Sam Smucker reflects on leaving Amish lifestyle, founding a megachurch: 'It was amazing; People had a hunger for God'
June 1, 2017
LANCASTER, PA - Forty years sounds like a lifetime. It also can fly past in the blink of an eye.
Just ask the Rev. Sam Smucker. In 1977, Smucker and 30 other people gathered for worship in a room at the former Sheraton Conestoga Hotel on Oregon Pike. Three years later, they were renting space at the Lititz Rec Center for services.
Today, Smucker preaches to a weekly audience of 2,800 in an auditorium at the Worship Center — a 106,000-square-foot building along New Holland Pike complete with rooms, chapels and cafe. Adjacent is the first church building, now accommodating Lancaster County Christian School students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
On a recent morning, Smucker talked about how he, a former Amish youth from Ronks with only an eighth-grade education, became the pastor of a modern megachurch.
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