In late 1975, a number of Vietnamese immigrants, sponsored by American churches, settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. At that time, Pastor Franklin Irwin was serving the Lord at Indiantown Gap. He helped the believers there find a place of worship. Before leaving for another assignment, Pastor Irwin requested the General Assembly to send a servant to shepherd this flock. Therefore, the Lord led Pastor Nguyen Anh Tai and his family of seven from Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, to Lancaster in late 1975. Pastor Irwin and Pastor Allen McVicker welcomed Pastor Tai's family and together officially established the Lancaster Evangelical Church on January 25, 1976, in the church building of the United States Evangelical Church on Wabank Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The first Sunday service had 17 attendees.

From those humble beginnings, through the fervent hearts dedicated to building the church, God blessed His church in Lancaster. Under the Lord's guidance, the church continued to grow steadily, from 24 members in 1976 to 72 in 1977. By early 1979, the total number of believers was 120, making shared worship with the American church too cramped. The entire church united in prayer and launched a fundraising campaign to build a new facility. In June 1980, the church purchased a beautiful and spacious church building on N. Marshall Street in Lancaster, with seating for 200 people and seven classrooms for Sunday School. Since moving to the new facility, the church's various departments have expanded and its activities have increased.

In early 1982, through contact with a fellow believer in Harrisburg, the church organized a private Bible study class there every Sunday afternoon, initially with 11 participants. Later, God added more members to the group, and by 1985, Harrisburg Church was established with over 100 members. Alongside these edification and growth activities, the church continued to organize an annual Service Camp at Summit Grove on Labor Day weekend for churches in the northeastern United States and Canada. Starting with 30 participants in 1976, the number increased to 320 in 1985, and over 700 participated in the camp's 40th anniversary in 2016. Under God's guidance, the church grew in organization and deepened in faith. Many young people from Lancaster Church went on to dedicate themselves to studying at Bible schools and seminaries to become servants of the Lord.

In 1988, Pastor Nguyen Anh Tai was elected District Superior and moved to California after 12 years of contributing to the establishment and development of Lancaster Church. The Lord led Pastor Nguyen Xuan Tin from New York to Lancaster every weekend to teach God's Word. In March 1990, Pastor Huynh Van Linh from New York was invited to officially pastor Lancaster Church. From then on, the church continued to receive many blessings from the Lord. In 1992, the church had two Sunday Schools, one in Vietnamese and one in English, operating simultaneously. In May 1993, the Lord paid off the church's debts four years earlier than planned. Around this time, the church also collaborated with two local servants to open a branch church in York County, Pennsylvania. By early 1995, York Church was officially established with a total of 45 members.

The Lord has truly blessed the Church greatly. Worship services and activities are growing in number, but the current facilities cannot expand, especially in the vision of meeting the needs of future generations. The Church prayed for the creation of a larger facility and decided to purchase a farm in Landisville to build a new church building. In June 2006, the Church officially moved to its new location, coinciding with its 30th anniversary. Here, all church activities flourish. In addition to discipleship training, the Church actively supports and contributes both manpower and finances to long-term missionary programs such as CMA in Hungary, and short-term missionary missions in Malaysia and Belize.

In July 2006, Pastor Huynh Van Linh was transferred to Texas by the Diocese. In October of that year, Pastor Nguyen Huu Cuong was appointed to pastor the church. Alongside overseas missionary trips in 2008, 2010, and 2011, the church also organized evangelistic meetings at its location. In 2012, the English-language ministry was renamed Saving Grace Ministries, aiming to expand to other English-speaking populations, not just the second and next generations of the church. In 2013 and 2014, the church also participated in missionary work in Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Russia. In October 2016, Pastor Nguyen Huu Cuong moved to California.

For the next two years without a pastor, the district arranged for local servants to take turns teaching God's Word at the church every Sunday. In February 2019, the district appointed Pastor Nguyen Si Thuan to pastor the church. A new phase began. The Lord was restoring the church, which He had blessed so much over the past nearly 45 years. Many of God's children who had been absent for a long time due to the lack of a shepherd gradually returned to attend in large numbers in both the Vietnamese and English congregations. We give thanks to God for His faithfulness.

Above all, we wholeheartedly praise God, for He has helped Lancaster Church to grow and flourish, not only establishing a firm foothold in the northeastern United States, but also spreading the Gospel to many parts of the world. Through Lancaster Church, many lives have been and are being dedicated to serving the Lord both domestically and internationally. There have been times when the Church seemed to weaken and slow down, but the faithful God always uplifted and strengthened His children so that they could do even greater things for Him: “You are the light of the world; a city on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14).

© Lancaster, Pennsylvania 03/30/2020.