About Old Goshenhoppen Reformed Church
At Old Goshenhoppen Reformed Church (OGRC), you will find a faithful, family-oriented congregation that stands unashamedly upon the unchanging truths of God’s Word. We are a Biblical, Confessional, Historic, and Reformed church in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed in all its fullness.
At OGRC you will find a church that:
- Holds the Bible as the divinely inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God—the only rule for faith and life.
- Proclaims salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
- Exalts the transforming power of the Gospel, which calls sinners to repentance and grows believers in holiness.
- Prioritizes the faithful exposition and preaching of Scripture as the ordinary means by which Christ builds His Church.
- Treasures our historic roots, having been planted in the New World in 1727 and officially recognized by the Classis of Amsterdam in 1730.
- Longs to see the next generation stand firm in the faith once delivered to the saints.
- Welcomes families and individuals from every background into warm, hospitable, Christ-centered fellowship.
- Walks alongside you as you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ministries for Every Age and Stage
We are committed to the ordinary means of grace and to equipping the saints for the work of ministry. Our life together includes:
- Lord’s Day Worship – Sundays at 10:00 a.m.
- Adult Sunday School – Sundays at 9:00 a.m.
- Children’s Sunday School (seasonal) – Sundays at 9:00 a.m.
- Prayer Meeting – Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
- Ladies Bible Study – Wednesday afternoons
- Youth Bible Study – Monday mornings
- Men’s Fellowship – regular gatherings for encouragement and accountability
- Youth Group & Fellowship – 1st & 3rd Sundays at 6:00 p.m. (ages 10–18 and adults)
- Vacation Bible School – one week each June (PreK–6th grade)
- Builders of Christendom Camp – one week each June (ages 10–18)
- Firm Foundation Homeschool Co-op – PreK through high school educational ministry
Our Rich History: A Beacon of Reformed Faith in Pennsylvania
In the early 1700s, German settlers—many fleeing persecution and drawn by the promise of religious liberty by William Penn moved from the German Palatinate first to Philadelphia and eventually spreading into the Perkiomen Valley. They named this settlement Old Goshenhoppen, a Christianized reference to the biblical land of Goshen in Exodus.
On October 12, 1727, the Reformed congregation held its first worship service fresh off the boat led by Pastor George Michael Weiss. Just three years later, in 1730, it received formal recognition from the Classis of Amsterdam as a faithful “New World” church plant. In 1732 the Lutheran and Reformed congregations together purchased land from the Penn family and built a log meetinghouse that doubled as a school—still standing today as a monument to the faith of our fathers.
The Lutheran and Reformed congregations shared the space until 1989. At that time the Lutherans desired to move their congregation. But the Reformed witness at Old Goshenhoppen has remained unbroken for nearly 300 years. Through wars, revivals, cultural shifts, and even a tornado, one thing has remained constant: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
We are part of the one, holy, catholic (universal) Church confessed in the Apostles’ Creed. People from many denominational and ethnic backgrounds have found a spiritual home here, united by the Gospel and the historic Reformed faith.
Our Confession of Faith: The Comfort That Never Changes
The foundation of our faith is beautifully summarized in the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), a confession dearly loved by our founders and still treasured by us today:
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.
This comfort is timeless. It sustained our forebears in the wilderness of the New World, and it remains the solid rock upon which we stand today.
Would you like to know this comfort for yourself?
We warmly invite you to join us this Sunday at 10:00 a.m. Come as you are. Hear the Word of God faithfully preached. Be refreshed by the means of grace. And discover the joy of belonging to a historic Reformed church that is alive with the Spirit of Christ.
Old Goshenhoppen Reformed Church
Proclaiming Christ in throughout Pennsylvania since 1727