First Presbyterian Church of Moorestown sits on a 23-acre property at 101 Bridgeboro Road in Moorestown, New Jersey, where the Burlington County congregation has worshipped since 1950. About 1,100 members gather around the 25 Ways of Creating a Loving Culture, a set of reminders that shape everything from how newcomers are greeted to how members forgive one another. Two Sunday services, a Thursday evening prayer gathering, a year-round music program, a Christian preschool, and a network of small groups, choirs, mission partnerships, and care ministries fill the week from the historic Sanctuary designed by Edwin Brumbaugh into the contemporary Miller Commons.
The 25 Ways of Creating a Loving Culture
The 25 Ways of Creating a Loving Culture is the framework that holds the congregation together. Since January 2019, FPC Moorestown has studied a different way each week as a way of training, reminding, and encouraging one another to be the church. The 25 statements include Be Third, Speak the Truth with Love, Listen Generously, Always Encourage and Celebrate, Assume Positive Intent, Forgive Again, Keep Our Unity Savor Our Diversity, Jump In, Pray First and Pray Again, Join Hands, Make Others at Home Here, Own Our Church, Open Doors for Others to Lead, Grow Faith, Welcome Change, Give Cheerfully, Show Who You Really Are, Ask for Help, Accept and Don't Cast Stones, Find Strength in Belonging, You're Sent Now Go, Rest and Reflect, Worship with Your Whole Heart, Tell Your Story, and Rejoice Always. Each Way is paired with a week of devotionals and a downloadable booklet for small groups. Pastor Stuart Spencer calls the Ways not rules but reminders pointing members toward how to live with one another, and many of his sermons anchor on a Way of the Week.
Two Sunday Services, Two Spaces
Sunday worship centers on two services held in two spaces. At 9:00 am the Traditional service gathers in the Sanctuary, with announcements beginning at 8:55 am. At 11:00 am the Contemporary service meets in Miller Commons, opening with fifteen minutes of gathering music, prayer, and the sharing of WOW moments. Both services include music, sermon, liturgy, and prayer, and both are offered in person and live streamed. Between services, from 10:15 to 11:00 am, Children's Sunday School and Adult Spiritual Formation meet in classrooms around the campus. On certain special Sundays throughout the year the two congregations combine for a single 9:30 am Blended service that weaves hymns and contemporary praise songs.
Nursery care for the youngest worshipers
Nursery care is provided in Room 12 for children ages 0 to 5 during the 9:00 am Traditional service.
Thursday Evening Prayer
Midweek worship takes the form of a brief, fifteen-minute Prayer and Praise service on Thursday evenings at 7:00 pm. Held online only, it rotates through a different focus each week: the first and fifth Thursdays pray for congregational concerns, the second Thursday uses a guided time based on the Lord's Prayer from Luke 10, the third Thursday centers on racial healing and reconciliation, and the fourth Thursday lifts up the youth of the church and community. Pastor Stuart Spencer and Pastor Wes Allen lead the gatherings. The Prayer Team also gathers on Mondays from 9 to 10 am in the Prayer Chapel in Miller Commons, on Tuesdays from 9 to 10 am on Zoom, and on Wednesdays from 7 to 8 pm in Room 3-4, all led by Jim Cole.
The Collins Estate and the Sanctuary
First Presbyterian Church of Moorestown was organized on September 12, 1888, by a small group of Presbyterian residents who built the first sanctuary on Chester Avenue. As the congregation outgrew that space, leaders in the late 1940s purchased a 23-acre estate at 101 Bridgeboro Road from Beatrice Collins, the widow of Irving A. Collins. Irving was the son of John Collins, the founder of Miami Beach, and a bank executive in his own right. She sold the property to the congregation in 1950 for $35,000. The Collins home still stands at the heart of the campus, with the year 1923 carved into the side of a chimney. The Sanctuary was designed by historic restoration specialist Edwin Brumbaugh and dedicated in 1956, and a large Christian education wing followed in 1962. The grounds also hold the FPC Moorestown Cemetery, with an online search tool at cemify.com/cem/moorestown.
Pastoral Leadership
Rev. Stuart Spencer has served as Pastor and Head of Staff since May 2018, following 22 years at Thompson Memorial Presbyterian Church in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and earlier service as Associate Pastor of Manoa Presbyterian Church in Havertown, Pennsylvania. Spencer and his wife Leslie have two sons, Sam and Miles. The Associate Pastor and Contemporary Worship Leader is Rev. Wes Allen, who joined the congregation in August 2021 after earlier work as the church's Youth Director. Allen is a graduate of Temple University and Princeton Theological Seminary and lives in Moorestown with his wife Jennifer and their two children, Vivian and Jacob. Rev. Mark Budka joined the staff as part-time Director of Outreach on August 1, 2025, bringing a background in missionary service and chaplaincy along with a Master of Divinity from Western Seminary.
Music From Kindergarten to Adult
Music is woven through nearly every part of FPC Moorestown's life. The Music Ministry is led by Director of Music Spencer Domer, a graduate of Millikin University and Ball State University whose career has spanned jazz guitar, vocal performance, and choral conducting. Organist Sean Baker, an active chamber musician from Mount Laurel, accompanies the Adult Choir, Chapel Choir, and Choristers. Choirs rehearse weekly and sing in worship: Primary Choir for grades K through 1 meets Wednesdays at 4:00 pm, Junior Choir for grades 2 through 4 meets Tuesdays at 4:00 pm, Choristers for grades 5 through 8 meet Wednesdays at 5:00 pm, and Chapel Choir for grades 9 through 12 meets Tuesdays at 7:00 pm. The Adult Choir rehearses Thursdays at 7:00 pm, and the Contemporary Worship Band, led by Wes Allen, leads the 11:00 am service with a team of vocalists, guitarists, bass, drums, and audio/visual volunteers. Concerts throughout the year, often in partnership with the West Jersey Chamber Music Society, bring keyboard, choral, and chamber music to the Sanctuary.
Forming Faith in Children and Youth
Children's ministry is led by Director of Children's Ministry and Family Ministry Holly Asciutto, who has served FPC Moorestown since 2006. Sunday School for Pre-K through 12th grade meets from 10:15 to 11:00 am each Sunday, with classes organized by grade. Wednesday nights offer Kingdom Kids for grades K through 3 from 4:45 to 5:45 pm and Crossing Zone for grades 4 through 6 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Middle School Youth Group for grades 7 through 8 meets Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, and High School Youth Group for grades 9 through 12 meets Sundays from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The Director of Youth and Worship Arts, Lauren Fittipaldi, leads the youth program, directs the Primary and Junior Choirs, and runs the CREDO Confirmation class for high schoolers using the PC(USA) curriculum Big God, Big Questions: Confirmation for a Growing Faith.
Step by Step Christian Preschool
Step by Step Christian Preschool is a ministry of FPC Moorestown, serving children of members, friends, and surrounding communities. Under the direction of Amy Delgado, the preschool offers a play-based, child-centered program that meets each child's educational, spiritual, social, physical, and emotional needs. The preschool year runs from mid-September through May, with a weekly Bible-based lesson and monthly non-denominational chapel time led by Holly Asciutto. Step by Step also partners with local restaurants for monthly Dine and Donate fundraisers, and the preschool's own Facebook page keeps families connected through the year.
Wednesday Family Dinner
Family Dinner brings the whole congregation and wider community together in Miller Commons on Wednesdays from 5:45 to 6:45 pm, mid-September through mid-May. The catered buffet is suggested at $8 per person or $25 per family, with the option to prepay $175 for the season by check, Venmo to @fpcmoorestown, or QR code. Many of the Wednesday-evening choirs, children's groups, youth groups, and adult studies gather around the meal before their programs begin, and volunteers are welcomed to help with set-up and clean-up.
Stephen Ministry and Pastoral Care
Stephen Ministry has been part of FPC Moorestown's caring ministries since 2004. Trained lay caregivers walk alongside members of the congregation and the local community through grief, illness, family struggles, unemployment, spiritual crisis, aging, and other burdens, meeting care receivers face to face for about an hour each week and committing to fifty hours of initial training and two years of service. Stephen Ministry Coordinator Peg Pierce leads the team alongside Associate Pastor Wes Allen. Twenty-three ordained deacons lead compassionate care for those with physical needs for food, shelter and clothing, with projects that include the Meal Train and Church Has Left the Building, an annual day when the congregation serves projects throughout the community. Pastoral Care is offered in times of crisis and moments of celebration by the pastoral staff.
Mission Beyond the Walls
The annual mission budget is approximately $468,000. FPC Moorestown supports local partners including Mend, the Christian Caring Center, Young Life, Seeds of Hope, Urban Promise, the Children's Fresh Air Home, Intervarsity, Options for Her, CCO Jubilee, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Globally the church walks alongside partners in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi, the United Kingdom, and Uganda, with a particular focus on education and literacy, children at risk, and health and medical care with a focus on HIV/AIDS. Mission Possible, the quarterly missions newsletter, keeps members in touch with the work, and the local youth group has traveled to the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia for summer mission work.
The Strawberry Festival
The Strawberry Festival, held the first Friday in June from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, has been a community tradition for 67 years. With cake, ice cream, and music by the Moorestown Community Band and The Trophy Husbands Band, the festival draws an estimated 2,000 attendees each year as a free-will event. The Missions Food Tent raises money for the youth mission trip to the Appalachian Mountains, the Mustard Seed Cooperative Garden offers tours, and the Visa Gift Card giveaway supports the Blessing Box and Grace Boutique. Presbyterian Women bake and serve many of the cakes, while volunteers hull strawberries the day before and serve all evening.
Presbyterian Women
Presbyterian Women nurture their faith through prayer, Bible study, and service. Circles meet monthly: Circle 1 via Zoom on the first Friday at 6:30 am, Circle 2 on the third Monday at 9:30 am at the church, Circle 4 on the third Tuesday at 9:00 am offsite, Circle 5 as a service circle that meets periodically for projects, and Circle 6 on the second Tuesday at 4:00 pm offsite. Study groups include the Elizabeth Group book club on Mondays at noon, the Dorcas Study of the Psalms on Thursdays at 9:00 am, and Bible Babes every other Wednesday at 7:30 am. The Knitting Network creates prayer shawls, lap robes, baby items, and Christmas ornaments. Presbyterian Women also host the annual Holiday Bazaar each fall, with gently used jewelry, household goods, baked goods, and holiday decor.
A Connectional Church
FPC Moorestown is a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The congregation is one of the churches in the Presbytery for Southern New Jersey, part of the Synod of the Northeast. Each congregation and Session is accountable to the larger church through the presbytery; ruling elders may serve as commissioners to presbytery, synod, or General Assembly. The Session, made up of elected ruling elders along with the pastors, governs the life of the congregation. Trustees handle financial and legal affairs under the Session's direction, while deacons lead compassionate care for those with physical needs. Annual reports and a robust Legacy Giving program provide for the long-term health of the church.
The Mustard Seed Cooperative Garden and Grace Boutique
The Mustard Seed Cooperative Garden, hosted by FPC Moorestown, partners with the Moorestown Ministerium and other community groups to grow fresh produce for local food pantries. The Grace Boutique, a Deacon-supported mission project, provides items not available on SNAP benefits and is open the second Tuesday from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm and the third Wednesday from 12 noon to 2:30 pm.
Giving, Legacy, and the Church Center App
Members and friends can give online through the Church Center App or at fpcmoorestown.churchcenter.com, by check mailed to the church, by stock transfer coordinated through Norm Vandergrift, or by Qualified Charitable Distribution from an IRA for those over 70 and a half. The September 12th Fund, honoring the church's birthday, serves as a long-term endowment. The Capital Fund supports current and future capital improvements, including the recent roofing project and the steeple restoration. Legacy Giving invites members and friends to include the church in their will or estate plan; past legacy gifts have funded the Joan Van Camp Porch, dedicated in August 2021, as well as roof replacements, kitchen renovations, the Prayer Room, and the Spencer Powell Fund for pastoral housing.
Weddings, Baptisms, and Funerals
FPC Moorestown welcomes inquiries about weddings, baptisms, and funerals. The congregation celebrates two sacraments, baptism and communion, and baptism is offered to members of any age, with infant baptism requiring at least one parent to be a member of the congregation. Newly baptized children are greeted by the congregation with the song Yes, Jesus Loves Me. Funeral services are coordinated through Rev. Stuart Spencer and the Funeral Committee, with reception space available in the Fellowship Hall, Lounge, or Hayes Room. The Deacons' Meal Train brings meals to members and families dealing with short-term illness or need.
Becoming a Member
Those exploring membership are invited to an Inquirers' Class or the Alpha class, an eleven-week series of conversations about faith, life, and God. CREDO is the confirmation path for high school students. Membership is open to anyone who has been baptized and makes a profession of faith. Becoming a member is about saying I want to belong here, the church teaches, with the church family making a deeper commitment to walk with one another in good times and bad.