MorningStar Family Church Thurmont
In 2005, Pastor Wade went home to be with the LORD. Renaming the Evangelical Bible Church of Thurmont to MorningStar Family Church of Thurmont happened five years later,. MorningStar Family Church paid off the mortgage seven years early and celebrated the momentous occasion in September of 2012.
From its humble beginnings and the obedience of two ministers, many have gone forth from MorningStar Family Church preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, reaching into the communities through new ministries, and extending the work that began in them through this church.
Evangelical Bible Church Thurmont
In September 1979, at a Full Gospel Business Men’s meeting held at the Blue Mountain Inn (a well-known local bar at the time), Rev. Wade and Donna Sandridge were the special guests. At that time, they pastored a church they founded in Philippi, West Virginia. Pastor Donna led worship while the message was given by Rev. Wade. During the altar call, 14 people gave their hearts to the Lord and six of those were the bar maids. Most noteworthy, that night, God ordained the start of the Evangelical Bible Church of Thurmont, Maryland that would later become MorningStar Family Church.
They began traveling weekly from Philippi to Thurmont to disciple this growing number of believers, even as they continued to pastor in West Virginia. As this church grew, they met in different locations, which included a bar, a home, a tent and a schoolhouse. Over time, they knew the Lord was calling them to begin a church in Thurmont. While meeting at the Thurmont Elementary School, the church officially became established and set in order in 1981.
The church then began to search for a location to build on. After much prayer and with God’s leading, in August of 1989, the church purchased property from the Staub Estates at its current location at 14698 Albert Staub Road, just outside the town limits directly off of Route 15. The church incorporated in November that year. The parsonage was built first with a basement large enough to hold church services, allowing the rental expense to be used toward the construction of the church. The church held a groundbreaking ceremony in 1996. Construction on the church building completed in the spring of 1999.