One Church on a Pretty Hill in Aliquippa
Mt. Pleasant Church rises from a hilltop on State Route 18 in Raccoon Township, just outside Aliquippa, where its original wood-frame meetinghouse went up on what was then the J.A. Ingles farm in the summer of 1876. A church named for the "pretty hill" on which it sat has grown into a 39-acre campus whose Youth Garage, two playgrounds, GaGa pit, fire pit, helicopter, and hiking trails are familiar landmarks to anyone driving past. The congregation's motto is "To Know Christ and Make Him Known." In his greeting to newcomers, Pastor Rich reflects on the Emmaus road: "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32), and frames that encounter as the very experience the parish seeks in worship, service, and mission. Two Sunday services, a year-round Christian childcare center, and unusually deep ministries for children and youth are how the church lives that out. Mt. Pleasant is a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, with regional ties to the EPC Alleghenies Presbytery.
From 1876 to Today
The congregation took the name "Mt. Pleasant" in 1877, a year after that first building was erected on the Ingles farm. A fire destroyed the original structure in 1900, but the building was quickly rebuilt, and worship continued on the hilltop. For decades after the fire, the church shared pastors with other area congregations, until 1955, when Reverend Richard Madsen became Mt. Pleasant's first full-time minister. What began with Madsen has been a remarkable run of pastoral stability. Rev. D. Davis, Rev. D.R. Reinard, Rev. C.R. (Rob) Philips, Dr. R.H. Phillips, and, since 2001, Rev. Dr. Rich Herbster have each served lengthy tenures; Pastor Rich and his wife Amy have made their home among the people he has pastored for more than two decades.
The present 39-acre campus was purchased during the years when Rev. C.R. (Rob) Philips was pastor. New construction began in 1997. An addition in 2019 created more educational space for the childcare program and Sunday School, and a Youth Garage was completed in 2025 to give the expanding youth ministry its own dedicated meeting space, complete with indoor games and a separate room for senior high Sunday School. Members of the congregation have done much of the building work over the years, and the result is a building that is now full of activity nearly round the clock, from the childcare center's 6:00 a.m. opening to evening Bible studies and youth group nights.
Two Sunday Services on Route 18
Sunday at Mt. Pleasant follows a set three-hour rhythm that wraps programming around the church's two morning services. The first worship service runs from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.; Sunday School for all ages meets from 9:40 to 10:20 a.m.; and the second worship service runs from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. The 10:30 service is livestreamed on YouTube. Children and Worship, a parallel experience for children ages three through first grade, takes place during the sermon of the second service, and the nursery opens at 9:40 a.m. and remains staffed through the close of that service for children under three, including nursing mothers and infants.
Pastor Rich focuses the preaching on clear biblical exposition with real-world application to daily life, and a well-equipped Praise Team and sound booth support both services. The adult Sunday School classes work through Scripture and Christian living topics, and each one reinforces the memorization of the Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English - the same catechism the children learn in their own classes. Several different adult classes are offered to accommodate different learning styles, and all are Bible-based and open to any adult from post-high school onward.
Children, Kids' Choir, and The Way
Children's ministry at Mt. Pleasant centers on three weekly programs that run from September through May. Sunday School classes for ages three through fourth grade meet during the 9:40 hour and learn the Westminster Shorter Catechism and Bible memory verses through songs, games, and discussion. Current teachers include Micki Addison for age 3-K, Carol Olson for first and second grade, and Jennifer DeLong for third and fourth grade. Every family in the church receives its own copy of "Training Hearts, Teaching Minds," an interactive family devotional based on the Shorter Catechism that ties directly into what children learn each Sunday morning - a way for parents to weave household worship into the rhythms of the week.
Children and Worship gives three-year-olds through first-graders their own worship experience during the sermon at the second service. Worship leaders walk through parables and Bible stories using wooden figures and other materials, sing worship songs, and pray with the children. Worship Helpers model appropriate behavior and assist the leader so the room can stay focused on the story, and the children head back into the sanctuary to rejoin their families for the close of the service.
Kids' Choir runs two groups on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.: one for ages 3-7, which meets in the choir room, and one for ages 8-13, which uses the Youth Garage. Each Wednesday begins with a Bible story, moves into singing and a game, and ends with a small treat. The children usually sing on the second Sunday of the month during the second service and present a Christmas production each year, and they close out the year with a picnic at a local playground.
Older students meet as The Way, the church's youth group for 5th through 12th graders. Tuesday evenings from 6:15 to 8:15 p.m. in the Youth Garage begin with dinner - The Way feeds its students both physically and spiritually - and continue through game time, a Bible lesson focused on the daily challenges of junior and senior high students, and gender-specific small group time. The Way runs from September through May and includes outreach projects, local missions, and a yearly retreat. Junior high Sunday School is taught by Holly Garland in Room 110, while the senior high class meets in the Youth Garage under Joel Matsco.
Outside the Sunday-through-Wednesday rhythm, Mt. Pleasant runs two more children's programs each year. Kids' Club welcomes children ages four through fourth grade on Saturday mornings in February and March, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., for songs, a Bible lesson, crafts, games, snacks, a special bowling outing, and an end-of-season talent show and lunch with families. Through Child Evangelism Fellowship of Beaver County, Mt. Pleasant also hosts Good News Clubs after school at Independence Elementary and Todd Lane Elementary. Vacation Bible School takes over the campus for one week each summer with a single theme woven through Bible lessons, music, crafts, games, and a daily snack.
Wednesdays, Thursdays, and the Gathering Room
Beyond Sunday morning, the adult calendar at Mt. Pleasant pivots around Wednesday evenings. The Bible Study and Prayer Meeting gathers in the Gathering Room at 6:30 p.m. for a few songs, Bible study together, and prayer - a smaller, more intimate gathering for those who love to fellowship closely with other believers. From 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. the Praise Team rehearses, with the choir room and the sound booth both in use.
Thursday evenings bring a Young Adult Bible Study at 7:00 p.m. in the Youth Garage. Ages 18 through 30 are welcome, and the group works through a variety of study materials as they grow in faith together. Small groups meet in homes throughout the week, gathering around the same mix of singing, Bible study, and prayer that defines the larger gathering on Wednesdays.
The women's fellowship meets on Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. in the Gathering Room for Bible study, prayer, and a time to connect as sisters in Christ; all women of the church are welcome. The men of the congregation meet on the third Saturday of each month at 8:00 a.m. for breakfast followed by a Bible study and discussion - a regular way for newcomers to meet other men of the church. Dinner for Eight, a small home-based dinner group, runs each spring and fall and has been one of the most remarked-upon ways newcomers build lasting friendships at Mt. Pleasant. Lydia's Stitchers, a mission group that quilts, sews, crochets, and knits for outreach, gathers on the first and third Fridays of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Gathering Room and welcomes beginners who bring their own machines - even men who like to sew.
GriefShare, Ask a Nurse, and Mt. Pleasant Childcare
Several ministries at Mt. Pleasant exist specifically to walk alongside members and neighbors through difficult seasons. GriefShare, led by Elder Nina Parrish, runs two 13-week sessions a year, one in the spring and one in the fall, meeting in the Gathering Room. Each session uses a video, a workbook, and group discussion, and it is offered as a free outreach open to anyone grieving, regardless of church background.
Ask a Nurse, staffed by nurses from the congregation, meets on the second Wednesday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Visitors can have their blood pressure checked, learn to use certain pieces of medical equipment, get help organizing their medical information, and access resources for whatever their needs may be. The ministry also lends out equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs, and shower chairs during times of need. No appointment or registration is necessary.
Mt. Pleasant Childcare has been a ministry of the church for more than 35 years. Open Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., it cares for children six weeks old through age 12 and is a member of the Pennsylvania Keystone Stars Program with a Star One rating. The day starts with prayer, includes grace before lunch, and weaves in weekly Bible lessons. Classes are organized by age, and a developmentally appropriate curriculum covers literacy, phonics, math, science, music, and movement, with daily playground time and field trips in the preschool and pre-K rooms. Hot breakfasts and lunches are available for purchase, and tuition can be paid by the hour or as a daily rate, with flexible scheduling. The School-Age arm of the program accepts buses from the Hopewell Area School District and provides care before and after school, on school-closure days, and throughout the summer, when school-age children join Vacation Bible School and a 5-Day Club hosted by Child Evangelism Fellowship.
Thirty Acres of Playground and Trail
Mt. Pleasant's campus is the kind that takes a Sunday to take in. Outside, the property holds a Youth Garage, two playgrounds - one for toddlers, one for older children - a GaGa pit, a basketball court, a fire pit, a ninja ropes course, a rope swing, and hiking trails through the woods beyond. The helicopter parked on the property is a familiar landmark visible from Route 18. Up the hill, the childcare program's summer camp area takes in a chunk of the woods.
Inside the main building, the sanctuary seats up to 250, and the sound booth supports the full Praise Team. The building also houses up to a dozen classrooms used for Sunday School and the childcare center, a separate nursery, a choir room, a fellowship hall, and the Gathering Room that hosts most of the church's weekday ministry meetings. The 2019 addition expanded educational space, and the 2025 Youth Garage gave the youth ministry a meeting space of its own.
Catholic, Evangelical, and Reformed
Mt. Pleasant describes its faith in three idioms. As catholic Christians, members believe in the one true God who has been from all eternity the blessed Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and who has made himself known through the 66 books of Holy Scripture, which primarily reveal the saving work of Jesus Christ. As evangelical Christians, the church proclaims that all people are sinners called to repent and believe the good news that God in his great mercy has provided the Lord Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for sin.
As reformed Christians, Mt. Pleasant embraces the solas of the Reformation: salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, on the basis of Scripture alone. The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms are the congregation's standards for doctrine, taught in the classrooms of children and adults alike and embedded into the church's family devotional. Anchored in those confessions, the congregation's stated vision is to be a church committed to advancing Christ's kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel as revealed in Holy Scriptures, and actively engaged in outreach and service to the community with a special emphasis on children, youth, and families. It is a fitting vision for a congregation with a century and a half of history behind it, a helicopter in the front yard, and a catechism in the third-grade Sunday School room.