Holy Cross UMC is a striking 1890 Richardsonian Romanesque building located in downtown Reading. The church was designed by Thomas Lonsdale, a prominent Philadelphia architect who worked on numerous buildings across eastern Pennsylvania around the turn of the twentieth century, including several Methodist churches. The building was constructed of redstone and marble, and its design features a distinctive octagonal sanctuary supported by oak rafters with a pipe organ and fireplace.

Since its construction, Holy Cross UMC has been guided by the principles of love, compassion, and service and continues to spread these values through space sharing and community-serving programming. The church’s most significant partnership is the Berks County Intermediate Unit Head Start program, through which Holy Cross supports early childhood education by providing space and volunteers for the program and facilitating a monthly “bookstore” for the students. Other space sharers include Family Promise, Community Prevention Partnership, The Reading Theater Project, and a Seventh-Day Adventist congregation. Additionally, Holy Cross operates a food pantry from its building and hosts bimonthly community hot dog meals, which occur from the spring to the fall. Throughout the year, the church invites people in and strengthens existing relationships through regularly scheduled holiday and annual events.

A National Fund grant of $125,000 matched with $125,000 raised by the congregation will be used to replace the church’s outdated boiler and update its fire and security systems.

Photo by James Shaw