Aston Presbyterian Church
Aston Presbyterian has a long history dating back to 1866 when it was founded as the Chester City Presbyterian Church which was the second Presbyterian congregation established in that city. After a general alarm fire destroyed the 90 year old church building in 1956, the congregation spent three years seeking God’s direction as they worshipped and ministered using the facilities of the Central YMCA of Chester.
In 1957 land was purchased in what was then Chester Township and in March of 1959 the new building was completed and the congregation relocated to the current facility. Not long after that the Bridgewater Farms development, which surrounds the property, petitioned the court for annexation to Aston Township and when that petition was approved, the church property became part of Aston with the dividing line being the bridge on Concord Road over Baldwin Run.
In 1975, a Kilgen Pipe organ was gifted to the church from Westminster Presbyterian Church. The gift was made because, at that time, our Pastor was Rev. Bob Boell. Bob was a child of Westminster where his father had served as Pastor for 25 years.
In 1978 a building addition was completed which added much needed classrooms and office facilities.
In 1979, three women members of the church began a non-profit Day Care/Learning Center ministry, which we know today as the Aston Presbyterian Church Day Care Learning Center. The philosophy of the Learning Center is to teach each child to love learning, achieve good self image and install a feeling of love and concern for others. This mission of the church continues to provide a much needed learning experience for all children in this and surrounding communities.
The church was renovated in the early 2000s, the highlight being the installation of the Good Shepherd stained glass window in 2002. The window was a gift of the Robert Sampson family from their home church in Kansas.
In 2005 the Salisbury Labyrinth, a Cretan design, was built and dedicated. This walking labyrinth is a metaphor for the spiritual journey. Please feel free to take time to walk and talk with God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. Our labyrinth is open all hours and to all members in our community.
It is with great joy that we celebrated our 150th Anniversary on February 15, 2016.
2017 brought a great adventure with 2 joint projects with Thomas M. Thomas Church of Chester, a building project and a Fine Arts Project. We also welcomed 2 Seminarians, Hannah Sikes and BJ Chain, from Princeton Theological Seminary, who interned with APC for a year.
2018 will bring the added events of Youth Sunday (the 1st Sunday of the month) and Young Adult Sunday (the 2nd Sunday of the month), a revised Children’s and Bible study time along with many other activities to enrich the lives of our members and friends. Hope to see you there.
We look forward, with great anticipation, to see where God will lead us as we seek to do His work in our community.