The small group of Methodists met weekly for study and prayer together and when their circuit-riding pastor was present, they met for worship and the sacraments. They met in homes or at the log meeting house. By 1826, they outgrew their accommodations as their numbers increased. They petitioned to become a chartered congregation and to purchase ground for a building and a cemetery.
The Trustees of the Church located a parcel of ground on the corner of what is now Second and Church streets. It was known then as "Lot No. 57." The ground cost $80.00 and was purchased from Henry and Susanna Stoner Smith. The names of the trustees were: George Coughran, Hugh Logan, James Reilly, Daniel Sherfy, Henry Smith, James Smith, Michael Stoner and Nathaniel Wilson. The first burial took place before the building was begun. The building was, however, constructed in 1827 and was in service for 30 years.

As one looks back to see what was going on in the United States at this era, you can see the convergence of many streams of ideas, events and personalities. Andrew Jackson was about to become president of the United States. Westward expansion was looming large. Europe was sending forth waves of immigrants. Horace Mann was promoting the concept of public education, where students would be taught to value what it meant to possess freedom in a democracy. Railroads were on the rise and the technological advances of the day were about to set in motion a rapid industrialization in what was a sleepy agricultural community.

The town's first bank, the Waynesboro Savings Fund Society, was established on March 5, 1853. The Geiser Manufacturing was founded in 1855 by Peter Geiser at Smithsburg, Maryland, to manufacture threshing machines. In 1860, the company moved to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, on land that was purchased from a competitor, George Frick. Waynesboro was a microcosm of what was going on in the nation. The community grew and the Methodist Episcopal Church grew with it. The industrialization of Waynesboro would set the pace for a promising future to come.

Spiritual expression was finding a very American face during this era. We see this clearly in the Oneida Society and among the Latter Day Saints, Seventh Day Adventists, the Shakers, the Amana Community and the Red Bank (NJ) Commune. Close by in Quincy Township was the Snow Hill Cloister. Political ideas were being tried in the experiment of Jacksonian democracy. Henry Thoreau was writing his journal at Walden Pond. Robert E. Lee was a cadet at West Point Military Academy and Abraham Lincoln was splitting logs in Kentucky. Boys were being born into families who would later send them off to war.

The Waynesboro Methodist Episcopal Church grew and was a steady influence in the community. By 1857, the congregation realized it had need of a more spacious structure. The Trustees of the congregation convened and in short order voted to build a new church home on their present grounds. The bid of David Stoner of $3,500.00 plus old materials was accepted and Rev. John H.C. Dosh, pastor, signed the contract on May 4, 1857. The building was finished in the latter part of the year.

The new church building was a white, two-story structure with its worship space located on the second floor and seating for approximately 200 persons. The educational and meeting space was located on the first floor. It featured large windows for natural light and the pictures that still exist show a practical and appealing floor plan. The vestibule was frescoed and a feature unique to the times was a receptacle bearing a sign, "please leave your tobacco here." Church and Sunday School attendance averaged above 170 persons each Sunday. As the congregation gathered week after week, events that would change their lives no doubt were reflected in the sermons, studies and conversation that took place within their church home.