Word of Life Chapel sits along a quiet stretch of Wickersham Road in Bainbridge, a small riverfront community in southern Lancaster County. The church has been a steady part of that neighborhood since 1951, when it first opened as a community of grace committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the integrity of His Word. Three generations later, it still gathers each Sunday morning around the same calling: knowing, growing, and showing the love of God according to the Bible, and expressing the mercy of Christ to Bainbridge and the world.
A 1951 Church with Three Words: Know, Grow, Show
The phrase Know, Grow, Show captures the life of Word of Life Chapel in three movements. Members seek to know Jesus more and more in grace and truth, to grow in following Him together as cross-bearing disciples, and to show in word and deed the gospel that has changed them. The church reads the phrase as the shape of its mission statement: Building the Body for reaching our world, drawn from Ephesians 4:11-16.
Word of Life Chapel describes itself as a non-denominational church in partnership with IFCA International, a fellowship of independent churches rooted in historic evangelical faith. Its core values spell out the same commitment in a different register: welcoming, because God welcomed us in Christ; Biblically based, because God's Word is the ultimate authority; Christ centered, because the entire Bible is about Christ; children and family focused, because families reflect the image of God; and local and global outreach, because God has sent His Church on a mission.
What a Sunday Morning Looks Like
The Sunday rhythm begins at 9:15 AM with Discipleship Hour, also called Sunday School. Children, students, and adults split into graded classrooms and small groups for forty-five minutes of Bible-based teaching, fellowship, and refreshments. Visitors are welcome to join in, even on a first visit.
At 10:15 AM the congregation gathers for the main worship service. The service usually runs seventy-five to ninety minutes and includes blended music led by a live worship team, scripture readings, prayer, and a sermon from Pastor Aaron Spoonhour. The music blends classic hymns with contemporary praise songs, and the prayer card and visitor's packet in the lobby are part of the way newcomers are welcomed into the room.
Children stay with their families for the start of the service, then are dismissed partway through for Chapel Kids, a teaching time for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade that uses Brite Curriculum and gives parents tools for follow-up conversations at home during the week. Parents of toddlers and preschoolers can drop them off in nurseries during that portion as well.
Word of Life Chapel gathers about 150 people on a typical Sunday morning. The atmosphere is described by the church as come as you are, and the dress code is simple: casual and comfortable or formal, whichever feels right. Communion is offered as part of the service, and visitors who are followers of Christ are invited to participate with the congregation.
Chapel Kids: Children as Part of the Church Now
Children are not sidelined or parked during a ministry at Word of Life Chapel. The church states plainly that kids are an essential part of the church right now, not only the church of the future. Chapel Kids, the children's ministry led by Katie Aungst, runs Sunday School classes at 9:15 AM for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners, first and second graders, and third through fifth graders, plus the dismissal time during the 10:15 AM service.
On Wednesday nights from September through April, Awana fills the building with games, large-group instruction, and small-group time for kids from age three (two years from kindergarten and potty trained) through fifth grade. Snack time is part of the evening, and the purpose of the program is to reach kids and families with the good news of Jesus and to engage kids in the lifelong process of following Him.
The summer brings Vacation Bible School, with VBS Registration open through the church's online registration system. Across all of it, the prayer of the children's team is that kids would encounter the reality of who God is through the local church and that their lives would be transformed by the love of God in this place.
Student Ministries for Grades 6 Through 12
Student Ministries, led by Youth Director Ethan Wittneben, walks alongside students in grades six through twelfth. The ministry's heartbeat verse is Philippians 2:15-16: holding firm to the word of life so that students may be blameless and pure in a complicated world.
Year-round Sunday School meets from 9:15 to 10:00 AM in a Bible-based classroom setting. Wednesday night youth group runs from September through May, beginning at 6:30 PM with a large-group lesson. At 7:00 PM students break into assigned small groups to go deeper, and from 7:30 to 8:00 PM they enjoy food, games, and fellowship. Summer Sunday Nights take over from late May through August, moving the same format outdoors from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, weather permitting.
The youth ministry also hosts camps, retreats, and one-off events throughout the year, and welcomes any student in grades six through twelve to drop in. The team partners with parents rather than competing with them, and aims to be a comfortable place where students can grow together in their faith.
Be Family: Parenting in the Same Direction
Be Family is the church's ministry for, well, families. The premise is simple: parents hold the greatest potential to shape their children's spiritual lives, but parenting was never meant to be done alone. Once a month, the Be Family group gathers to share a meal, play games, and talk through a topic related to parenting. For many families at Word of Life Chapel it is one of the things they look forward to all month long, a chance to be encouraged and to know other parents walking the same road. Anyone interested in joining can reach out to Lauren Bricker, who helps lead the group.
Men, Women, Seasoned Citizens, and Adults
The adult ministry at Word of Life Chapel is built around the conviction that the whole church needs to keep growing in the Word. Three groups anchor the calendar.
The Women's Ministry meets every Sunday morning from 9:15 to 10:00 AM in the church library for a women's Bible study, and gathers occasionally through the year for outings like pool parties, crafts, coffee meet-ups, and other small adventures. The Men's Ministry meets on the first Saturday of each month for a time of food, fellowship, and devotion, with additional Bible studies, work projects, seasonal activities, and an annual retreat. Men of all ages are welcome.
Seasoned Citizens is the seniors' ministry, open to all adults ages sixty and older. The group meets monthly for trips to places like the Strasburg Railroad and the Bird-in-Hand Stage, a fall apple day at the chapel, a brunch in December, and other gatherings built around fellowship during the older and firstfruits of life. Marcia Heigel helps coordinate the calendar for the group.
A Blended Sound in Worship
The worship team at Word of Life Chapel sees music as one of the ways the congregation praises the Lord. The team's goal is to lead the congregation in praise and to equip the saints in God's truth. The result is a range of styles, from traditional hymns to contemporary songs, full band to unplugged, all under the banner of being scripturally based, others centered, Christ directed, musically diverse, spiritually authentic, and God glorifying. Tess Sult leads the team and welcomes anyone interested in serving.
The Statement of Faith
Word of Life Chapel's statement of faith sets out the doctrines the church teaches and guards. The Holy Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are the verbally inspired Word of God, without error in their original writing, and the final and supreme authority in faith and life. There is one eternal God, revealed in three persons as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal in power and glory.
The statement confesses that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, true God and true man, who atoned for sin by His substitute death on the cross, was buried and resurrected, and ascended bodily to the right hand of God as Savior, Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. Humanity was created in the image of God, sinned in Adam, and is in need of salvation.
Salvation is the gift of God, brought to sinners by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed at Calvary. The church teaches that the evidence of saving faith is a life of devotion and yieldedness to Christ by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The church also affirms the one true Church as the Body of Christ, the baptism of the Holy Spirit at conversion, the Lord's Supper for those in fellowship with Christ, water baptism as an outward testimony of faith, the bodily resurrection of Christ and of the dead, the personal return of Christ for His Church, a thousand-year reign, the person and final defeat of Satan, and the God-ordained role of civil authority.
Pastors, Elders, and Ministry Leaders
Word of Life Chapel is pastored by Aaron Spoonhour, who moved back to Lancaster County with his wife Heather and their four sons after seven years of ministry in Warrensburg, New York. He holds a B.A. in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Lancaster Bible College and serves as both the senior pastor and one of the church's elders.
The church is governed by a plurality of elders who meet the standards of First Timothy 3 and Titus 1 and lead the congregation by example in word and deed. The current elders are Dan Aungst, Steve Canapp, Jason McFadden, Ernie Miller, Aaron Spoonhour, and Al Williams.
Ethan Wittneben joined the staff in June 2025 as Youth Director. A graduate of Lancaster Bible College and a current Master of Divinity student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he serves as a chaplain candidate with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Katie Aungst serves as part-time Children's Ministry Director, bringing a background in elementary education and a passion to see young people become disciples of Jesus. Tess Sult leads the worship team. Together they shepherd the ministries of the church under the oversight of the elders.
GriefShare and Local Care
The church hosts GriefShare, a grief support program recognized across the country, on the second Monday of each month from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Community House Conoy Township, 2346 River Rd, Bainbridge, Kentucky. The group provides a safe, welcoming place for people working through the difficult emotions of grief.
Word of Life Chapel also runs Connect, a youth program that offers activities, refreshments, and a devotional time for students in grades five through twelve. Connect meets on the first and third Thursday of each month at Bainbridge Elementary School when available, with the church as an alternate meeting place, from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. The ministry is coordinated by Denny Mohr.
Going to the Nations
Local and global outreach is one of the church's core values. The GO Committee, which stands for Global Outreach, is a team of church members who serve three-year terms caring for the church's missionary partners. The committee meets on the first Tuesday of each month from September through June, with each member assigned to specific partners to communicate with, pray for, and encourage throughout the year. Word of Life Chapel supports partners serving in South America, Central America, North America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Many of these partners are members of the church, and others are affiliated partners working in specific regions of the globe in obedience to the Great Commission.
Giving, Volunteering, and Getting in Touch
The church teaches that giving is an expression of thankfulness and praise, recognizing that all we have already belongs to the Lord. Offerings may be placed in the boxes at the morning service, mailed to the church address, or given electronically through the church's online giving page.
Volunteers are the backbone of nearly everything described above. Sunday morning teams include building greeters, sanctuary greeters, the production team running sound and wardrobe, the worship team, the prayer team that prays for people after the service, and the coffee fellowship that provides drinks and snacks. Children's and youth programs rely on small-group leaders, game leaders, classroom teachers, and chaperones for retreats.
For any question, comment, or prayer request, the church can be reached by phone at (717) 426-1171, by email at wolc@wordoflifechapel.org, or by mail at 139 Wickersham Rd, Bainbridge, PA 17502. Sunday services are also livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel for those who want to follow along from home.