The Rev. David Harstine moved from Milwaukee to take the pastorship at Fellowship Community Church, which itself moved in August from Mercer to Grove City.

GROVE CITY — Although Fellowship Community Church is 15 years old, the congregation is starting anew.

As of August, the church moved to North Broad Street from its former location in Mercer, while Pastor David Harstine moved from Wisconsin to begin his role as pastor there.

He found the church on the Internet at Ministerconnection.com after he felt a pull to reach out to a new community. Harstine replaces Pastor Byron Harvey, who now serves in Georgia.

Having outgrown its building in Mercer, Fellowship purchased the 1920s stone structure formerly owned by Church of the Beloved Disciple, which expanding to a newly built structure on Center Avenue.

Although Fellowship purchased the building for $300,000, the sale came with a lease agreement with Beloved Disciple to use the educational facilities next to the church as well, where Sunday school is now taught.

The Rev. Mark Hoffman, Beloved Disciple's pastor, said the building Fellowship now occupies is steeped in rich history, originally started as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart by Italian coal miners in Hallsville.

The building on Broad Street was built under the guidance of Archbishop John Mark Gannon to accommodate the growing parish, and the congregation changed its name a short time later.

"They chose a new name to give it a greater acceptability to non-Catholics in the area at that time," Hoffman said.Today, the church is called home by Fellowship, and the community has embraced its presence.Harstine said many new members of the church have found comfort in the faith-based community."We've had people explain that they found their home, in both students and families, and have quickly become a part of the fellowship for the first time," Harstine said.Erica Damcott is a sophomore psychology student at Grove City College and recently became involved with the youth group at Fellowship. She is proud to help other young people establish a strong faith in Christ's mission."I think the youth group is a good opportunity for them to lay the foundation of their faith and to make it their own in preparing for the rest of their lives," said Damcott, who joined the congregation last year.Harstine said a focus on youth is especially important because 53 percent of the church's members are college students. He believes they are attracted by the church's contemporary worship style."It provides a very vibrant community, and if you visit Fellowship, you'll find it to be warm, but also alive," Harstine said. "It's an electric environment."Warren Throckmorton of Grove City is one of the worship leaders at Fellowship. He said the move has had a positive outcome for everyone."Most of our members live in Grove City and so it gives more of a community church feel to us," he said. "It's a great feeling to reach out to our neighbors."Fellowship is a part of the Evangelical Free Church of America, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. While each individual church is free to develop its own ministry structure, Harstine described it as a "strong, bible-believing, Christ-focused denomination."The church uses contemporary music for worship with traditional teachings. Harstine also is focused on bringing an international flavor to the congregation, which supports missionaries in China, Central Asia, Haiti and Thailand.Harstine, who completed a doctor of ministry program in 2000 at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, often uses multimedia while connecting with his congregation."That is my first love —preaching the word of God and communicating it in a creative way," he said.Fellowship has a worship service at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays followed by Sunday school at 11 a.m. Programs are available to both high school students and adults.For information on Fellowship Community Church, visit www.truth4life.org.