Special Announcement from Pastor Eric
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![]() Stephanie Cramer
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Asbury has hired Stephanie Cramer as the new Director of Youth Ministries at Asbury. Stephanie was a licensed local pastor at a church in Iowa for the past two years and she recently moved to Bethlehem with her husband Tim and their two children Lucas and Tom. Stephanie and her husband have Master’s Degrees in World Christianity and she has entered the process for Elder ordination within the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. Stephanie will be introduced to the congregation at each worship service this Sunday. I hope you will join us to welcome Stephanie this Sunday, January 19.
Grace and Peace, A Note from Stephanie: I have been married to my husband Tim since before Y2K. We have two children, Lucas and Tom, and have recently moved into the area. I was a French teacher for 14 ½ years, with the majority of those years at Biglerville High School near Gettysburg, PA. I retired from teaching to attend seminary full-time, having no idea why I was in seminary other than I loved all my classes. Tim and I both graduated in May 2015 with a master’s degree in World Christianity. At that time in our lives we were struggling to find our place in the church and in the world so we moved the family to the Republic of Ireland and attended classes at Trinity College in Dublin. You could say I was running away from God. I refer to 2015/2016 as My Jonah Years. How often we take what God places before us and run in the opposite direction! After Ireland we ended up in Iowa and fell in love with the United Methodist Church. It was in Iowa that we finally began to understand God’s call for us to enter into ministry. I am always humbled and amazed at how God never gives up on us even when we have given up on ourselves. Tim and I entered the process for Elder ordination and served as pastors in small churches in western Iowa for two years before moving back to Pennsylvania this past August.
I am excited to continue my journey here at Asbury in service to our youth and the entire community of Asbury. Having lived in many different states, countries, and cultures I look forward to sharing the unending ways God has us and all of his creation in his loving care no matter how we choose to walk our personal path. Blessings and encouragement for an amazing year 2020.” |