Paradise Holtzschwamm Church in Paradise Township has joined the Chicago-based Evangelical Covenant Church after severing ties with the United Church of Christ two years ago.
"We didn't feel we fit anymore," the Rev. Thomas D. Bellis said.
Pictured is the Holtzschwamm delegation being introduced at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Green Lake, Wis., in June.
Now known as Paradise Holtzschwamm Evangelical Covenant Church, the congregation plans to celebrate its new affiliation at 10:30 a.m. Sunday with a visit from the Rev. Howard Burgoyne, superintendent of the denomination's East Coast Conference.
At least two other York County churches have left the UCC since national delegates endorsed same-sex marriage in 2005. St. Paul's ( Wolf's) Church in West Manchester Township joined the Evangelical Covenant Church in 2006 and Bethlehem Steltz Reformed Church in Codorus Township joined the Evangelical Presbyterian Church that same year.
The congregation at Holtzschwamm, which means swampy woods, was founded in 1765 as a German Reformed church. It shared a building with German Lutherans until 1960 when the Reformed worshippers built their own church. They continue to co-own the union cemeteries.
Holtzschwamm's average worship attendance is 100.
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