About Us

By God's grace the West Side Brethren In Christ Church will be a dynamic, growing fellowship of Believers who worship and serve God passionately. We will strive to be relevant in style and form while maintaining spiritual integrity. We will intentionally reach out to our community for Christ, provide quality Biblical teaching and discipleship opportunities, promote spiritual relationships, and present a world vision of evangelism. We will strive to provide a growth orientation through new and changing ministries, flexible structures, and visionary leadership. Our source of wisdom and confidence will be the working of the Holy Spirit among us accessed by fervent prayer and active faith.

Our History

The West Side Brethren in Christ Church began as a church plant of the Allegheny Conference in 1987 with Rev.Ed Rickman as founding Pastor. Soon an intial building was erected at the current location, 2665 Lincoln Way West, Chambersburg. Pastor Rickman left in 1988 and was succeeded by Rev. Charles Lehman, who led the congregation for thirteen years. The church experienced some growth during this time. After Pastor Lehman's retirement in 2001, Rev. James Sollenberger became the Pastor and remains so the present. The congregation has almost doubled during his time and completeled a major building addition in 2007.

The West Side congregation is affiliated with the Brethren in Christ Church, which grew out of a revival movement in Lancaster County in 1780. The church has its roots in the Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan streams of theological thought. It is aggressive in church planting and missions with many more members overseas today than in North America.