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Our Interim Pastor Ervin L. Huston comes to us with a variety of experiences and training. Pastor Erv, as he prefers to be called, comes to us from Nampa, Idaho. He is the youngest child of Roy and Marie Huston. He was born on May 20,1944, which makes him 63 years old.
He graduated from LaVerne College in 1966. After graduation, he did his Alternative Service, serving in South Vietnam with International Voluntary Service as an Agricultural Specialist. He worked with the Montagnard people in the Central Highlands.
After being in Vietnam for 13 months, he transferred to Brethren Volunteer Service and spent his time driving truck for Church World Service out of Modesto, California.
Upon completing Alternative Service, Pastor Erv enrolled in Bethany Theological Seminary, which he completed in 1972. It was while he was in seminary that he met and married Joan Bucher of Annville, PA.
Ervin and Joan had 4 daughters. One was killed in an automobile accident in 2003. The other three are married. One lives in New York City, another in Northern Virginia, and the youngest in Union Deposit, PA. The Hustons also are grandparents to 4 grandsons.
Upon completing seminary, Pastor Erv was called to mission work with the Voice of Calvary Ministries in Mendenhall, Mississippi. Pastor Erv has served pastorates in Baltimore, Maryland; Twin Falls, Idaho; and Westernport, Maryland. He also served as Idaho District Executive Minister and as a Chaplain in a Drug-Alcohol Treatment Center. In 2003, Pastor Erv and Joan moved to Elizabethtown, PA. As part of that move, Pastor Erv was called to do Interim Pastoral Ministry. He has served as Interim Pastor for churches in Tyrone, Harrisburg, and Martinsburg, PA, as well as a Mennonite Church in Filer, Idaho.
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Associate Pastor Audrey J. Finkbiner has served LSCOB since 1991. Her full time position includes one quarter time Christian Education responsibilites. Originally from Quarryville, PA , Pastor Finkbiner previously served three other congregations (Empire COB, Empire CA from 1979-80; Oakland COB, Gettysburg, OH from 1984-88; and Huntsdale COB, Carlisle, PA from 1988-91) as co-pastor with her husband, Jeff Finkbiner. They now live in the Strausstown area.
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When my journey began in the Church of the Brethren, I never dreamed God would call me to be a pastor. In my awareness, only men served in that capacity, but the denomination was, even then, growing in the understanding that "...God [pours out the Spirit] on all people...sons and daughters..." (Acts 2:17-18). When God's calling came, my church encouraged me to follow the Spirit's leading. I thank God often for congregations like Little Swatara which celebrate, nurture, and receive the gifts our Creator gives to all people.
Our spiritual life is a journey; and the journey of faith in Jesus Christ is certainly full. Surprises and prayers, songs and hugs, pain and temptations, support and hope, love and forgiveness, tears and laughter, overflow our earthen vessels with many treasures. As we journey together, we strive to share the treasures with one another in Christ's church. We also reach out, inviting others to travel and share the treasures along with us. I pray that you sense that invitation.
In Christ's Service,
Audrey Finkbiner, Associate Pastor
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Pastor Jeffrey O. Copp has served as LSCOB's pastor continuously since 1985.This past August(2007), after 22 years of Spirit filled years, Jeff and Connie Copp moved on under the calling of God's direction. Jeff and Connie returned to Indiana, to serve a congregation that is geographically very close to where they came from in 1985. It is with bitter-sweet joy that we celebrate Jeff and Connie's presence in our congregational life and we wish them God's blessing in their new chapter in their journey.
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