OUR HISTORY
Formed from the Harbaugh and St. Paul’s Reformed Churches, Church of the Apostles has deep roots in Waynesboro’s history.
The Waterloo Schoolhouse
The members of the Harbaugh Church originally belonged to the German Reformed Church of Waynesboro.
In April of 1845 they organized a new congregation with a regular pastor as part of the Cavetown Charge, meeting at the Waterloo Schoolhouse.
Original Harbaugh Church
The land for the original Harbaugh church and cemetery was purchased for $15
from the farm of George Harbaugh, along an old wagon trail amid mighty oaks.
The church was built in 1846 at the site of the present-day Harbaugh Church.
The church cemetery was established about 1845.
The congregation was affiliated with the Reformed Church.
St. Paul's Church
The St. Paul congregation was organized in August 1873 with sixty-two members of the Trinity Reformed congregation
who had withdrawn and formed a new congregation of the Reformed Church.
They met first in the Elder’s home, the YMCA, and the Town Hall until they joined with the Mont Alto congregation
to form the Mont Alto Charge and built their new church building on West Main Street.
New Harbaugh Church
The new Harbaugh Church was built in 1892,
and is a 1 1/2-story, three bay by five bay, brick Late Gothic Revival style building.
It features a steep, slate covered gable roof, brick buttresses, and lancet stained glass windows.
The hymn "Jesus I Live to Thee" written by Henry Harbaugh in 1860 is featured on the wall above the altar.
Regular services were held in the current building until 1966.
It was sold to the Waynesboro Historical Society in 1983.
New St. Paul's Church
The St. Paul congregation purchased a lot on South Potomac Street in Waynesboro and began building a new church in 1902,
holding their first service in the new church on January 17, 1904.
In 1957, the Evangelical and Reformed Church merged with the Congregational Christian Church to form the United Church of Christ.
Architect's Drawing
Both congregations needed to expand their facilities by 1962, and began discussing the possibility of merging the two congregations in 1965.
The Uniting Service between Harbaugh United Church of Christ and St. Paul United Church of Christ
took place on the night of March 26, 1967 at Trinity United Church of Christ in Waynesboro.
The site for the new church was purchased in July 1967 in the growing community of Wayne Heights,
and the new congregation held their first service in the new church building on May 27, 1969.
Church of the Apostles maintains record books from the former Harbaugh and St. Paul’s Churches.
Genealogy information from the record books is available by contacting the church office at 717-762-4113 or apostlesucc@gmail.com.
A Harbaugh Christmas Celebration was held on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 3 pm in the Harbaugh Church.
Rev. Mark Ruzicka, Pastor at Church of the Apostles, conducted the service.
