Category Archive

The following announcement was delivered by Sarah Kinzel, chair of Asbury’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee, in our 9:30 AM worship service this morning:

“It is my joy to share with you today that the Bishop John R. Schol has appointed the Reverend Richard (Rick) Brown as the new Associate Pastor of our congregation. Reverend Rick will begin his new responsibilities on July 1 of this year. As a United Methodist Church, we are part of an appointment system. Our congregation’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee has identified our congregation’s needs and the needed skills in a pastor. We have also met with Pastor Rick to better get to know him and to ask questions.

“Richard (Rick) Brown, III was ordained as an elder in 2017. Prior to entering ministry he worked as support staff in an adult outpatient drug and alcohol unit as well as a child and adolescent mental health unit. Rick received his call to ministry in high school while taking part in worship at Prospect UMC and received a Master of Divinity degree from Palmer Theological Seminary in 2012. His appointments included Hellertown St. Paul’s for nine years and Quakertown United Methodist Church, where he is presently serving. Rick enjoys preaching and finding practical ways to live out our faith. His hobbies include running and various games. He is married to his wife, Kim, and has two young daughters. Our new Associate Pastor will work with us and the conference so that we continue to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Bishop Schol and the leaders of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference will work with us to continue to grow as a vital congregation. I know you will join the Bishop, our new pastor, and me in helping to make new disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

“Transition can be exciting but also a daunting time. I ask that you be in prayer with Rev. Rick Brown as he prepares for a new chapter in his ministry; and please also keep in prayer our church, Pastor Eric, and Pastor Evelyn as we begin this transition.

“We do want to make sure that everybody knows that nobody’s roles are changing. Pastor Evelyn will continue to be our Pastor of Bereavement and Care Ministries, and Pastor Eric will continue to be our Senior Pastor; we are just now adding a new associate pastor – a new member of the team – to help us grow into the future and really focus on family and young ministries.

“SPRC is a tough committee. We do a lot of work in confidentiality. While we welcome all of your questions, please note that there are some things that we are not going to be able to share.

“We ask for your prayers as we move forward.”

You can reach Asbury’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) via email at SPRC@asburylv.org

Pastor Eric delivered the following remarks:

“I’m excited to bring Rick onto the team and to mentor him and to learn from him as well [as we work to] reach out to a younger generation of people.”

Pastor Eric presented the following announcement in worship this morning

Back in October, during our 100^th anniversary celebration, we announced a series of initiatives called “vision 2026” a plan we call Closing the Gap.  And we laid out various goals that we have over the next three years at Asbury as we try and close the GAP between the way the world is and the way it is supposed to be.

So in order to accomplish this over the next three years, we are making some staffing changes.  First, Israel Olivieri is taking on a new role as “Director of Discipleship and Worship Production.”  Israel will be the staff person working with the Spiritual focus team to create more small group opportunities as well as help resource current groups.  Israel will also be working with AIM to create more hands-on mission opportunities in the Lehigh Valley.  He will also be in charge of the tech volunteers on Sunday morning. Israel has served as the Business Manager at Asbury for just over 5 years.  Previous to coming to Asbury, he worked in the non-profit and human services areas.  In 2017, Israel became a Certified Lay Minister with the UMC denomination, with specialization in Leadership and Speaking.  Israel has been a member of Asbury Church since 2009 and has served several terms on various leadership committees including Church Council and AIM.

Along with Israel’s job change, we are hiring Mark Mangum as the Director of Finance and Operations.  Mark currently resides in NC where he was an Executive Director for a non-profit entity.  Mark grew up in Florida and is moving to Allentown following a distinguished career in pastoral, hospitality, and non-profit management. He holds a Sacred Music degree from Florida Southern College, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and an MBA from Walden University. Mark has a wife, Jennifer, originally from Allentown, an adult son, Nick, and a son, Jonathan, who passed away from complications of Cerebral Palsy.  Mark is passionate about Christian ministry and mission to the community after serving non-profits focused on housing and food insecurity.  Mark brings strengths in finance, administration, and operations to Asbury. I hope you will join me in welcoming Mark in the coming weeks.

We believe that both of these staffing changes will help Asbury Close the Gap in the coming years.

Israel Olivieri Director of Discipleship and Worship Production

Mark Mangum Director of Finance and Operations