History of Pennsboro United Methodist Church
Pennsboro United Methodist Church came into being in 2003 when two older congregations in Pennsboro--First United Methodist Church and Trinity United Methodist Church—were united.
First Church began in 1835 when a class was formed in the home of Philip and Caroline Sigler as the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1864 Pennsboro’s oldest church erected a building for worship and a cemetery. The first church building burned and a new one was built at the same location in 1869. The building was enlarged and renovated over the years until the big white church on the hill became a spiritual landmark for all the city to see. The first pastor of the church was the Rev. I. P. White. Fifty-six pastors served this church with the Rev. Lois Luzader staying for twenty-one years. The church merged with the Evangelical denomination in 1946 becoming the Evangelical United Brethren Church.
Trinity Church resulted from the combination of two Methodist congregations. The oldest was the Methodist Protestant organized in 1872 by Mr. J. Lem Poe. Rev. John Norris was the first pastor and a church building was in place by 1902. The Methodist Episcopal Church originated with a class started in 1877. The first pastor was Rev. W. Kelley, and a church building was erected in 1880. In 1939, when the Methodist groups became one denomination, the former Methodist Protestants adopted the name Payne Memorial; the Methodist Episcopal group was known as First Church. They had individual pastors until 1947 when they were put together as a Charge under one minister. Fires resulted in the destruction of both buildings, and the present church building was built and became the spiritual home for all the Methodist members of the city.
When the Methodist and E.U.B. churches merged in 1968 to form the new denomination of United Methodist, Pennsboro’s E.U.B. church took the name First United Methodist Church, and the former First Methodist church became Trinity United Methodist Church. A union of the two congregations took place in 2003 using the former Trinity building and taking the name of Pennsboro United Methodist Church. The sixth and present pastor is Anna Efaw. Preceding her were Christopher Arveson, Steven Lightner, Kelly Martin, William Durst, and Ethan Rapking.