Retiring Grace Fellowship's pastor: 'I'll miss the people'
Larry Katz, pastor of Grace Fellowship church in North Codorus Township, is pastor of one of York County's largest churches. He plans to retire but has yet to determine a date. His church is an indicator of the suburbanization of the county. Background posts: Christ Lutheran is oldest York church - but how old? and Sandpaper Sisters rubs readers right way.
Larry Katz, retiring pastor of Grace Fellowship and one of York's best known ministers, has led two historic York County churches.
He was pastor the the Gospel Center in the late 1980s. That Leader Heights church was one of the first - perhaps the first large suburban non-denominational church - in the York area... .
Under the Rev. Ralph Boyer's pastorship, it grew from humble beginnings on Pine Street in post World War II York to a sprawling campus in York Township. The Gospel Center went through several pastors in the 1990s, reformed and is known today as Bridgeway.
Katz left the Gospel Center to found the non-denominational Grace Fellowship, a church that swells York New Salem's population each Sunday.
Its complex covers 100,000 square feet. With York Township's Living Word Community Church and Manchester Township's Stillmeadow Nazarene, it regularly attracts audiences of more than 1,000 each Sunday.
These growth of such churches are a sign of the times in York County. They originated in or near the city of York, re-located to the suburbs where people have moved in increasing numbers and have developed a variety of services - almost like small cities.
Their ministries are extensive and their preaching so winsome that they've stressed smaller, traditional denominations in nearby towns.
Stillmeadow, in particular, has extended ministries and services back into the city.
Now, Katz says he'll leave when his successor is pic
Rick · January 28, 2008 10:34 PM
Pastor Larry and his wife Jackie have served the Kingdom of God faithfully for nearly 50 years. Larry is a perfect example of living out the scripture in attempting to Love God and Love people. He is transparent and honest. He is an outstanding teacher of the Word of God. His ministry in YNS has had a significant impact upon my family and me. God bless you as you transition to another phase in life as God continues to Lead you!