St. Andrews Presbyterian Church stands at the corner of South 12th and Poplar Streets in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in a building dedicated in 1959 after more than a decade of planning. The congregation is known for three things in particular: a 10 AM Sunday service that combines traditional Presbyterian worship with contemporary praise music, a free noon meal served every second Saturday that welcomes people who do not attend church, and a busy youth ministry built around EPYC, Trailblazers and Spark Park, a play space open to the public from dawn to dusk.
St. Andrews belongs to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and sits within Carlisle Presbytery. Its mission statement describes a community that invites neighbors into a relationship with God and each other, and the goals set by church leaders are stated plainly: meaningful worship, expanded children and youth programs, church-wide spiritual connections and support, and care for all the church family.
A Stone Farmhouse on Fourth Street, Then a New Building on South 12th
The congregation traces its origins to 1883, when Christ Presbyterian Church saw the need for a church in the southeastern part of the city of Lebanon. The church was organized in a stone farmhouse at the corner of Fourth and Willow Streets. Four years later, on February 8, 1887, the Presbytery of Westminster recognized the new church, which became known as Fourth Street Presbyterian Church.
Through the first half of the twentieth century the congregation kept growing and the Fourth Street building became increasingly crowded, so a planning committee was appointed in 1948 to evaluate options for expansion. In 1953 the congregation approved the purchase of property at South Twelfth and Poplar Streets, and in 1956 plans for a new church building were approved. The Rev. Ralph Snyder was minister when the cornerstone was laid in 1958, and in April 1959 the new building was dedicated and the name of the church changed to St. Andrews Presbyterian Church.
The congregation kept reaching for younger families. In 1988, under the pastoral leadership of the Rev. Richard Cassel, an associate pastor was added to the staff to reach out to and attract young people and families. A renovation and addition followed to make the building handicap accessible, provide additional Christian education space, add a large practice room for musical groups, expand the gathering and fellowship area, and add a chapel, library and offices. Ground was broken in the spring of 2000, and the project was completed on St. Andrews Day that year. In 2007 the sanctuary was reworked as well, with a redesigned chancel area, new carpet, additional lighting and a complete new sound and video system.
St. Andrews Day still carries the church's Scottish heritage, marked by bagpipes, special music and celebrations of membership. The tradition grew out of the 1987 centennial of the congregation, when the Rev. Cassel proposed a special Sunday honoring members of fifty years and more, and it is now observed on the Sunday nearest Reformation Day.
Sunday Morning: Nursery, Sunday School, Worship, Coffee
The Sunday morning rhythm is easy to follow. Nursery care runs from 8:45 to 11 AM, Sunday school for all ages begins at 9 AM, worship begins at 10 AM, and the morning closes with a coffee hour at 11 AM.
Child care is treated as a matter of care rather than convenience. The Session has adopted a Safe Sanctuaries Policy, pausing to reflect on what Jesus was saying about how people are to treat one another, especially children, and on building a friendly, stimulating place where children come to know God and experience the love of Jesus Christ. Sunday school is held September through May in three groups: pre-K through second grade in Room 1, third through seventh grade in Room 4, and eighth through twelfth grade in the Youth Room. The classes use Bible stories and creative learning activities in what the church describes as a caring environment.
Adults have their own 9 AM class in Cassel Chapel, and a Coffee and Conversation gathering at 11 AM in the chapel led by Rick Borger has worked through the Psalms, treating them as heartfelt cries, songs of praise and reflection on God's character that still shape life today. Seven Follow-Ship small groups meet during the week in homes and at the church for fellowship, prayer and spiritual growth, and a Wednesday evening Bible study for adults meets at 6:30 PM in Cassel Chapel. That group, known as WEBS, studies a variety of topics from Bible studies to current events using different formats including books and DVDs, welcomes discussion while respecting quieter participation, and adds Advent and Lenten studies each year.
Visitors can also watch from home. The 10 AM service is livestreamed, and a worship archive of past services is kept online. The church notes that the building at 600 South 12th Street has ample parking and is totally handicap accessible, and that Sunday morning services include music, the reading of God's word and Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month.
One Service with Anthems, Psalms and Praise Songs
Under the Rev. Robin Morgan, who began her ministry at St. Andrews in January 2015, the church offers a combined traditional and praise worship service each Sunday. The church describes itself as a Christ-centered family of faith, and the invitation to worship is framed simply: come and join, come and find acceptance, come and hear joyful music to lift your heart, come and know God's word for you in all the world.
The Chancel Choir leads the music and sings the morning anthem, and the music ranges from traditional to contemporary arrangements accompanied by organ, piano and other instruments. A praise team leads the contemporary worship songs each Sunday. People in the congregation who would like to help lead worship are invited to serve as liturgists, leading prayers and reading the scriptures.
Communion at the Table and at Home
St. Andrews celebrates the Lord's Supper on the first Sunday of every month and on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season, and on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter. The congregation comes forward to take communion, and anyone unable to come forward may let an usher know so the elements can be brought to the pews.
Home communion extends the same sacrament beyond the walls. Following worship on the first Sunday of each month, several teams carry communion to shut-in members, which the church describes as an extension of the worship service and the sacrament.
Chancel Choir, Handbells and the Praise Team
Nearly every musical group at St. Andrews is open to newcomers. The Chancel Choir rehearses on Wednesdays at 7:30 PM and on Sunday mornings at 9:30 AM. The Handbell Choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings from 6:45 to 7:30 PM, and the praise team rehearses from 6 to 6:45 PM on Wednesday nights and at 9 AM on Sunday mornings. A Youth Ring and Sing group practices before EPYC and Trailblazers fellowship on Sunday afternoons from 3:30 to 4 PM.
The ensembles play for worship services throughout the year, usually three or four times a semester, including important services such as Christmas Eve and Easter. The church says it strives for musical excellence while keeping rehearsals full of fellowship and laughter.
Carole Haines, the music coordinator since 2010, directs the chancel choir and coordinates the church's music programs. Lisa Meyer serves as organist after thirty-seven years of teaching elementary music, classroom, chorus, band, honor band and strings, and after serving as Minister of Music and organist at several local churches. Johnathan Shuey leads contemporary music and handles digital communication, having led a contemporary service since 2003. Both Haines and Meyer play with the Perseverance Band of Lebanon, Haines as principal flute and piccolo and Meyer in the percussion section.
Sunday School for All Ages and Seven Follow-Ship Groups
Christian education at St. Andrews is offered for children, youth and adults, and the church frames it as a lifelong journey rather than a single stage. Children are welcome in Sunday school classes, youth are invited to question and reach as they grow in personal faith, and adults take part in Sunday morning classes, weekly Bible studies, small book groups and spiritual discussions.
For adults, that means the 9 AM Adult Sunday School Series class in Cassel Chapel, the 11 AM Coffee and Conversation gathering in the same room, seven Follow-Ship groups spread across homes and the church building, and the Wednesday evening WEBS class at 6:30 PM. Follow-Ship groups continue through the summer, and the church helps people find a group whose meeting time fits their schedule.
For the spoken word outside the sanctuary, the church offers Bible Podcasts under the title Bible Fast to Slow with Pastor Robin and Rob, currently working through Philippians, with listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. Supporting material includes an overview of the Bible by book, a Bible project overview, and separate Old Testament and New Testament courses.
EPYC, Trailblazers and Spark Park
The youth ministry is organized under two names. EPYC serves sixth through twelfth graders with what the church calls a fun and engaging ministry where young people build community together while exploring faith. Trailblazers serves children in first through fifth grade with a fast and fun engagement of childhood and faith. Both groups are led by Rob Cochran, the youth director, who has served in children and youth ministry at St. Andrews since 2014 and holds a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in biblical study from Capitol Seminary.
Spark Park, the church's day camp and play space, carries the line that play is really the work of childhood, and it is open to the public from dawn to dusk for all ages. Summer mornings at the park have been set aside for open play for anyone who wants to come, and a weekly summer evening program called The Table has paired a community meal with a story circle and evening prayer.
Music Camp is another summer offering for children and teens. Campers broaden their experience of rhythm, melody, voice and instruments, work individually and as a team to create music, learn new songs, and play ukulele, autoharp, guitar, boom-whackers, chimes and recorders. Trailblazers and EPYC also take part in seasonal gatherings such as an autumn trunk-or-treat night in the church parking lot, where decorated cars and costumed friends hand out candy alongside a bounce house and a fire pit for roasting marshmallows.
The Free Noon Meal and Emergency Shelter
Once a month, St. Andrews serves lunch to anyone who shows up. Partnering with Lebanon County Christian Ministries, the church hosts a Free Noon Meal on the second Saturday of every month, served from noon to 1 PM. Different groups within the church, among them the Deacons and the Praise Team, take turns coordinating the meal. The church says the meal provides a nutritionally sound lunch and gives members a chance to meet people outside the congregation, with servers often recognizing the same people later on the street.
The congregation has also provided emergency overnight shelter for two weeks twice a year since 2015, a service that grew out of the same impulse to welcome people outside the church doors.
Project Days Across Lebanon
The Mission Committee organizes local service projects close to home. Past projects have included Rail Trail cleanups, painting parking meters, packing lunches for children during the school year and in the summer, baking cookies for the Rescue Mission, spending a day with Habitat for Humanity and volunteering with Jubilee Ministries. A mission week each summer has lined up work day by day: church work projects on the property, cookie baking for the Lebanon Rescue Mission, assembling kit bags at Mission Central in Mechanicsburg, volunteering and stocking shelves at the new Market on 7th, assisting clients and families from Developmental and Disability Services with a bingo night, cleaning up the Quittie Estuary, and joining a nighttime survey of people experiencing homelessness that provides resources and takes a count.
The mission reach extends beyond Lebanon County as well. In July 2017, a team of 20 traveled to Harrisonburg, Virginia, where they packed items to ship to missionaries around the world, bagged corn at a centralized food bank, worked on a nonprofit farm, spent a morning in silent retreat and broke bread together over food served at Massanetta Springs.
Giving That Reaches the Food Bank and the World
Each month the Mission Committee chooses two items needed at the local food bank for a Mission Spotlight, and members are encouraged to pick them up and bring them to the church. The list changes with the season, with canned beans and rice in one month and pasta and pasta sauce in another. At Christmas, an Angel Tree in the Gathering Area holds ornaments carrying a Christmas wish written by a child or youth in the care of Lebanon County Children and Youth Services, and the gifts are returned wrapped.
The Alternative Gift Fair, hosted in Snyder Hall, offers fair trade items for purchase, a table for signing Christmas cards for shut-ins, and organizations including Heifer International, Eliminate Tetanus, Medical Benevolence, Mentor a Mother, World Vision and the Lebanon County Library, each offering a way to give in the name of a loved one.
St. Andrews also takes four of the Presbyterian Church (USA) special offerings through the church year. One Great Hour of Sharing is received on Palm Sunday and supports those in need around the world, including people who have been through natural disasters. The Pentecost offering is taken in May or June, with 40 percent kept locally to benefit children and youth at risk. Peacemaking is received on World Communion Sunday, the first week of October, and 25 percent benefits local peacemaking work. The Christmas Joy offering, taken in December, assists the Board of Pensions and Presbyterian-related schools.
Gifts to the church itself can be made online or by text message, and the church holds an endowment fund for long-term benefit, a perpetual giving fund whose income funds the current expense budget, and a memorial fund for gifts honoring those who have died. Members are asked to estimate their annual gift so that a responsible budget can be prepared, a stewardship effort held each October.
Grief Support, Coffee Hour and Free Concerts
St. Andrews hosts a Grief Support Group that meets in Cassel Chapel on the second Thursday of every month at 2 PM. Anyone is welcome, whether a member or not, and regardless of how long ago or how recent the loss, or its nature, whether a parent, spouse, child or good friend. The meetings are described as warm, friendly and somewhat informal: members tell the stories of the loved ones they have lost, share their feelings, work through special days such as holidays and anniversaries, and learn about the grief process.
The church's Concert Series began in 2001 with two concerts in its first season and grew to three each year. The program is self-sustaining through donations from members and is presented free of charge for the congregation and the greater Lebanon community. Concerts last approximately 90 minutes and are followed by a reception with refreshments and an opportunity to greet the performers. Performances range from soloists and small vocal or instrumental ensembles to full-sized concert bands and choruses, and free community concerts have also been staged on the lawn.
Other gatherings fill the days around worship. Each Sunday's coffee hour is hosted by volunteers who provide coffee, tea, light snacks and sweets, and a summer church picnic brings people out with side dishes and desserts, pie-making contests, games and lawn chairs. A Christmas Eve family service has featured carols, candles and cookies, and an evening reflection around the table in Holy Week has offered monologues from disciples together with meditative music from the chancel choir and communion for all who feel led to come to Christ's table.
A Confessional Faith and a Session-Led Church
St. Andrews describes itself as a gathering of God's people following the call of Jesus Christ and moved by the Holy Spirit to praise God and grow in faith, welcoming and serving the greater community in God's love for the salvation of all people. It emphasizes community, choosing to walk together with Christ, share days of celebration and days of mourning and every day in between, and to make room for all who desire to look for God in their lives. The church also calls itself a traditional congregation that is seeking to move where God is leading, to reach out and offer more hope and light to the community.
Because the Presbyterian Church (USA) is a confessional church, the congregation encourages people to ask, seek and explore scripture and theology, using the Bible and several historical confessions to guide the search for God, who is above all things and in all things.
Governance follows the Presbyterian pattern. The Session consists of the pastor as moderator and twelve elders elected by the congregation to three-year terms. It meets monthly, is responsible for the mission and government of the church, and convenes as the Board of Trustees when necessary, the trustees serving as the legal representatives of the corporation chartered in Pennsylvania and making sure the buildings and grounds are maintained and updated so the congregation can carry out its mission. The Board of Deacons also has twelve members elected to three-year terms, meeting monthly to minister to the congregation through compassion, witness and service, sharing the redeeming love of Jesus Christ with those in need.
The People Behind the Worship and Youth Work
Pastor Robin Morgan grew up in California, where she studied history and religion at Westmont College before teaching junior high history, then came east to attend Princeton Theological Seminary and serve at Camp Hill Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania, where she was ordained as an associate pastor. She arrived at St. Andrews in 2015 and lives in Lebanon with her husband, who is also a pastor, and their two sons. Her hope for the church is that it be a place where all are welcomed with love, journeying together in faith and seeing Christ in this time and in this place.
Around her, Rob Cochran leads children and youth ministry, Carole Haines coordinates music and directs the chancel choir, Lisa Meyer plays the organ, Johnathan Shuey leads contemporary worship songs and oversees digital communication, and Lewis Sauerwein serves as media coordinator for the livestreamed service and the worship archive.
A Place on South 12th Street
St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA) within Carlisle Presbytery, gathers at 600 South 12th Street in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, for a 10 AM service of word, song and sacrament, and carries its work outward through a free monthly meal, summer mission projects, a music program open to singers and players, and ministries that begin with nursery care and Sunday school and run through EPYC for teenagers, Trailblazers for younger children, and Spark Park for all ages.