CENTER TWP — One of Butler County’s oldest Lutheran churches has a new pastor.

The Rev. Cynthia Baxter took over Feb. 8 at Rider Evangelical Lutheran Church, 189 Rider Church Road.

The church will have an installation service for Baxter at 3:30 p.m. March 8, followed by a dinner in the church hall.

“I understand they have real good cooks around here,” said Baxter.

The new pastor, who recently moved into a home near Center Township Elementary School, said the match between her and the church is a good one.

“I wanted to be in a small, rural, small-town church,” she said.

Rider Evangelical Lutheran has nearly 45 worshippers for its 10 a.m. Sunday service, she said.

According to church history, Rider Evangelical was organized in 1843 as an offshoot of Butler’s oldest Lutheran church, St. Mark’s, which was founded in 1813.

The church was named after Jacob Rider, one of the 24 men and women who signed the resolution creating the new church.

The new pastor graduated from the Gettysburg Seminary in December.

“I was born and raised in Connersville down in Fayette County, then lived some 40 years in the Baltimore area,” said Baxter.

A retired land surveyor, Baxter was also a church musician. She said, “I was always interested in the church’s work, but I was a late call as many are these days.”

Baxter said Bishop Kurt Kusserow of the Southwest Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America brought her and Rider Evangelical together.

“They had been a long time without their own pastor,” said Baxter. “I feel called to do a small church, and when I met the people I felt right at home here.”

She said she hopes her daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren will be able to visit this summer from their home near Baltimore.

But before she could make herself at home, she first had to undergo an exhaustive interview process.

She interviewed with the church call committee charged with finding a new pastor, then the church council.

She was required to give a sermon Jan. 4 at a neutral site, in her case Trinty Lutheran Church, 120 Sunset Drive, and then a Jan. 11 sermon at Rider after which she waited while the congregation voted.

“There’s also a question-and-answer session before they send you out while they discuss and vote right there. It’s a little nerve-racking, yes,” said Baxter.

“We like her,” said Joyce Hutchison, the church treasurer. “We probably started the (search) process in September, and we were fortunate by the end of December to have the candidate.”

Baxter said her immediate plans are to get to know the area and the congregation.

“That’s pretty much the immediate plan,” she said. “It takes a while to get to know people and assess the needs of the congregation.”

Baxter said she hopes to be able to start a Bible study class soon. And, she added, with Lent started, Rider Evangelical will take part in hosting a rotating 6 p.m. Lenten service March 4.

“I’m basically a small-town girl. I’m a people person and being able to relate to people one-on-one is very important in a small church,” she said.