Here is a bit of news I learned this morning and will be in the paper over the next few days:
Grace Fellowship church in North Codorus Township, one of the largest churches in York County, recently named the Rev. Michael Anthony its new senior pastor.
Anthony will be installed at 10 a.m. Sunday. A reception will follow and the public is invited. The 48-year-old Anthony is married to Janet and they have two sons – Titus and Simeon.
The family is spending the week moving from Charlotte, N.C. to a rented home in the area, said the Rev. Bob Tome, who filled the role of senior pastor for several months. The church board voted Oct. 21 to appoint Anthony.
Anthony has led churches in Oregon and planted a church in North Carolina. He is the founder of Godfactor – a web-based evangelism and discipleship ministry.
Tome said popular past events at Grace will be returning under Anthony, starting with a church production of “Scrooge,” set for the weekend before Christmas.
Grace has average Sunday attendance topping 1,000.
On his last Sunday, the Rev. Larry Katz embraces the Rev. Ed Short in this May 2008 file photo. Short moved from a congregation in New York City to take over as Grace’s senior pastor.
Anthony also mentioned preaching the Scriptures with “a 21st century” emphasis.
I plan to get more in depth with him on this subject in the near future. It is the basis of his GodFactor ministry.
Anthony’s calling to Grace comes about three-and-a-half years after the church called the Rev. Ed Short to succeed the Rev. Larry Katz, who led Grace for 19 years.
Short’s tenure lasted a little over two years and seemingly did not go smoothly, although nobody from the church would speak on the record. Here is a section from a May 2008 YDR story from Short’s installation:
Members say part of their attraction to Short was his teaching style and emphasis on expanding a church by conversion, as opposed to growth by transfer — that is, people who arrive disgruntled from other congregations.
I heard some grumbling after Short left a year ago about the longtime Grace programs that he cut, such as the popular shows like “Scrooge.”
Anthony said the church is full of talented folks and he plans to bring all the shows back.
“We think the people here are great,” he said. “We’ve fallen in love with them.”
Anthony is preaching a verse-by-verse Christmas series in the gospel of Luke, which starts Dec. 2.
Was it REALLY impossible to put a photo of Pastor Mike embracing Pastor Katz? Are you seriously telling us that the ONLY photo you could use was from 2008!?!? Even as a native Yorker (I’ve lived within a 4 block area for 42 out of 52 years – the other 10 years being in Adams Co….which may as well be York Co.), I’m appalled that it’s impossible for the same photographer I saw at Grace Fellowship on Sunday to share his photos so there would be, you know, something NEW in the NEWs. Mind, I got along great with Ed and trying to dig up dirt on how things did/did not go with him just lowers the already plummeting credibility of the media even further.
Joe,
This blog post was done Wednesday, as soon as I learned about the news regarding Pastor Michael. Obviously, the new photos of Pastor Michael and Pastor Larry were taken Sunday. We had two new photos of Pastor Michael in the paper yesterday and online. I will be using those newer photos for any future stories or blog posts about Grace and Pastor Michael.
Thanks for reading and writing in. Appreciate your feedback!
John
The church name is Grace Fellowship, not Grace Fellowship Church. (There is a Grace Fellowship Church in Shrewsbury, and the two are not the same.) YDR has done this multiple times in its articles. Just as an FYI.
Thanks Janine. I am trying to get in touch with the church on this. Every press release and every obituary we get lists the church as Grace Fellowship Church, so I am not sure why that is. But we want to make sure we get it right in all areas of the paper. I’ll change it here though.
John
Do you have any information on where Rev. Ed Short is now? Did he move on to another church?
Nick,
I do not. I was curious about this myself a couple weeks back and did a web search, but it’s either a common name, because the only stories that come up are from his time here. The other matches don’t appear to be the same fellow.
Sorry. John
Appreciate the reply back.
– Nick
Ed Short started a new church named Crosspointe. It meets Sunday mornings at 10am in the Spring Grove Community Center. It is amazing.