Rev Richard E. Wilcock, Pastor & wife, Arlene
Pastor Richard E. Wilcoc
k is a graduate of Eastern College with a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry. He has worked as a research chemist, an analytical chemist and headed the Quality Control Department of the United States Mint in Philadelphia.
Pastor Wilcock, an Elder in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church, has been serving as pastor of Faith Alive UMC since July 1, 2010. Previous appointments included: Conestoga UMC in the southwest district, St. John's UMC in Coal Township, St. Paul's UMC in Terre Hill, St. Paul's UMC, Mt. Carmel, PA, the Ebenezer UMCs in Lehighton and Weissport. He also served as pastor of the New Hope UMC near Eaton, Ohio while attending United Theological Seminary. He then founded and served as the Pastor-Director of the Preble County Christian Center which became Cross & Dove Ministries, and later answered a call to the pastorate of Agape Fellowship, a non-denominational, charismatic, community church in Richmond, Indiana.
In his more than 35 years of ministry, Pastor Wilcock has conducted “Evangelistic” and “Revival” services in other churches. He has been active in the ministry of the Bowman Park Campmeeting Association since 1979 and has been its President since 1992. He has served on the Southwest District and Northwest District Committees on Ministry, the Conference Commission on Evangelism and the Conference Commission on Town and Country. He currently serves as a consultant to the Eastern PA Conference Board of Ordained Ministry and works with Local Pastors concerning Local Pastor’s Licensing School and Course of Study School requirements. He and his wife, Arlene are editors of the transformation newsletter, SpiritNet, and serve on the Southwest District “Spirit Network Team” (formerly the District Transformation Team).
Arlene, was born and raised in a Jewish home in New Jersey. She has a degree in Chemistry from Rutgers University, Newark, NJ and has worked as a chemist in private industry and government. While working as a Chemist at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, she accepted Jesus as her Messiah, and has had several opportunities to share about her Jewish heritage as well as her Christian faith. She has worked as a Computer Specialist doing network maintenance, database programming and desktop publishing and she is currently specializing in Web publishing through her company, Alpha-Omega Computer Services. She designed and maintained the original Web site for the Eastern PA Conference. She has also done grant writing for non-profit organizations through Procopio and Associates Fundraising, Inc. Arlene serves the church on the conference level as a Southwest District Equalizing Lay Delegate and a member of the Episcopacy Committee and has served on the conference Communications Task Force, Computer Advisory Task Force, Congregational Transformation Team, and as a Co-coordinator of the Administrative Support Resource Team.
Pastor Wilcock and Arlene, have two married children. Their son, Samuel, graduated Cum Laude from Messiah College with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and a minor in Statistics in May,1996 and, on December 19, 1997, earned his Masters in Statistics from Virginia Tech. In June of 2001, he earned his Ph.D. in Statistics in the area of non-parametric testing from Virginia Tech and is now an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at Messiah College. He married Joy Bowers, formerly of Lehighton, on June 14, 1997. Joy teaches private piano lessons. They are living in Lemoyne, PA.
Their daughter, Debbie, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Clarion University of PA with a Bachelor of Science in Communication. She currently works as a Senior Manager, Market Research for the Virology team for Janssen Pharmaceutica, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, in Titusville, NJ. On December 20, 1997, she married Scott Kenworthy. Scott is a Senior Electronics Technician for the FBI in Philadelphia, PA. They live in Perkasie, PA. Debbie currently serves on the Conference Board of Lay Ministry and the Conference Committee on Investigation as well as a Northeast District Equalizing Delegate to Annual Conference. She was elected as a delegate to General Conference in 1992 and 1996, she also served as Conference Youth Council President.
Dick and Arlene have six grandchildren: Megan and Ashleigh (daughters of Debbie and Scott), Abby, Jaden, Naomi and Solomon (children of Sam and Joy).
Renee' DeHaven, Church Administrator
Renee' brings a wealth of experience from her twenty-year career with an Allentown based management company. During the latter years of employment, the Lord opened the door for her to complete a bachelor's degree in Organizational Management at Eastern University.
As a highly dedicated, skilled manager, Renee' has been instrumental in setting structure to effectively support the ministries of the church. She is committed to the supervision of paid and volunteer staff and the transactions of day-to-day business operation. Her enthusiastic personality motivates others to invest in their God-given talents and to use them with excellence.
On a personal note, Renee' likes to learn (academically), loves to read and ski.
Juliann
e Heiney, Coordinator of Small Group Ministries
Julianne brings varied work experience as a machinist, a sales associate and an accountant to her work in the church. She holds a bachelor's degree in Accounting from Cedar Crest College, Allentown.
She truly has a sensitive heart for people and devotes her life's work to connecting persons in rich and meaningful relationships. It is within these relationships that she is passionate about persons discovering and sharing their God-given gifts. Moreover, she's especially enthusiastic to communicate and present God's Word in creative ways.
For enjoyment Julianne spends time making various crafts - decoupage, candle holders and greeting cards. She enjoys leisure time with her family - husband Sam and three sons Pol, Del and Yul.
Lynn McReynolds, Office Assistant
Lynn comes to Faith Alive with a passion to help others in her role as Office Assistant. Her primary objective is to make persons feel welcomed and to be a good support for the ministries of Faith Alive Church. Previously, Lynn has been a stay at home mom while raising her son. Prior work includes Administrative Assistant to the president of a corporate company and a position at her father’s business. She considers herself an organized person who is honest and loyal with a good sense of humor.
Lynn is excited about her faith and is eager to see what the Lord will do in this new time in her life. In her spare time she enjoys photography, reading, baking, crafts, home décor & gardening. She is married, has a son and loves pets, especially her cat.
Matt & Kim Henshue, Youth Directors
The leadership of Faith Alive Church is pleased to introduce Matt & Kim Henshue as our new Youth Directors. Matt is a graduate of Moravian College & is currently employed in the accounts receivable department at Myers Power Products of Bethlehem. In addition to work, Matt has been a youth group leader at Mt Eaton Church for the past 7 years and a Deacon since 2009. Matt has been involved with Bowman Park Camp most of his life, a camp counselor since 2004 & currently is teaching a Bible study at Concern Home for Boys, Lehighton. Kim is a graduate of Misericordia University with a degree in Medical Imaging. Kim is employed by Scranton Heart Institute as a Nuclear Medicine Tech. She also has been a youth group leader for 1 1/2 years, & as a camp counselor at Bowman Park Camp for 7 years. Matt & Kim are excited to transition into their new role here at Faith Alive. They find it hard to leave at Mt Eaton; however, they sense God’s calling to this place in life & in ministry. When asked about their hopes for the youth here, they said, “Our primary goal is to form an environment where all the kids that come our way will grow closer to God than ever before. We want to teach them what it means to be a Christian, & in turn, what that looks like in real life. We seek to accomplish that, not only by the lessons we teach, but also through the example of the way we live our lives.”
