Lititz United Methodist Church Staff Biographies

Steve Rodgers, our Worship Pastor, is responsible for our overall worship ministries. He brings us an extensive background in worship, both contemporary and traditional; experience leading church choirs and orchestras; skills in developing praise bands and contemporary and emerging worship; and 23 years experience as a United Methodist pastor. Steve has been leading worship for 30 years, starting in a contemporary praise band while a music education major at Indiana University of PA. He is also a graduate of Lancaster Theological Seminary and has served as pastor of churches in West Lawn, Manheim, Rothsville, and Leola. Along with sharing his passion for worship, Steve also directs the Faithful Hearts adult choir, the Church Orchestra, and serves LUMC as Pastor of Congregational Care.

Steve’s wife Michelle has worked for Penn State University for 25 years, in Cooperative Extension and Outreach, and has her doctorate from PSU. Their daughter Elise will be a student at Penn State after graduation from Warwick High School. Their son Brett is also a student at Warwick. The whole family is glad to be a part of the vital ministries here at LUMC.

Correen Russo is Director of Educational Ministries. This is also a part-time, 15 hour per week responsibility. While the job title suggests that she is in charge of the whole area of Christian education within the church, her role has been primarily in the area of children’s ministry. Correen has specialized in initiating and carrying out such ministries as the Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Children’s Church, Children’s Christmas Eve worship service, Club 56, Easter egg hunt, confirmation and Youth Alpha. She recruits and trains leaders for each of these areas.

She has also worked to develop policies for the children’s ministry area, such as child safety policies. A group of dedicated lay people work closely with Correen to provide leadership for all our children’s ministries within the congregation.

Kevin Bergman is Director of Outreach Ministries. Kevin has an extensive background in Sales and Marketing where he spent 23 years in the Hospitality Industry in nine different cities. His duties included daily management of the Sales and Catering Departments, Strategic Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations and Business Plan Development. In addition, he produced the Keystone International Balloon Festival in 2004 and 2005.

Kevin and his wife Patti have four children (Matt, Brett, Josh and Breanna). Kevin and his family have been involved with the church in many different ways and he looks forward to serving the Lord in this role.

Mary Ann Stuckey is our fulltime Office Manager. Mary Ann joined the staff in June 1982 as the part-time Church Secretary. Her job responsibilities have increased dramatically over the years to her present position of Office Manager. Keeping the church running smoothly (as smoothly as possible!) is her main task and that includes everything from overseeing day-to-day operations of the church to working with the pastors, other staff and volunteers on all the varying church projects. Mary Ann enjoys gardening, traveling, and going out to lunch! She and her husband, Dennis, are the parents of two grown children and one spoiled little poodle! They live in Lititz and have been members of Lititz UMC since 1981.

Sharon Heagy is our fulltime Church Secretary. Sharon joined the staff in March 1999. She feels one of the best parts of her job is working on all the different projects of the church, and she enjoys using the quality technology that gives the church’s publications such a unique, professional look. “This is such a busy, involved church…there’s always something going on with some group or ministry. I never know who is going to come in with what project for me to do! It makes for a very interesting job.” Sharon lives in Lititz with her daughter and assorted dogs and cats. She enjoys reading, gardening, cooking and training her dogs.

Jack Sheppard is our part-time Church Bookkeeper. His main function is to monitor the church’s finances so they meet the goals of the church, and to provide accurate financial data so that the church’s leadership can make well informed decisions. He is one of the persons involved in counting the offering each week, making the bank deposits and paying the bills. He prepares the payroll and makes sure the church meets all the government tax deposit and reporting requirements.

Jack’s duties also include tracking the church budget and reporting to the Finance Committee and the Church Treasurer. He works closely with the Office Manager in providing spending information to the salaried staff responsible for budget items. Although not directly a part of the decision-marking process, he is responsible for providing and interpreting financial information for those who make decisions. Making recommendations regarding the church’s finances and suggesting improvements in personnel policies as they impact the budget are also part of his work.

Jen Bergman, Jen Buckbee (not pictured), April Norman & Jaime Ochs serve as our Nursery Care Coordinators. One of these ladies is present in the church nursery each Sunday morning to oversee the child care. They are also on duty for special church events such as Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday services. Their presence helps assure that the very young children will receive quality care in a safe and pleasant environment, and that there will be consistency in the childcare provided. Our Nursery Care Coordinators also are responsible for scheduling other persons to be in the church nurseries during the worship services.

Ben Stabley is our Director of Multimedia Ministries. He holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Maryville College in Tennessee and brings with him many years of experience in music and theater. Building and repairing computers and creating websites are also areas in which Ben enjoys working. He looks forward to bringing his experience to the creative team at Lititz UMC and producing multimedia that enhances our many productions and publications throughout the year. Ben’s favorite food is a greasy hamburger and fries. He is a diehard Flyers fan and also enjoys golf and soccer. Ben is married to Pattie, who is our bookstore manager, and they have 4 children and 1 grandchild.

Lynn McCord is our part-time Church Administrator. Originally from Maryland, Lynn ended up in Lancaster when she attended Franklin & Marshall College. There she received a B.A. in Economics, and then earned an M.B.A. from Penn State in Middletown (where she met her husband Dave). She has extensive programming and management experience in the areas of Customer Services, Logistics, and Information Systems. Her responsibilities at the church include overseeing the business and organizational aspects of the church, helping with team building among the staff and laity, and helping to develop the managerial and equipping skills of the staff.

Lynn is a big sports fan, and loves golf, bowling, and playing softball (at least she did in her younger days!). She also enjoys watching sports, especially her 2 sons, Alex and Peter, participating in football, soccer, baseball and swimming. She also enjoys reading, particularly history and the Bible. And once in a while she even gets to play her saxophone! She and her husband joined Lititz UMC in 1996.

Lynn Pierce is our part time Coordinator of Congregational Care. Lynn has a Master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology. For her entire career she worked in nursing homes because of her love for the elderly. For the first few years of her career, Lynn did speech pathology, working with stroke patients as well as other cognitive difficulties and with swallowing difficulties. For many years, she did rehabilitation management. Lynn knew the Lititz area well before moving here since she worked as a consultant at many of the area nursing homes. Her last position was as Executive Director, Rehabilitation for Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries. When illness ended her working career, she wasn’t sure what God had in store. But Job affirms God always has a plan for us. “I’m convinced you can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans.” (The Message Job 42:2)

Lynn and her husband Greg have two children, a son Mark and a daughter Erin. They have five grandchildren who remind them regularly why God chose to allow us to have our children when we are young!