About Our Church
Our Mission And Vision:
(Full Mission and Vision Document here)
Naming who we are: We are a collection of Jesus-people striving to live out the ways and teachings of Jesus. We believe Jesus is God in the flesh who has come to redeem and renew what has been broken and dead. We believe that in Jesus’ life we are shown how to live in whole relationship with God and with our neighbors. In Jesus’ death Christ has paid the price for sin that we could not pay. In his resurrection all things are beginning to be made new. In his ascension and return we have the hope of all things being made right and eternal life for those in Christ. We believe Jesus has called us to announce and demonstrate what the reign of Christ looks like in our lives, our families, our congregation and our community.
Our Beliefs Inform our Practice: Spring Creek Church of the Brethren is connected to a larger body of Jesus-people in the Church of the Brethren which draws its heritage through those identified as Pietists and Anabaptist. Of concern to the founders of our Anabaptist heritage was the conviction that Christianity is not only a faith to believe in, but one to be acted upon and lived out. Our practices include baptism of believers, observance of love feast, feet washing and communion, the service of anointing, striving toward a Christian lifestyle of simplicity and non-conformity, fostering use of the non-violent peaceful approach in addressing problems - seeking solutions through love of friends and enemies that leads to forgiveness and reconciliation, communicating the gospel by word and deed, and responding positively to the total ministry of the church as the Lord leads to commit our gifts to service for the common good and the upbuilding of the body of Christ.
Our Faith and Practice:
As a community of believers:
Our faith is founded on the belief in one God who is a personal Father and who, in holy love, creates, sustains, and orders all.
We confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God, Lord of all life and Savior of the world, by whose sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection we have eternal life.
We believe the Holy Spirit is at work transforming the believer by giving guidance, instruction, and uniting believers with the Lord and with one another.
We accept the Bible as Holy Scripture and divinely inspired Word of God and the New Testament as our standard of faith and practice.
We seek to be faithful disciples of Jesus as we:
Communicate the Gospel by words and deeds.
Strive toward a Christian lifestyle of simplicity, personal devotion, discipline and non-conformity, seeking to demonstrate a life transformed to the will of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Lead a life of moderation in those things that are helpful and abstinence from those that are harmful or degrading.
Maintain integrity of speech and truth telling; refrain from taking oaths.
Care for the sanctity of all human life.
Foster a non-violent, peaceful approach to addressing conflict; and promote solutions which lead to forgiveness and reconciliation.
Settle disputes within the context of Christian principles rather than courts of law.
Uphold and promote the Christian understanding of marriage and family.
Practice faithful worship attendance.
Commit our spiritual gifts to service and for the building up of the Body of Christ.
Commit our resources to Christian stewardship.
We give expression to our faith through the ordinances practiced by the church:
Baptism of believers by trine immersion.
Observance of Communion, Feetwashing, and Love Feast.
Anointing of persons who are sick or have spiritual needs.
Laying on of hands, symbolizing the conveying of the Holy Spirit in baptism, anointing, ordination and installation, and consecration of individuals for special service and ministry.
Our People:
Pastor – Adam Ulm
Adam began as pastor at Spring Creek in January 2018. He and his wife Katie both grew up in Lebanon county and both graduated from Northern Lebanon High School. After high school Adam attended Malone University in Canton, OH studying Youth and Sports Ministry. He and Katie were married in 2007 and moved to southern Lancaster where Adam served as Pastor of Youth and Young Adults in the Mechanic Grove COB for over 10 years. Adam and Katie have two little boys, Jameson and Garrett which keep everyone hopping.
Adam enjoys singing with Katie and playing outside or wrestling with his boys. He also likes to garden, putz around in his wood shop and spend time reading. Adam is a big Ohio State football and basketball fan and enjoys all kinds of sports.
Our Heritage:
The body of Christians known as the Church of the Brethren traces its beginning to a very small circle of Anabaptist-Pietist believers in Schwarzenau, Germany. Believing strongly that Christianity is a faith to be chosen by the individual, this led them to embrace believer's baptism. Thus this original group of eight persons gathered at the Eder River in the autumn of 1708 for baptism. While this act of re-baptism was illegal, the group grew and eventually sought freedom to worship and practice their faith as they desired in the British colony of Pennsylvania.
The first Church of the Brethren congregation organized in America was in Germantown, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). On Christmas day, 1723, six persons were baptized in the nearby Wissahickon Creek and the first Love Feast service in America was observed.
Around 1754 George Balsbaugh and George Henry came from Germany and settled on a tract of land on which the Spring Creek Church is now located in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Originally part of the Conestoga Congregation, in 1772 Conestoga was divided into three congregations, namely, Conestoga, White Oak, and Swatara. The Spring Creek area became part of the Swatara Congregation. Sometime between 1798 and 1800, the Swatara Congregation was divided into two Congregations, namely, Big Swatara and Little Swatara. Spring Creek was included in the Big Swatara congregation. In these early years church buildings were not the focal point of a congregation, and people would assemble together in homes for worship.
Spring Creek Church of the Brethren was established in its current location in 1848 when the first meetinghouse was built in the township of Derry along the Spring Creek. It was built on a tract of land donated by Wendell Henry, who was affiliated with the congregation. The church was still part of the Big Swatara Congregation at this time, and by 1868 the membership of the congregation had grown to 450 members. The congregation was then divided into the Big Swatara and Spring Creek congregations. The older portion of the current church building was built in 1886 and renovated in 1936, largely with funds donated by Milton S. Hershey, with other additions and renovations occurring in 1959 and 2006.
Leadership was initially given by "free ministers" - persons who were called apart from among the membership to share leadership. The first professional pastor was hired in 1934 and a pastor and other support staff continue to lead the congregation today.
A more detailed account is available in the book A History of the Spring Creek Church of the Brethren 1848-1988, by John S. Breidenstine. (The book is available for purchase from the church office.)
In 1915 the Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren decided to hold its denomination-wide meeting in Hershey, Pennsylvania. When the Annual Conference organizers requested permission to erect a tent on HersheyPark grounds, Milton Hershey responded by building a 4,000-seat convention hall for their use. The denomination returned again for their 1924 Annual Conference.
More history about the Brethren denomination is available at cob-net.org.
Denominational Videos: