About

VISION

Our Vision “A church that studies the Word, knows the Word, and lives the Word; spreading the Good News of the Gospel, as we grow together in faith.”

FOCUS

Our focus at CPC is teaching the Bible in ways that everyone can understand and apply to their lives, a opening ourselves up to God’s transforming power.

MISSION

Mission: Worshiping, Witnessing and Working! …To Worship in Spirit and truth. (John 4:24) …To Witness through consistent Bible Study, relevant preaching and transformative living. (Acts 2:40-45) …To Work to effect the world through practical ministries that: heal families; bring hope to the hopeless; and develop Christian disciples. (Matthew 28:18-20)

CORE VALUES

RADICAL HOSPITALITY goes beyond greeters at the door and handshakes during worship. It requires the church to be intentional about welcoming every person as an honored guest. Being a “friendly” church is good, but being the Lord’s church calls for “radical hospitality,” which says that we believe that all people are important to God and to His church, and they all deserve to be loved. No matter what they look like, how they dress, how they smell, the color of their skin or who they love.

Making DISCIPLES is the mandate of the Great Commission. It is the process of being made to be like Christ. As we learn to follow the pattern of Jesus’ life –through Bible study, teaching, serving and living—there should be tangible, growing evidence of us becoming more like Him. When we become true disciples, the witness of our lives -our words and our deeds—become extensions of the Gospel of Christ.

REAL EMPOWERMENT is a process that helps people to use their God given gifts and talents to improve their own lives, their communities and society. Our goal is to connect people with community partners, who can teach them skills and give them knowledge that will motivate them to take steps to improve their own lives.

We do not believe that you can be a good servant of the church if you do not prioritize care for your own family. PROMOTING HEALTHY FAMILIES is about improving and advancing the quality of life for families in our church and community. Our desire is to see families in our church and extended community thrive, work through everyday circumstances and extraordinary traumas, and gain skills and knowledge through engagement and education that can be applied in real life.

We are reminded of our duty as the church to act on behalf of vulnerable groups and communities through SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY, as we remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40, “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” As a church, our goal is to deliver direct services to meet the needs of people we encounter where possible, and to have a positive impact on the lives of real people.

The Reverend Frederick A Hanna M.Div, Ed.D (ABD) is the 3rd installed pastor of the Community Presbyterian Church of New Castle, Delaware where he has served since 2013.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry from Howard University in Washington, DC; a Master of Divinity degree from New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, NJ; and has completed his studies in the Doctor of Education in Social and Philosophical Foundations at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, NJ. He served as pastor of the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, PA before accepting the call at Community Presbyterian Church. Pastor Fred, as he prefers to be called, has served on various Presbytery committees, and has worked relentlessly to be a change agent in the church. He believes in expository preaching as a vehicle to open hearts and minds to the real mission and vision of the gospel. He has taught classes on Race and Education at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, NJ.

He is a published poet who preaches and lectures, and his ecumenical background gives him an interfaith appeal and experience. He would tell you that his most cherished gifts are his wife and 3 children.

“The church must be able to speak to the issues pressing on people today in a way that brings healing and wholeness.”

John 4:23 came to mind for me this morning as I have been thinking about worshipping in church. John 4: 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. (NIV)

Too often church has presented worship as a performance. A performance to be presented, critiqued and then approved or disapproved of. The only places I find worship disapproved of in the Bible were when David’s wife disapproved of her husband not behaving as she thought a king should behave -lacking dignity and decorum in his worship- AND when God disapproves of the Israelites ritualistic, vain, empty, self-serving worship.

When we come to God in worship, we do so with our hearts open and calling out to God in thanksgiving and gratitude… sometimes with sorrow and grief… but always with an expectation that the Father is “seeking” to meet us… to comfort us… to care for us… to love us. If we go to worship with that expectation, surely we will NEVER be disappointed and our worship will ALWAYS be approved.
Pastor Fred