Location: Elkins Park, Pa.

Presbytery: Atlantic

Organization: 1851

Membership: 53 communicant; 23 baptized

Pastor: John Edgar

Website: elkinsparkchurch.com

I attended a church that would be considered a prosperity gospel church with my mom and children. After 12 years, my mom, children, and I left the church. I soon found myself visiting churches looking for my church home. My son joined a church and became their youth pastor, and, although I visited the church a few times, it wasn’t right for me.

My son later left that church and started attending Broomall, Pa., RPC. I visited the church with my mom a few times and found it refreshing. One day, my mom mentioned to me that she wanted to visit her aunt in Elkins Park, Pa., so we decided to attend Elkins Park RPC first and then visit her aunt. We were welcomed by the congregation, and we just felt comfortable. After that experience, we started to drive every Sunday from New Jersey to Elkins Park.

Elkins Park RPC (EPRPC) was originally founded in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, Pa., in 1851. It is the continuation of Third Church of the Covenanters organized in Philadelphia, moving to Elkins Park in 1958. Shortly before the 21st Century, this congregation was left without resident elders and could no longer be designated an organized church. However, congregants of the nearby Broomall church and their pastor, Bill Edgar, along with his son, John, helped to restore the Elkins Park work back to fully organized status. In 2002, John Edgar became the pastor of EPRPC.

God’s blessing on the reorganization was evidenced on one recent Lord’s Day: four of the nine pulpits in the Atlantic Presbytery were filled by elders who are members of EPRPC.

Pastor John and his wife, Evniki, have three children. He can often be found in the Elkins Park community, meeting with members of the church and getting to know non-members. My mother and I became members of the church in 2019, and she has the honor of being the eldest member of the church. Laurie Nahm is the longest-serving member, having joined EPRPC in 1977 as a teenager. Her parents attended the church in North Philadelphia before moving to Elkins Park. Her mother and father were both deacons.

We are blessed to have quite a few young children ranging from babies to preschool age, and also preteens, teens, young adults, and a few older saints. During our service, you may hear babies conversing across the aisle—at least we think they are conversing! One of my favorite things about our congregation is that we are a diverse family. On most Lord’s Days, we have about 12 people attending services who were not born in the United States. One good friend of our church is a Jewish immigration attorney. He represents many persecuted Christians and seeks to connect them with American churches. EPRPC is high on his list, so we have been blessed to help Christians from Pakistan and other places. He meets regularly with Pastor John for Bible study.

Our Sunday starts with Sunday school for all ages, then our morning worship service, break, and evening worship service. We have the Lord’s supper on the first Sunday, fellowship lunch and afternoon service the following Sunday (we have really good cooks), and psalm sing on the last Sunday. Most morning and evening worship services are livestreamed.

Some of our recent community ministries/outreach efforts were:

• A baby drive/fundraiser and Mother’s Day picnic in support of Cradle of Hope in Glenside, an organization that assists young mothers and their babies
• Worship services for Phoebe Wyncote Retirement center residents every fifth Sunday
• Bonfire psalm sing in the park
• Elkins Park 4th of July parade, attending as a church in support of first responders, and our own Emma Perkins opened the parade singing the national anthem
• Young adult and teens Bible study on Friday evenings
• Men’s breakfast Bible study on the first Saturday morning of the month
• Weekly prayer meeting

Elkins Park RPC is a family and a community. Whether you seek solace, guidance, or a sense of belonging, our doors, and our hearts, are ready to welcome you!