Don’t just join. Belong.

All are welcome here to help fulfill our vision of resurrecting children, youth, and their families who have experienced spiritual, emotional or economic death, and decay. Here, we share the Gospel in a rejuvenating way that calls all to live and love in Christ.

A history of growing the church while lifting the community.

Resurrected Life Church began in 2002 as a bible study in the home of Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards and his wife, Pastor Denyse Edwards.

2002

Our first worship service held in a banquet hall in Whitehall. Later that year, we began holding weekly services at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Allentown.

First service held at our new home at 144 N. 9th Street, the former St. Michael’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. It put us closer to our vision of serving the community in center city Allentown. One year later, we purchased the church, a school building, and an adjacent large parking lot behind it.

2009

2011

Rev. Dr. Edwards establishes the Resurrected Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization that helps the church address long-standing, critical community needs for childcare, early education, youth programming, and employment. Today, the RCDC manages the Resurrected Life Children’s Academy, a Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Initiative, the James Lawson Freedom School, and additional endeavors which provide educational opportunity, economic dignity, and social justice for our community.

Resurrected Life Church, an independent non-denominational church, officially becomes affiliated with the United Church of Christ (UCC). This move helps us advance racial, economic, and social justice, secures our longevity and legacy for generations, and provides opportunities for ministry, while providing resources which work around the world.

2019

2023

Resurrected Life acquires the historic Zion Reformed United Church of Christ on Hamilton Street in center city Allentown, and begins a 1 million dollar renovation. The church also undertakes an 8.5 million dollar renovation to the educational building at its former location, now called the Old Allentown Campus. It’s all part of a concentrated effort to improve the community by helping more children and their families in a neighborhood with high poverty and low children’s literacy rates.

Resurrected Life Church took stock of our progress toward our vision of creating communities of equity, excellence, and empowered residents. We assessed our goals, accomplishments, and impacts across all our focus areas. See our overview and qualitative assessment on our Vision and Impact page.

2024

Belief in the power of God, his Son, and the Spirit.

We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother, and to whose deeds we testify:

God calls the worlds into being, creates humankind in the divine image, and sets before us the ways of life and death. God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin. God judges all humanity and all nations by that will of righteousness declared through prophets and apostles.

In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death, and reconciling the whole creation to its Creator.

God bestows upon us the Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.

God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants to the whole human family, to proclaim the Gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at his table, to join him in his passion and victory.

God promises to all who trust in the Gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no end.

Helping people in need:

Evangelism and Missions

Community Feeding and Meals

Provides free nutritious food items, meals, and hygiene products weekly to members of the church’s neighborhood and wider community.

Back-to-School Bash (B2SB)

Held each August, the B2SB provides school-age children and youth enrolled in the Allentown School District with bookbags, school supplies, haircuts, braiding, food, games, and opportunities for fellowship and fun.

Thanksgiving Community Meal

Held every Thanksgiving Day, we provide free Thanksgiving meals with all the fixings to members of the neighborhood and community who are experiencing housing and food insecurities.

Christmas Community Meal

Held every Christmas Day, we provide free Christmas meals and toys to children and families in need.

World-Wide Missions of Liberia

We have a partnership and agreement with Liberia, West Africa through World-Wide Missions of Liberia and Liberian Senator Nyonblee Kargna-Lawrence. The church provides financial assistance for student education scholarships, clothing, ministry materials, and hygiene products to residents of Liberia, as well as rice and other food items for the WWML Annual Conference held in Liberia, West Africa.

Remembering the great tragedy and helping to heal.

We hold the annual MAAFA Commemoration Project. Maafa means “great tragedy” in Kiswahili and references the tragedy of slavery and racism in America. Too often these subjects are taboo in African American communities. The result is a communal forgetting that leads to a lack of conscious memory and is a barrier to individual and collective healing. The MAAFA Suite…A Healing Journey addresses the residual effects of Post Traumatic Slavery Disorder. The suite can be described as transformative theater or a sacred psychodrama. Here, American history is recounted with a true perspective and allows all people to understand the oppression inflicted on generations of African Americans.