The Rev. Larry R. Katz has been with the evangelical Grace Fellowship for 18 1/2 years -- nearly as long as it's been an independent congregation.

Katz, 71, passed the care of his flock to his successor Sunday, urging the Christians to love their new shepherd, the Rev. Ed Short, as they have loved him.

"If you love him well, you will listen to him well, honor him well, pay him well and protect him well," said Katz, retiring as senior pastor. "As you have treated me, so treat Ed."

With that, Katz handed Short a silver baton inscribed with the date.

The two men embraced. The congregation stood. They clapped and blotted tears.

For Grace Fellowship, it was a significant changing of the guard.

Katz has led the church since a month after its founding in late 1989.

That was when 130 people split from the historic, nondenominational York Gospel Center in York Township (now Bridgeway Community Church).

In the early days, Grace members met in a West York fire hall, a banquet room at an old Howard Johnson's and two school buildings before buying land in North Codorus Township and dreaming large.

Members contributed millions to build and provide space needed for their many ministries. By 2003, attendance nearly topped 1,300 adults and children -- among the county's largest Protestant churches.

Part of Grace's draw, Katz says, is it welcomes people from all Christian backgrounds -- from charismatics to covenant theologians.

"We don't

The church is doctrinally conservative, professing the inerrancy and literal truth of the Bible, salvation through a personal relationship with Jesus, a mission to share the faith and the belief that the current era on Earth will soon end and usher in the Rapture and battle of Armageddon.

Grace's current facility -- on 30 acres south of New Salem on Route 616 -- has a cavernous, 1,500-seat auditorium that echoes with a 15-piece praise band during worship.

Attendance is down slightly from five years ago. A typical Sunday crowd ranges from 1,000 to 1,200 adults and children.

Short noticed the auditorium's empty seats Sunday. They excite him, he said.

"This facility, it is a toolbox," he said. "You know who's going to be sitting in those seats? Your friends."