The Rev. J. Andrew Frey and his wife, Judi, moved with their children from Anchorage, Alaska, so Frey could take the position as senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Grove City.

GROVE CITY — The Rev. J. Andrew Frey was installed as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church at 103 Cranberry Road during a special 2 p.m. service Sept. 18.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Frey and his family, who came to Grove City from Anchorage, Alaska, where Frey had pastored for 14 years at Dimond Boulevard Baptist Church.

Frey said, “I was born in Pennsylvania, eastern Pennsylvania, and I spent my growing-up years in Hermitage. My parents live in Sharpsville now.”

Frey and his wife, Judi, have five children and six grandchildren.

Frey said his one son, John, is married with two children and lives in Hermitage.

One daughter, Vashti, is married and remained in Alaska, while another daughter, Anna, 18, is a sophomore at Clarks Summit University, near Scranton.

The Freys' third daughter, Abagail, 22, and their son Michael, 5, moved to Grove City with them.

Frey said, “I am looking forward to ministering with the people at First Baptist as we seek to serve the needs of our community,”

Alan Roberts, head of the seven-member pastoral search committee that worked for two and a half years to replace the retired Rev. David Johnson as senior pastor, said of Frey, “We were looking for God's will for our church.”

“He just seemed a good fit; he's very personable. It seems like he was part of the family from the beginning.

“He had submitted a resume and said he had family living in the Hermitage area and that he would be here to visit them, and we were able to get together at that time,” said Roberts.

Frey said, “In our particular denomination, it's based on the individual pastor and the congregation looking for him. The congregation takes a vote if they feel a connection has been found.”

When it came time for the 125-member congregation to vote on Frey, said Roberts, the vote was 100 percent for him, an almost unheard of result.

Frey said he and his family have been in Grove City for about two weeks and he doesn't find it all that different from his previous church, Dimond Boulevard Baptist Church.

“The congregation is about the same size,” said Frey. “Of course, Anchorage is about the size of Grand Rapids (Mich.), about 300,000 people and very multicultural and a little more urban than Grove City.”

“But when you are dealing with people, people are the same no matter where you are at, the same issues, problems and needs,” said Frey.

He said, First Baptist Church, which has been a part of the Grove City area for more than 100 years, will continue with a 9:45 a.m. Sunday school, an 11 a.m. Sunday morning worship service and a 6 p.m. Sunday worship service, as well as Wednesday Bible study for children and adults at the church.

Frey said, “We are really excited to be here. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

“We are anticipating being a positive impact on the community,” he added.