministry delivered 29 bags of cleaning essentials donated by Advent members to the Keystone Opportunity Center in late June 2026. The Bean Bag Food Program in Souderton, which provides backpacks of weekend food to food-insecure students in local schools, is a particular focus: during the 2026 100 Box Challenge, Advent donated two carloads of food items, contributing to a community-wide collection drive.
Advent also opens its building to community groups. Scouting groups, Alcoholics Anonymous, community choirs, the YMCA, and many others use Advent's facilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions were put in place, but the building is again available for most requests. The pandemic itself reshaped much of congregational life: starting in March 2020, Advent moved to online-only worship and education for six months. Outdoor in-person worship in the parking lot resumed in September 2020, weather permitting, using an upgraded sound system funded by a capital improvement campaign. Outdoor Confirmation followed in October 2020, and by fall 2021 worship and education were back indoors, with masking and ventilation practices that have since been eased. Live-streaming of at least one Sunday service has continued throughout, and hybrid meetings with a Zoom option are now part of how the congregation does its work.
Leadership, Staff, and Sabbatical
Advent's pastor is the Rev. Mark Singh-Hueter, known as Pastor Mark. He grew up in the mission fields of Papua New Guinea, where his parents served as missionaries for nearly 20 years. He holds a BA in Math from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and an MDiv from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, across the street from Capital, with four years in the Air Force in between. He has served congregations in Long Island, New York; Columbus, Ohio; and Exton, Pennsylvania, and has been at Advent for over eight years. Pastor Mark lives in Telford with his wife Merlyn; their daughter Cassandra is a Penn State graduate now working at Global Refuge (formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services) in Baltimore. Pastor Mark completed 34 years of full-time pastoral ministry in 2026 and took his first sabbatical from May 14 through August 13, 2026, spending the time in Upper Michigan for reading, reflection, study, and creative sermon planning. During his absence, retired pastors who are members of Advent - Stephen Godsall-Myers (Advent's pastor 2010-2016), David Lutcher, Jo Wilhelmson (Advent's pastor 1996-2008), and Sue MacFadden - covered worship, Bible study, and pastoral care, with the Church Council, led by President Amy Coll, overseeing operations. The congregation had approved a sabbatical policy in 2024.
Vincent M. Ryan has served as Minister of Music since 1997. Carrie Ryan is the Coordinator of Spiritual Development, with responsibility for assisting members and various groups in growing in their discipleship of Christ. She is an Advent member since 1997, has served as a Sunday Church School teacher, Cherub Choir Director, and Vacation Bible School music leader, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Kim, the office administrator, supports office operations and event planning, and Susan Underkoffler serves in a related staff role, drawing on her background in conservation biology, scientific illustration, and wildlife forensic science to support the church's care-of-creation work. The Congregational Council is led by Amy Coll (President), Zachary Boyer (Vice-President), Diana McClure (Treasurer), and Richard Lantz (Secretary), with Lora Drenth, Judi Greene, Bruce Rhoades, Helen Nace, and Teresa Feeser as additional council members.
Practical Information for Visitors
Advent's address is 470 Landis Road, Harleysville, PA 19438. The church office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, and can be reached at 215-256-9941 or office@adventharleysville.org. The congregation streams its 8:30 am Sunday service on its YouTube channel, where services can be watched live or at any time afterward. Bulletins for the current Sunday and the previous several weeks are posted online, and a current prayer list is included with each week's bulletin. Two weekly emails are sent: a Wednesday newsletter with the latest information and a Friday Connect / Grow / Serve email highlighting upcoming ways to get involved. Worship is liturgical and traditional, with Holy Communion every Sunday. Dress is come-as-you-are. The building is accessible, and indoor services are followed by fellowship in the Fellowship Hall. Memorial Pavilion, the playground, the gaga pit, and Advent's Meadow round out the outdoor spaces, and many events move outside in good weather. Giving is supported by the Simply Giving electronic funds transfer program, online donations, mailed checks, and offering envelopes available on request.