The former Lebanon Merchandiser publishing plant is in the process of becoming a church, among other things.
Lebanon-based Living Christian Church Ministries – which is listed on the county’s property finder website as first owner, with Jesus Christ Is the King as second owner – purchased the 100 E. Cumberland St. property last August for $1.225 million.
Pastor Luis Hernandez talked with LebTown about what he called the approximate 150- member congregation’s huge plans for a big space at the defunct publishing property.
“Right now, I have already entered the inside and it is clean and everything. But we are still waiting to sell Marabelle’s (Restaurant),” Hernandez said about a property in the 1300 block of Cumberland Street where church services currently are held. “So that’s where we are right now. We’re waiting for that because we need some money from there because that building is already paid off. We bought it with cash.”
Hernandez said renovations at the former Merchandiser site will occur in two phases.
“We’re gonna start doing some work for the electrician because we’re gonna do Phase 1, which is gonna be the second floor. So maybe next year, we’re going to do Phase 2. That will be the first floor with all the changes and everything we want to do,” he said.
Timing is dependent, he said, on availability of funds. He said he does not take a salary from his congregation and is compensated by his ownership of WiCare Home Care Agency LLC in the 700 block of South Lincoln Avenue, Lebanon. “There’s a lot of (needed) money involved to fix all the things, but we are going to start Phase 1.”
While the first phase involves, in part, new electrical and plumbing work, it also includes creating rooms on the second floor. Phase 2 will be the “big project” for building the sanctuary on the first floor, he added.
Hernandez noted various uses are planned for the new location, which includes adding about 15 rooms.
“That’s going to be the main church because everything starts here in Lebanon,” said Hernandez, who noted his ministry includes churches in nine locations, including Lancaster, Reading, and York. “Then we’re going to have the office of the ministry there (on Cumberland Street).”
There’s much more planned for the Cumberland Street property. A food pantry will feed hundreds a day, with estimates ranging from seating for 150 in the cafeteria to about 350, according to Hernandez. The church sanctuary will seat up to 450 people, he said.
“It’s also gonna have libraries, it’s gonna have kitchen rooms, and half a basketball court,” said Hernandez.
He said the plan is to open a basketball court on the first floor from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. for use by youth in the church’s afterschool program. There’s a need for programs for children who get out of school before their parents get home from work, he said.
The second floor will contain a prayer room that is open to the public, also serving as a quiet space since talking with be prohibited there.
“That’s only there for those who want to pray,” he said. “They can also pray in the sanctuary or they can go to that special room that we’re going to have for that.”
Hernandez told LebTown his vision is for the church to move to the new location by the end of the year – although finances may delay that timeline. He said he’s still waiting for the final architect design plans, which he hopes to receive this month.
Another goal is to have enough space to continue to hold meetings and events without having to rent larger accommodations like the ministry does now, given the limited capacity at Marabelle’s (the former Pushnik’s Diner).
“Our whole plan is, hopefully, in the name of God, that we want to serve the city, we want to help by doing different projects there to help people,” Hernandez said. “And especially, you know, it’s gonna be for any language, but especially the Spanish population. I think every culture is struggling, but basically, we can help the community here in Lebanon.”
Hernandez recently posted a video on his Facebook page that LebTown translated into English. He notes in the 1-minute video that a sign has been posted at the church’s planned headquarters at the Cumberland Street site. The video said:
“Here we are, family, blessings! This is Pastor Hernandez speaking. I’m so happy. I don’t know if you can see the joy I have. We just put up the sign for what will be our church in the city of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. So this will be the new campus of our church ministry, and we just put it up. The joy I have comes from a prophetic word that was declared over our ministry, over my life, and little by little I am seeing that word being fulfilled in this season. So rejoice and celebrate with me what God is doing with the principal headquarters in Lebanon.”
LebTown checked paperwork filed by Hernandez with the city’s zoning office last fall stating the former Merchandiser is intended to be used as a church.
About two months after the property was purchased, Hernandez signed paperwork and obtained on Oct. 9, 2025, a commercial demolition permit to gut the first and second floors of the building’s interior. The permit includes specific details about what would be demolished and calls for the removal of six or seven offices at a cost of $5,000.
The architect engineer’s notes say workers will “remove existing partition walls or walls. Remove the existing stair system. Remove existing doors and frames. Remove the portion of wall for new door and frame or opening. Remove existing casework and sink. Remove existing plumbing fixtures. Remove existing windows, trim and frames, remove existing electrical panels, bracket, remove existing exterior walls, infill existing trench, four inches concrete slab over crushed stone fill, and infill existing floor openings.”
Other work will “remove existing ramp, remove existing casework, remove existing railing, remove existing concrete slab and floor drain, bracket keep piping for new restroom. Remove existing vent, remove existing chimney, remove existing concrete slab, remove all pumps, piping and related items, infill existing floor openings. Remove the existing ramp.”
Former city zoning officer Clyde Patches told LebTown prior to his retirement that general commercial zoning for that location allows its use as a church.
“The use for the building is permitted in that zoning district … and so the building plans would ensure that it’s going to be constructed with ADA accessibility, and that there’s sufficient parking for the number of seats that they would have in the building,” he said.
The building, which includes about 20,500 square feet of industrial and office space, was listed for sale by Kapp Advertising Services for $1.85 million in 2023, when it was hoped someone would continue the publishing business, according to previous reports.
In addition to the land and building, the business was listed for sale in late 2023 for $2.25 million, including inventory and furniture, fixtures, and equipment.
Known as the Lebanon Merchandiser Building, it was the home of the Merchandiser and Kapp Advertising from 1990 until the business published its final edition on Dec. 27, 2023, ending 73 years in business.
Read More: (Dec. 2023) The Merchandisers are for sale
When LebTown spoke with Patches prior to his retirement, he said be believed Hernandez owns other properties within the city, which the pastor confirmed.
Besides WiCare, he said he owns the building that houses A.M.P. Living Communities (aka Morris-Pace Personal Home Care) at 25 S. 9th St., Lebanon. (A.M.P.’s website says they are a family-owned, community-focused personal care home that provides “dedicated, assisted living-style support for seniors.”)
While he said he holds and is paying a mortgage on that property, he is not collecting rent from the tenant due to an ongoing dispute. He said he hasn’t evicted residents who need personal care because he doesn’t want to put them out with nowhere to go.
That site is also the site of the former American House Personal Care, which Hernandez owned and operated before it had its license revoked in August 2024. He said he was making improvements there before being cited by the state and then was pushed out by people “saying things and making me look worse.”
Hernandez said neither he nor WiCare has business dealings with A.M.P. Living Communities. He also told LebTown that family members signed agreements to work longer than 40 hours a week when he was fined over $1 million by the state for back wages and penalties for not properly compensating WiCare employees for overtime.
As part of the church’s future at its new location, Hernandez said he is hosting an event, possibly in November, called Legacy to clear the air about the past while celebrating the planned uses there and God’s work in his life.
“I know that God’s been blessing me in that way. That He knows my heart. My heart is to help. Just try to help, do my best,” Hernandez said. “I’m here, I wanna be here every day, learn more, be more humble and learn from the Buddhist periods and keep growing and keep helping if I have opportunities to help. I want to help and do what I have to do in the name of the Lord.”
Read More: (Sept. 2024) No date yet for hearing on American House license revocation appeal
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