Tucked along South Valley Forge Road in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, between Allentown Road and Sumneytown Pike, Christ United Methodist Church marked its 150th anniversary in 2025 while continuing to grow in step with the surrounding North Penn community. Originally dedicated in 1875 as Grace Evangelical Church on Mt. Vernon Street, the congregation has carried many names and lived in several buildings, yet its mission has stayed the same: "Transforming Lives in the Love of Jesus Christ." Today that mission is carried out through two Sunday worship services, a deep music program, a 25-year-old preschool, and a steady stream of local and international outreach.
Sunday Mornings on Valley Forge Road
Worship at Christ United Methodist Church centers on two Sunday morning services in the sanctuary on the Valley Forge Road campus. A traditional 8:30 AM service features weekly communion, and an 11:00 AM service features communion on the first Sunday of each month. Both follow the same pattern - a written and responsive call to worship, hymns, the Lord's Prayer, choir anthems, and scripture-centered preaching from Rev. Zachary Hopple or Rev. Tawny Bernhardt. The United Methodist Church holds an Open Table for communion, and all who intend to live a Christian life are welcomed to the altar.
Visitors find the parking lot and main entrance at the rear of the church. Greeters and ushers hand out bulletins, a welcome table holds information packets, and a children's corner stocks worship bags and bulletins for younger guests. Three designated areas within the sanctuary are set aside for wheelchair users, and two ADA-accessible restrooms are available. The building is wheelchair accessible throughout.
Sunday School for all ages begins at 9:45 AM and runs between the two worship services. Nursery care is provided during both services and Sunday School for children from birth through age four in room 130 on the preschool hallway, staffed by paid caregivers and Safe Sanctuaries-trained volunteers. During the 11:00 AM service, children age four through fifth grade are dismissed before the scripture lesson for Children's Worship, with pick-up in room 127. An unstaffed nursery in rooms 120-122 offers space for feeding, changing, and movement for parents who prefer to keep infants with them.
The 11:00 AM service is livestreamed on the Christ UMC Lansdale YouTube channel, with a sermon archive of past services available in the same place throughout the week.
Music at Christ UMC
Music is woven through nearly every aspect of life at the church. The sanctuary is anchored by a Moller pipe organ that was relocated from the former Green Street Church when the Valley Forge Road building opened in 1962; an upgraded console followed in 1998. Katie Campbell has served as organist since 2008 and also serves as Choral Director at Pennbrook Middle School.
Director of Music Ministries Brenten Megee, who joined the staff from the Lancaster area, leads the adult choral program. The Chancel Choir rehearses Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM and sings three or four Sundays a month. Two smaller ensembles - the men's Gabriel's Praise and the women's Sing Alleluia! - take their turn rehearsing from 8:15 to 8:45 PM on Wednesday evenings. Handbells are a particular point of pride. The Gloria Dei Ringers, the advanced adult ensemble, rehearse Wednesday evenings at 6:00 PM and perform in worship and at community venues such as nursing homes and festivals. The Alleluia Ringers rehearse Thursday evenings at 6:00, and the Laudate Ringers, a chime ensemble designed for those with weekday availability, gather Friday mornings at 9:30.
For a more contemporary sound, the Praise Band - vocalists, keyboards, drums, guitars, and bass - rehearses Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM and provides a "Gathering Worship" segment almost every Sunday. A small jazz group sometimes known as the "Wise Guys" meets Tuesday evenings at 7:30 PM for fellowship, improvisation, and the occasional service or fundraiser.
Children share in the music program too. Sherry Harris directs the Carol Choir for third through sixth graders, the youngest Precious Angels choir for four- and five-year-olds, and the upper elementary bell choir. Grace Notes, a blended singing-and-movement choir, rehearses Sunday afternoons with body percussion and instruments, while Melody Chimes for third through sixth grade rehearse the same hour.
Christ's Kids: Birth Through Sixth Grade
The Children's Ministry at Christ UMC, branded as Christ's Kids, welcomes children from birth through sixth grade. All events include at least two cleared adults who meet the church's Safe Sanctuary standards, and families register their children each program year to participate.
Beyond the nursery and Children's Worship described above, four elementary Sunday School classes meet at 9:45 AM for ages four through sixth grade, grouped by grade band. Each week the bulletin and services include a Christ's Kids Artwork Corner prompt that connects children with the scripture lesson in a creative way.
Older children are invited to serve as acolytes during worship, lighting the candles and assisting with communion and offering. Those tall enough to reach the altar table can sign up through the church office.
Annual children's events bring in neighbors from across the community. Vacation Bible Camp takes place each July with a fresh theme - exploring Bible stories, crafts, science activities, and games - and is free for children from age four through completed fifth grade. A fall Trunk or Treat in the parking lot draws families for safe trick-or-treating, games, and snacks. An EGGstravaganza offers smaller, calmer Easter egg hunts spaced through the afternoon for kids who prefer a less crowded experience, and an annual Good Friday program walks families through Holy Week with story, crafts, and a shared snack.
Youth in Seventh Through Twelfth Grade
CUMC Youth provides a place for teens in seventh through twelfth grade to keep God at the center of their growing lives. Nicholas Hill serves as Youth Director.
Confirmation spans two school years and begins in seventh grade, with students learning about faith, church history, the creeds, and the meaning of worship. They attend a retreat and other faith-building activities and may declare faith and join the church at a special service in June. A Senior High Sunday School class meets at 9:45 AM, exploring the Bible, ideas about God, the call to social justice, and a Methodist approach to following Jesus.
The CUMC Youth Group meets monthly on the second Sunday evening for dinner, devotion, prayer, and fellowship. Drop-In Hours on the fourth Friday of each month give teens a relaxed space for board games, video games, crafts, and conversation with adults nearby.
Youth can serve in worship as liturgists, scripture readers, or acolytes, and those twelve and older can join the Audio/Video Team that runs the livestream. Musical opportunities include the Agape Ringers handbell ensemble, a Youth Choir, and the Youth Praise Band, which leads opening worship several Sundays a year.
Adults Growing in Faith
Adults at Christ UMC have many avenues for Christian fellowship and study. On Sunday mornings at 9:45 AM, three adult classes meet in person, with two offering online participation: The Bible Study explores a book of the Bible in depth each semester; The Open Forum works through video series by pastors such as Andy Stanley and Adam Hamilton; and the Reichley Fellowship Class relates scripture to daily life through discussion and shared leadership.
Throughout the week, a Tuesday Bible Reading Group meets from 11:00 AM to noon, and a Men's Reading Group gathers Tuesday mornings at 9:00 AM. Transformation Groups - small circles of five to ten people - meet regularly to share about their Christian journeys and pray for one another; four are currently active with more forming. Two book clubs, Books Between Friends (meeting Monday evenings every four to six weeks) and the Kaleidoscope Book Group (Tuesdays at 12:30 PM), welcome readers looking for fellowship. Short-term Bible studies run six to eight weeks at a time, often focusing on a book of the Bible or a doctrinal theme.
GriefShare, a biblically-based video and discussion series for those grieving the loss of a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or other close loved one, meets Wednesdays at 1:30 PM. Each week is self-contained, the 13-week cycle costs $20 with scholarships available, and new participants are welcome at any point. A Caregivers Coffee for those caring for a family member or friend meets online via Zoom on the fourth Friday of each month at 11:00 AM. Marge Kramer, a Certified Lay Minister and appointed Christ Servant Minister, leads the Care Ministry team.
Other recurring groups include the Friendly Seniors (ages 55 and up, meeting around 11:30 AM on the third Wednesday of the month with speakers, tours, and fellowship), the Stitching Sisters needlework circle (second Thursdays from 10:00 AM to noon), the Deborah Circle women's mission group (second Mondays at 11:30 AM), and the Susanna Wesley Circle (fourth Thursdays at 7:00 PM). The Christ Loves ALLiance meets quarterly to foster an inclusive, welcoming space for all people to explore their faith in Christ.
Serving Lansdale and Beyond
Christ UMC gives roughly twenty percent of its income to missions, with a Mission of the Month program in addition to regularly budgeted partners. Recent months have supported UMCOR Cleaning Buckets, the Heifer Project, school supplies for the North Penn School District, Henderson Settlement, and missionaries Daniel and Kim.
Closer to home, a Cooking for Manna team prepares meals once a month for Manna on Main Street, the Lansdale-area soup kitchen and food pantry. The fourth Sunday of each month is a non-perishable food collection for Manna, with donations placed on the Missions shelf to the left of the narthex on other weeks. The Mustard Seed church garden at the end of the parking lot donates its harvest to Manna, producing hundreds of pounds of vegetables each season.
During the cold months, CUMC members volunteer with Code Blue, a Lansdale emergency shelter for homeless men when the wind chill drops below twenty degrees. At Christmas, a Giving Tree benefits local families and children in need; participants pick a tag, purchase and wrap the requested gift, and return it to the church.
In partnership with Bethel Hill UMC, the church supports Help Build Hope, which erects the framed walls of a duplex for Habitat for Humanity in Reading. The congregation also gathers periodically for a Rise Against Hunger meal packaging event, funding the materials through a Mission of the Month and welcoming volunteers to pack nutritious dried meals for distribution around the world.
Internationally, the church has sent teams on mission trips to South Africa and Haiti and gives to partners including Scripture Union of Kenya. A summer youth mission trip has historically traveled to communities such as Crisfield, Maryland, with teens helping with home repair and accessibility work.
Preschool Express
Housed in the educational wing on the Valley Forge Road campus is Preschool Express, a self-supporting, non-profit preschool that Christ UMC launched more than 25 years ago. Valerie Dreyer directs the program. Open to children from 24 months through pre-kindergarten, Preschool Express blends community and church families, with curriculum focused on cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth. The program emphasizes "protecting the wonder of learning" and weaving awareness of God's loving presence into the school day, with flexible scheduling options to extend the school day to fit family needs.
A 150-Year Walk Through Lansdale
Christ United Methodist Church traces its history to 1867, when members of the Evangelical Association gathered in a church on Orvilla Road as part of a larger preaching circuit. That cemetery is still owned by the congregation today. On March 27, 1875, the newly named Grace Evangelical Church dedicated a new building on Mt. Vernon Street, just west of Broad Street - an event the church counts as its official birthdate.
A 1891 denominational split created a second congregation, Bethany United Evangelical, which built at 145 Green Street in 1895. The two groups reunited in 1923 when the Evangelical Association and United Evangelical denominations merged, becoming Christ Evangelical United Brethren Church and consolidating at the Green Street location.
By the late 1950s the Green Street building had grown too small. Ten acres on Valley Forge Road were purchased, and construction began in May 1961; the cornerstone was laid that September and the new church was dedicated on June 17, 1962. The Moller pipe organ made the move by the end of that year, and a parsonage followed in 1963. The 1968 merger of the Evangelical United Brethren and Methodist Episcopal denominations prompted another name change to Christ United Methodist Church. Major expansions came in 1984 with a new Fellowship Hall, balcony, and narthex, additional second-floor classrooms in 1986, a fiberglass steeple in 1989, a new organ console in 1998, a second educational wing in 1999 that also became home to the preschool, and a 2017 narthex expansion that added an electronic sign, an organ upgrade, and accessibility improvements.
Pastors and Staff
Rev. Zachary Hopple began as senior pastor on July 1, 2020. A native of the region, he previously served for ten years in the Shamokin area. He holds a B.S. from Keystone College, an MDiv from Evangelical Theological Seminary, and a D.Min in Contextual Leadership from Palmer Theological Seminary. He and his wife Jen have two children.
Rev. Tawny Bernhardt has served as associate pastor since July 2013. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Messiah College and an MDiv from Duke Divinity School. She lives with her husband Paul and their daughter Naomi.
Marge Kramer, a long-time member who joined the staff in 2017, leads the Care Ministry team as a Certified Lay Minister and appointed Christ Servant Minister. Brenten Megee, who holds two bachelor's degrees from Lancaster Bible College and two master's degrees from West Chester University, directs the choral and handbell program. Valerie Dreyer directs Preschool Express. Nicholas Hill serves as Youth Director. Katie Campbell is the organist. Sherry Harris directs the children's choirs, and Nanci Landes directs Jesus Jammerz, the children's music and movement program.
Visiting, Accessibility, and Giving
Christ UMC is located at 1020 South Valley Forge Road, Lansdale, PA 19446, between Allentown Road and Sumneytown Pike (Route 63), across from Brittany Pointe Estates, convenient to the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Lansdale exit. The church office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and visitors are welcome to call (215) 855-1643 or email secretary@cumclansdale.org with questions before arriving.
Attire at worship ranges widely. First-time guests are encouraged to come as they are, with everything from casual wear to suit and tie appearing across the congregation. Three wheelchair-friendly seating areas are reserved in the sanctuary, two ADA-accessible restrooms are available, and the building is wheelchair accessible throughout.
Giving is available online through Vanco, with options for bank account or credit card (American Express is not accepted). The church offers additional ways to give by check or stock transfer through the financial office, and regular communications keep contributors informed about how their mission dollars are used.