CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — A historic Cumberland County church currently owned by the state could soon change hands.
For more than five decades, the church has been owned by the state and operated through the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.“It’s like a museum in there," said Janice Lynx, executive director of the West Shore Historical Society."It is, I believe, the oldest church in Cumberland County in its original condition.”Good Shepherd Anglican Reformed Episcopal Church
Members believe the congregation has good intentions, but allowing weekly worship could lead to wear and tear which will ultimately ruin the building. He continued,"So plans have been made to put a parking lot in the front of the building. It’s going to be historically sensitive in the sense that it’s going to be a below-the-surface material so grass can grow over top of it so it shouldn’t change the look of the property too much.”
The West Shore Historical Society would rather the building go to the Friends of Peace Church, which has stewarded the property since the 1970s. “Everybody who hears about the danger of this possibly changing hands and some changes coming in that way, they really don’t want that," said Shaw."Neither do we."