The Rev. Jeff Smith is pastor at Church Experience, which opened at new location at 127 E. Cunningham St. in Butler. Members gather at 10 a.m. Sunday on the second floor of the building.

The Rev. Jeff Smith has returned to Butler with an old vocation and a new church.

Smith, who served as pastor for 8½ years at Faith Fellowship Alliance before moving to Mercer County and an 11-year pastorship at Neshannock Alliance Church, became the new pastor at the Church Experience in July.

Smith said the Church Experience congregation is made up of some of the members of the defunct Intersection Church in Butler and newcomers. The church formed in January.

The church had been meeting at the Butler American Legion until recently when the Church Experience congregation was in the process of buying a vacant medical arts building at 127 E. Cunningham St.

“We ran into this building in the past month and here we are. It's been a journey,” Smith said.

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