A Church Grows on Pinewood Road

Constructed at the same time that William Levitt began building the Levittown neighborhoods, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church is 50-year old institution that was forced to close recently. With the uncertainty of the economic environment, the surrounding neighbors may have feared that the church would sit empty on Pinewood Drive, much like when an empty storefront serves as a daily reminder that things are not getting better.

Those fears quickly washed away when board members from Restoration Church reached an agreement with the EPC owners and began moving in and renovating the church over the summer.

Restoration has been formed as a branch of Grace Point Church in Newtown, providing congregants from Levittown a place to gather closer to home. Church volunteers, including Stephen Weir, have been working for months fixing up the closed church on Pinewood Road, giving the surrounding neighborhood a beacon of relief.

"I think people around here are just happy that this church will not sit empty," said Weir. "This is a landmark in the community that will not go to waste."

That gratitude was evident when the church held a free sale in August, offering up the old furniture and fixtures from EPC to anybody that wanted it. Even more people came around for a pig roast on Oct. 5. Weir said the events is a great opportunity to show that Restorations has a community-focused ministry and is not looking to just be the "hip" church.

"Restoration is for people looking for something more contemporary, with less ritual and structure," said Weir. "We value and have a place for liturgy and repetition, but we don't treat mass like it's in a museum."

Weir's plan is to have Restoration become fully independent from Grace Point within the next two years. It will take efforts by the church members to get out into the community and keep the word-of-mouth spreading.

"We're seeing a lot of buzz in the neighborhoods in Langhorne, Levittown and Fairless Hills," said Weir. "A lot of younger families are looking for something like this."

As part of the transition, ministers from Restoration agreed to continue operating EPC's Little Blessings Christian Pre-school. Classes are held for three-year olds Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to noon. Four and five-year old classes are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to noon with the option to stay until 3 p.m. Call (215) 949-2602 for more information.

Restoration Church holds mass Sundays at 10 a.m., led by Pastor Ross Manders. For more information, call (215) 949-8400. The church will host a free Trunk-or-Treat night, featuring costume contest for the kids, pumpkin decorating, bounce house, popcorn machine and more on Oct. 27 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.