LCBC (which stands for Lives Changed by Christ) began in 1986 when a local couple invited family and friends to come to their home to pray for their son, who was sixteen at the time and had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. After a few months they began to talk about officially becoming a church but realized that the Lancaster area didn’t need another church like all the others. Instead, they asked the question, “What if there was a church where people far from God felt comfortable?” Senior Pastor, David Ashcraft, has been leading LCBC since he was called to Lancaster in February of 1991. About fifteen years ago, the LCBC Manheim campus reached capacity and township officials indicated further expansion was not possible at this location. The question was asked, “Are we finished introducing people to Jesus, or do we need to do something to allow for growth?” At this time the idea of multi-site–multiple locations for one church–was introduced. In fact, a team from LCBC met with Parker Hill in 2005 to learn more about our approach to multi-site. Since that time, LCBC has grown to include 15 campuses, ranging in size from 100 to 5,600 people in weekly attendance. For additional information about LCBC, visit LCBCchurch.com.

Simply put, a merger would allow us to be even more effective in our mission of helping people find the way back to God.

By joining forces with a like-minded Pennsylvania church, we can reach a new level of effectiveness that we would not attain on our own. Together, we can move forward faster and we can accomplish greater things. 

A merger would remove a number of limitations to accomplishing our mission. Because of staff transitions, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and future financial obstacles, we will have some very challenging days ahead of us as we rebuild. In a merger with LCBC, we would be able to regain momentum much more quickly, continue to operate all three of our campuses, fill vacant staff positions, and move to even greater levels of effectiveness. Merging with LCBC will also provide a seamless transition in leadership as Pastor Mark wraps up his time here at
Parker Hill. 

Through this merger, our staff members will have access to experienced leaders and proven systems. They will have the opportunity to build relationships and collaborate with ministry peers from other campuses across central and eastern Pennsylvania. Historically, it has taken us 12-24 months to fill leadership positions on our staff. LCBC has a two-year leadership development program which provides them with a pipeline of well-trained potential staff members.

By sharing resources, leadership, and central office staff with LCBC, we can be much better stewards of the financial gifts entrusted to us by God’s people.

The bottom line is that LCBC has developed one of the most effective ministry models for reaching those far from Christ, and we see a great deal of benefit to our region in becoming part of it.

LCBC and Parker Hill have developed an almost identical approach to creating churches that effectively engage the people of Pennsylvania. We have remarkable similarities in mission and methodology. Our staff has enjoyed a close working relationship with the LCBC staff for more than 15 years. In fact, for the last ten years, Mark Stuenzi has met with David Ashcraft (LCBC’s Lead Pastor) on a regular basis for mutual encouragement and prayer. Our deep relationship with LCBC makes it easy for us to work together to advance the gospel in Pennsylvania. 

Because LCBC and Parker Hill are so similar, there would be relatively little change experienced by the average attender. The most observable change will be receiving our weekend teaching from LCBC teaching pastors. This change will happen gradually, as Mark phases out of his teaching role by the end of 2021. LCBC has a team of several teaching pastors. Occasionally, Leslie McCarthy, a lay leader who serves as part of LCBC’s women’s ministry, is invited to teach in the weekend service—especially when the topic of the message would be better addressed from a woman’s perspective. Most of the other changes will be behind the scenes and will be in the form of systems and resources that will bolster our effectiveness. One thing that won’t change is our mission. We will keep doing what we have always done: help people find the way back to God. We will continue to provide a compelling worship experience (online and in-person). As part of LCBC, we will continue to help people get connected in authentic community, take next steps, and grow in their faith—and we will still be a church that is for NEPA! We believe that this merger will help us do what we’ve always done, but do it even better!

Because of stress-related health issues, Mark will be ending his time as Parker Hill’s Lead Pastor by the end of this year. Replacing a Lead Pastor in a large church after a long tenure is always challenging and can be disruptive. We would be looking for someone who is skilled in teaching and also has experience in leading a multi-site church. Because of that, our pool of potential candidates would be fairly small. We believe that this merger would actually be a more seamless transition for the church. In his book Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work, Jim Tomberlin says: “Succession by merging with a respected local church pastor with a proven track record who is already culturally acclimated is far less risky than the traditional nationwide pastor search process.” It’s also important to remember that we’re considering this merger for reasons that are far greater than just filling a Lead Pastor position. Ultimately, this decision is being driven by our commitment to our mission of helping people find the way back to God.

Church mergers are increasingly embraced as a way to share resources and accomplish the mission more effectively. Both LCBC and Parker Hill have experience with church mergers. LCBC has participated in five mergers with other churches (in each case, the other church approached LCBC about the possibility of a merger–LCBC has never pursued a merger with another church). In 2004, Parker Hill merged with Faith Community Church. These mergers resulted in renewed growth and greater impact for the Gospel.

In a merger, all Parker Hill Church assets and liabilities would be transferred to LCBC Church. All of our current cash assets would be set aside to be used exclusively for the ministry needs of our three locations here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The two properties that we own (in Clarks Summit and Dickson City) would be transferred to the ownership of LCBC Church. The lease on our Wilkes-Barre Campus would be transferred to LCBC Church. Our Dickson City Campus is owned under a land contract and has a buy-out price of $3,200,000. This land contract would be paid off completely as part of the merger.

In 2010, we launched our Dickson City Campus in a building that was previously occupied by a movie theatre. This campus is situated in a high-visibility location on the Scranton-Carbondale Highway. It has proven to be an ideal spot for reaching people with the Gospel in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Prior to launching the Dickson City campus, we worked with the property owners to create a unique financial arrangement. The building owners were not ready to sell the property, but the church wanted to avoid a typical lease agreement. So, we entered into what is called a land contract. Under this arrangement, the owners hold the property title in escrow and the church makes monthly (interest-only) payments. According to the land contract, we have the option to buy out the property in 2029 for $3,200,000. This debt will be completely eliminated as part of the merger.

748 Parker Hill families made a three-year financial commitment to our most recent capital campaign, For NEPA. In a merger, all of our For NEPA gifts would be set aside to be used exclusively here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

All Parker Hill employees have been given the opportunity to continue on staff with LCBC. Most of our staff will continue to serve in their current roles. Other staff members will have a change in responsibilities, and several will relocate to Lancaster to serve in the LCBC central offices or leadership roles.

Yes, the staff at your campus will continue to serve in their current roles. Some of our other staff who currently serve in central office roles will join our campus staff teams. 

We currently give monthly financial support to four outside ministry organizations. These organizations are: NEPA Youth for Christ, 410 Bridge, BEE World, and Keystone Mission. LCBC has made a commitment to continue our financial support of these organizations for a minimum of three years, just as we did for the missionaries that were supported by Faith Community Church when we merged with them in 2004.