St. Luke Methodist Church Growing in its Second Century

At this year's  celebration on Sept. 8,  will take an opportunity to make public a partnership that will grow its congregation.

St. Luke recently  and with a new, more progressive congregation called Plumbline; Narberth members voted before Easter to merge with another church and leave their current building.

"There are two different styles of worship, and we're finding ways to work together well," Reverend David Tatgenhorst said.

Narberth UMC pastor Lydia Munoz is an amazing, up-and-coming pastor, Tatgenhorst said, adding she is in demand as a singer up and down the east coast. She has also sung internationally, he said.

"It's a real gift to have her come here," Tatgenhorst said. "I'm excited to work together with her."

And they'll be announcing that new venture at Bryn Mawr Day, which will coincide with the grand reopening of . That time of year is great for outreach, he added.

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"In September in particular, especially with all the colleges in the area, we get a lot of people looking for a new church," Tatgenhorst said. "We get more visitors then than during any other time of the year."

Some people may not know that several of the Bryn Mawr 100 churches all work together in the Bryn Mawr Ministerium. Together, they organize and participate in the Main Line Children's Festival started by St. Luke; the 8th annual festival is in October. The group also took a joint trip to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Franklin Institute.

Tatgenhorst grew up in Cincinnati, attended Middlebury College and then relocated to Philadelphia to do community action work. He then went to Union Theological Seminary in New York City before being appointed to a South Philadelphia church for four years and a West Philadelphia church for six years.

He was appointed to St. Luke in Bryn Mawr in 1996, and has been in the community now for 16 years.

"It's been really fun," Tatgenhorst said. "It's a good place. We have a congregation with a really good heart."