Christ United Methodist Church,

605 Camp Lavigne Road, Benton, PA 17814

Pastor: Howard Leh, 570 925-2034

Dial-a-Devotion: 570 925-6402

  Christ United Methodist Church, built in 1908, is located in the village of Central. In 1995, the Brandon U.M.C. and the Central U.M.C. merged to form one congregation. Services were held for six months at each building. In 2001, the congregation united and chose the Central building to worship in year around. The Church was now known as Christ U.M.C. The corner stone of the Church calls it the Hess Memorial Church and at one time all windows in the Church had been donated by a Hess.

Pastor Howard Leh conducts services each Sunday at 9 AM. A youth message is part of the service each week. A ten-member choir is in attendance. Following the service all ages are invited to the social room for fellowship and home-made treats. Church school begins at 10:30 with an opening of devotions and a hymn sing. There are adult, kindergarten, school age, pre-teen and teen classes. Communion is held the first Sunday of each month. A men's group draws from the entire community and meets monthly at the Brass Pelican Restaurant for discussion of community betterment projects. A very active group of Church women meets monthly at the Church to plan fund raisers such as the election day soup and sandwich sale and the Thanksgiving pie sale. The women donate over $2,000 each year to needy individuals, organizations, missions, and charities.

The Church missions committee distributes raised funds for local individuals and charities. The youth group continues to grow in number. They have a pie and baked goods fundraiser at the Ol' Country Barn Pumpkin Fest. Their outings last year included a trip to a ski resort for snowboarding, a weekend campout at Acorn Acres, and an all-day adventure and picnic at Knoebels, a bowling and pizza party, and an afternoon of selecting shoebox items to send to needy children through Samaritan's Purse. A well-attended vacation Bible School is held each summer.

The Christmas eve service will be held this year on Tuesday evening, December 24, at 7 PM. The public is welcome to attend.

--compiled by Alice Sutliff Allegar