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History On July 26, 1970, a group of 13 families and 3 singles who were attending the Lancaster/Rohrerstown Grace Brethren Church agreed to start a Grace Brethren Church in Lititz. A month later, regular home Bible studies began. By December 1970, the group sought a leader and requested official membership in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. On January 3, 1971, the first public worship service was held at the Lititz Recreation Center with Pastor Roy Dice, Jr. serving as the interim Pastor. By June 1971, the newly formed congregation unanimously approved the purchase of 5.5 acres at the current location and in September, the church was officially incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as the Grace Brethren Church of Lititz. On November 14, 1971, Jerry Young, the church’s first Senior Pastor, assumed leadership of the newly formed church. One year after the first public worship service, the church membership totaled 67 believers with an average worship attendance of 139.
Through 1975, the congregation grew to 300 people as the church established vigorous youth and evangelism programs. Many were brought to Christ and discipled through Sunday School initiatives. By 1973, the church was self-supporting and in early 1974, the church added its first Associate Pastor on an interim basis, supported its first missionary family, dedicated its first building and hired its first church secretary. The period from 1970 to 1975 were years of challenge and vision with the church taking risks based on their belief in God. The years from 1976 to 1979 focused on creating structures to support the continuing growth. The church addressed space needs by completing a second building addition and addressed staff needs by adding three full-time Pastors (Assistant, Youth and Children’s). In 1978, the church organized a Christian School offering Kindergarten through 4th grade. By 1979, with the church continuing to grow and the additional needs of Lititz Christian School, the church began consideration of a third building addition. By 1980, the church had 358 members and average worship attendance was 610.
After 15 years of ministry, the church reached a crisis period. The existing facility was jammed to capacity, the hallways were impossible to navigate and the parking lot was less than adequate. The congregation rose to the challenge and approved the fourth and most substantial addition to the building. From 1986-1989, the church endured the stresses of such a bold initiative. New approaches to stewardship were initiated in order to raise the necessary funds. In spite of the challenges, the church continued to see new people join and the building expansion become a reality. With the completion of the fourth building
addition in 1990, the face of the church changed as the church welcomed scores
of people who had not experienced the space challenges of the church’s first 15
years. To reach the young families in the community and now that space was
available, the church developed MorningStar Christian Daycare, Preschool &
Kindergarten that opened with 42 children enrolled. In early 1990, with
enrollment now at 276 in kindergarten through 8th grade, Lititz Christian School
laid out aggressive plans to add additional satellite elementary schools to feed
into a full high school. The school's initial attempts to accomplish its plan
were unsuccessful and at the sa The sustained growth since the church’s beginning tapered off in the 1990s and with space to accommodate the church body, the church turned its focus toward solidifying its ministries. The children’s ministry introduced an interactive Sunday morning program in place of the traditional Children’s Church. The music ministry added a full-time staff person and produced an original Christmas musical. The church hosted six consecutive summer outreach events in Lititz Springs Park that featured popular Christian artists and drew crowds of up to 2,000. By 1999, average worship attendance was 657 with 582 members and average Sunday School attendance was 438. Lititz Christian School enrollment was 333 and five Senior Classes had already graduated. MorningStar enrollment had reached 130. As the church prepared to enter the 21st century, God was beginning to lay the foundation for transition. In 2000, the church revised the Constitution and By-Laws and in 2002, the Board of Elders agreed to a new vision to guide the church for the coming years and a few months later, Pastor Young announced his intention to retire as of June 30, 2004. In May of 2004, the congregation unanimously decided to call Scott Distler to serve as the second Senior Pastor in the history of Grace Church, concluding a 2-year search process. After 33 years of ministry as the Senior Pastor, Jerry Young retired in June 2004. |
The next five years found the church’s resources severely
stretched to provide for the numbers of people who came. During 1981-1985,
morning worship attendances began to rise over the 650 mark. Sending 60 to help
establish a new church in Ephrata did not reduce the number of people in the
building. The church added a third addition to the building, but as it was
geared toward the ever-growing school with enrollment of 153 and had added 5th
and 6th grade, the additional space still did not adequately address the
church’s space needs.
me time, the added challenges of a new facility
strained the church once again. However, by 1994 the church and school would
recover. By 1995, average worship attendance
would reach 690 with 572 members, Lititz Christian School had a full high school
program in place, and the fifth building addition was complete.