A Carrsville church has a new pastor and assistant pastor who come from New Mount Joy Food for Living Ministries in Suffolk.

Ron and Linda Vinson plan to bring some of the same ministries to their new church, New Jerusalem Holiness Church, that they helped found at New Mount Joy.

The Carrsville church began in 1947 with three deacons.

“They wanted a church in the little Carrsville area,” said Lois Slaughter, a member of the church. It started in a one-room schoolhouse and then built its own building nearby.

Its first pastor died about 20 years ago, and assistant pastors have been filling in ever since with no permanent senior pastor, Slaughter said.

A few months ago, the church invited Vinson to do a men’s day service. That’s when they realized Vinson was the new pastor God intended.

“We believe the person we wanted was right under our nose, but we didn’t know it,” Slaughter said.

Vinson grew up in church at New Mount Joy, but he moved to Philadelphia and got involved with drugs. “One day the Lord delivered me from the drugs and alcohol,” Vinson said.

When he returned home to Suffolk, he started the On the Road to Recovery ministry at New Mount Joy and also began a food ministry for people in need. He hopes the ministries will help the Carrsville community too, he said.

“Our main goal and our vision is to reach out,” he said. “I want to reach out to those types of people.”

The church, which has only about 15 regular attendees, is looking for new members, Vinson said. It is located at 4287 Joyners Bridge Road in Carrsville.