WAYNESBORO – Eyes are on the future as two Waynesboro churches become one.
“We’re looking to be and will be the United Methodist Church in Waynesboro representing the denomination and more importantly, representing Christ’s love in the town, the surrounding area and all around the world,” said the Rev. Dr. Karl Herman, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church on South Church Street for the past 16 months.
Herman will lead his congregation and the members of Faith United Methodist Church on North Potomac Street when they officially become Faith in Christ United Methodist Church in January. “Five different people came up with the name independent of each other so it seems to us that is the name,” he added.
“People of Faith (church) started worshipping with us Nov. 9. It was a wonderful Sunday. The message was about Zaccheus, and how Jesus spread God’s grace, and how togetherness is real. It was set up as a welcoming, with a meal after the second service. Some people from Faith were at the first service as well.
“The mood was celebrational and touching. It was interesting and wonderful to see people who had been friends all their lives worshipping together on Sunday morning for the first time.”
Herman said Christ church was contacted by Faith about its interest in merging. “They (Faith) had a meeting with the district superintendent of Freedom Trail District, where both churches are located, regarding the future. The majority of Faith members believed in merging with us. We were informed of this in May.
“We formed a merger team of people from each congregation. We met regularly to discuss everything we needed to do to complete the merger following the laws of the U.S., the state of Pennsylvania and locally. We had to consult an attorney – this is a legal process – and at the same time we needed to make sure we followed all the rules for a merger for our denomination as laid out in the United Methodist Book of Discipline. We went through it step by step,” he noted.
The merger will be complete Jan. 1 to facilitate a smooth transition regarding taxes and denominational record keeping, according to Herman. The merger agreement had to be approved by both church boards, as well as the bishop and cabinet in the conference of the United Methodist Church.
“When that was all done and attorney approved, the last step was the church conference vote on the merger Oct. 26. We needed to have a majority vote with each congregation and the church conference and each voted in favor.” The Faith Church building and the parsonage will be sold, Herman said.
The first Christ Church was built in 1827, with the current building dedicated in 1901, Herman said. “Someone from Christ Church said she felt these two churches should have merged in 1969, when Faith became Faith United Methodist Church. Faith was founded in 1881 as First United Brethren Church.
“People from Faith said they liked the idea of merger because it kept their focus on Waynesboro and kept the Waynesboro community of United Methodist together.”
“This gives us a wonderful opportunity to better reach out to people in the community and the world,” Herman added. “We’re combining our strengths and areas of ministries. We’re building for a wonderful future here together.”
