OUR STAFF & LEADERS
Pastor: Rev. Richard Mollica
As Pastor Rich is responsible for the spiritual life of the church, for leading worship and preaching, for teaching, and for leading the process of discerning where God is leading our church, and how we can follow where God is leading
us.
How long
Pastor Rich has been our pastor since Sept 2020. Pastor Rich came to us after serving as a pastor at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship West Chester and working for many years as an addictions/MH Counselor and homeless outreach
worker.
Hobbies
Reading (I love history and sci fi), music and art, psychology and theology (I’m listening to podcasts constantly), cooking, yard sale-ing, travel, singing, karate, and making up amazing stories with my daughter.
FAV Quote
“We are not what we do or what people say about us. And we are not what we have. We are the beloved daughters and sons of God.” – Henri Nouwen
why I love it here
I know that I may be biased, but everyone here has been an absolute delight to me and to my family. I love the opportunity that we have here to bring light and love into this area and into this challenging time. God is doing
amazing things here that I am very excited to be a part of.
Staff & Leaders
Debbie Stevenson
Music Minister
Consistory Deacon
Jerry Lahr
Secretary
Consistory Elder
Dan Caravetta
Treasurer
Consistory Elder
Consistory
Dan Caravetta, Consistory Elder & Treasurer
Wade Chilmonik, Consistory Deacon
Alice Dickey, Consistory Elder
Sherri Fennel, Consistory Elder & Vice President
Joan Garis, Consistory Deacon
Jerry Lahr, Consistory Elder & Secretary
Ray Miller, Consistory Elder
Austin Prass, Consistory Deacon
Paul Prass, Consistory Elder & President
Debbie Stevenson, Consistory Deacon & Music Minister
Jason Stigerwalt, Consistory Deacon
Fellowship Groups
There are many Fellowship Groups which are an integral part of St. John’s UCC, Bethlehem Township. Some of these fellowship groups are born out of ideas of the congregation members and/or perhaps the Pastor may have an idea to create
a group to sponsor fund-raising activities or a group for the sole purpose of just meeting and receiving new members for that group.
Some of these groups have, in the past, sponsored annual activities for fund-raising and some newer ones are just created for a dinner outing, or just making crafts to sell at a future date. Some of these groups, such as
the quilters, work diligently to create an item which can be sold to help with the church’s bottom line.
CHOIR
Do you like music? Do you like to sing? Do you like to meet interesting and friendly people? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then our Choir is looking for you! The Choir provides musical leadership
during our Sunday worship services and during the fall, winter and spring meets on Thursday evenings for practice at ? pm. Do you have to be able to sing like Pavarotti to be part of the Choir? Good heavens, no! All
you need is an interest in meeting great people, a willing spirit and some free time on Thursday evenings. If you’d like to find out more, just contact our Choir Director, Debbie Stevenson at DStevenson@StJohnsMinistry.com
BELL CHOIR
Do you like music? Do you like to meet interesting and friendly people? Can you count? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, and you’re not really keen on singing, then our Bell Choir may be just the thing
for you! St. John’s bell choir helps with musical leadership during selected Sunday worship service throughout the year, and is always open to newcomers. You don’t need to be able to read music; in fact, you don’t need
any particular musical background at all. All you need are arms strong enough to swing a bell (most of which aren’t very heavy, so its not like you need to be particularly strong), an interest in getting to know some great folks,
and time to meet for practice. If you’ve got any questions, the person to contact is Debbie Stevenson at DStevenson@StJohnsMinistry.com
COME, SHARE, REJOICE
If you’re not a man who likes breakfast maybe you’re a lady who likes lunch. If you are, then our Come, Share, Rejoice group is for you! CSR is a group of St. John’s ladies who meet together on the third Friday of the month
to share a meal and some time together. While CSR always meets on the third Friday of the month, they always meet in a different place, so check the bulletin announcements, the eVisitor or the calendar here on the website to
find out where they’ll be meeting.
PARISH LIFE
Our Parish Life group are the people behind a lot of the fellowship activities here at St. John’s. In addition to helping to organize the goodies for coffee hour after worship, the Parish Life group also organizes our very enjoyable
(and extremely yummy) potluck dinners several times during the year. If you’re interested in finding out more, the person to contact is Alice Dickey at ADickey@StJohnsMinistry.com
MEN’S BREAKFAST GROUP
Our Men’s Breakfast Group meets on the final Saturday of every month at Williams Restaurant (3630 William Penn Highway in Easton) for food and fellowship beginning at 8:00 am. So if you’re a man who likes a breakfast (and really,
who doesn’t) or even a woman who likes breakfast, everyone is invited to come out and join us. The group is a great way to get to know people and to make friendships—and the food is good, too!
QUILTERS
St. John’s Quilters meet on Wednesday morning from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Our quilters have been quilting for over twenty years now and have won prizes in numerous exhibitions. Everyone is welcome to join—it doesn’t matter if
you’re an experienced quilter or if you’ve never sewn anything before in your life! You can come for just an hour or so or stay for the whole morning. Our quilters work on their own quilts, on special projects for other
people, or on quilts they can sell—they’ll even work on your quilt if you come out and join them!
ST. JOHN’S BROTHERHOOD
The St. John’s Brotherhood is a fellowship group for men (and some women) in our church. The Brotherhood exists to help provide opportunities for people to spend time together and to help support St. John’s. Presently the
main way the Brotherhood supports St. John’s is by providing the manpower behind our three superb fellowship dinners—the Ham and Turkey Dinner (which is in November), the Steak and Fish Dinner (which is in the winter), and the Pork
and Sauerkraut Dinner (which is usually in the Spring). If you’re interested in finding out more about the Brotherhood the person to contact is Dennis Koehler who you can reach at DKoehler@StJohnsMinistry.com
ST. JOHN’S
DART TEAM
If you’re new to the Lehigh Valley one of the things you need to know is that darts teams have historically been really, really popular with United Church of Christ congregations like ours. And sure enough, our St. John’s Brotherhood
has a darts team—and over the years its been a really, really successful darts team, with a mountain and a half of trophies to show for it! Our darts team plays other area teams in a fascinating variety of darts that is part
traditional darts, part baseball (no, really), and completely fun for everyone!
The dart team meets every Monday night at 7:00 PM from September through May and has a team schedule which has a list of other church dart teams within a particular league. The dart board depicts a baseball diamond. The player throws
the dart onto a paper resemblance of a baseball field. When the player throws the dart, it could land on a home run area, the player could throw the dart into the “double” area or even a “strike out” area on the stencil.