History of Chester, PA. Chester is located about 15 miles southwest of Philadelphia on the Delaware River. Settlers from Sweden established the city in 1642 and named their settlement Upland. William Penn first landed in Upland and changed the name to Chester.

Chester was once a prosperous industrial center with many diverse cultural institutions and opportunities. After World War II, the city experienced steady economic and social decline consistent with other U.S. “rustbelt” cities. The city's major industry, shipbuilding, could not compete with cheap labor in third world markets and eventually collapsed. Chester lost population and capital because of economic decline and because of so called "white flight" to the suburbs. Chester’s population declined from 70,000 in 1960 to under 40,000 in the 1990s. Businesses, churches, and other core institutions abandoned the city.

Today Chester is the second most economically depressed city of its size in the U.S. One out of three homes is abandoned. Chester has the poorest education system in the state, teenage pregnancy rate and drug and alcohol rate are the highest in Pennsylvania

History of Chester Eastside Ministries (CEM). Chester Eastside Ministries is housed in the old Third Presbyterian Church, once a large active congregation in the Philadelphia Presbytery. The church , a huge Byzantine and gothic structure was built in 1896. Old Third was the 3rd largest Presbyterian Church in the country between 1920 and 1930 with a membership close to 3,000 people. The concept of “Vacation Bible School” was started in this church and quickly spread across the country. In the early 1980s the community profile changed and racial discrimination became a serious issue. The congregation declined and the church closed in 1982.

The Philadelphia Presbytery re-opened the building in 1985 under Rev. Tom Torosian’s leadership. Once the home of a dying and decaying church, the building was renovated and re-opened as Chester Eastside Ministries, a resource for those living in the Chester community. Chester Eastside Ministries has also been the home for several nonprofit community development and grass roots groups. Jobs with Peace, Habitat for Humanity, Peace in the Streets, Chester Organizing Project, and Ecumenical Caring Coalition are a few of the groups that have been involved in CEM.

The Rev. Bernice Warren, a Presbyterian minister, became Pastor/Director of CEM in 1995. Born and educated in Chester, she has drawn on a rich experience in urban living and ministry, helping her, staff and volunteers bring hope to the Chester community. After-school reading programs, emergency food program, the only library on the east side, bible study, summer day camp, cultural arts, GED preparation are a few of the programs currently at CEM.