OUR CLERGY

Reverend Bruce Gowe wearing priestly vestments in white and purple.

The Rev. Bruce Gowe

Priest in Charge

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

(2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NRSVUE)

PH: (570) 421-7481

meet the REST OF THE team

Those Who Serve

Carl Ausfahl

Senior Warden

The senior warden is usually the primary elected lay leader of the congregation and serves as a principal liaison between the parish and the rector. The senior warden typically presides at vestry meetings in the absence of the rector. In case of clerical vacancy, the senior warden may be the ecclesiastical authority of the parish for certain purposes.

In some parishes, the senior warden is known as the “priest’s warden,” and the junior warden is known as the “people’s warden.” Historically, in the Church of England, one warden was named by the priest and the other chosen by the congregation.

Joyce Onsted

Administrative Assistant

Joyce worked in IT doing database design and IT management before designing her home and moving full time to the Poconos about 20 years ago. She serves on the Pocono Mountain Regional Emergency Medical Services Board and the Coolbaugh Township Environmental Advisory Council. Joyce lives with her cat Cleocatra in an eclectic home right on the Lehigh River in Pocono Lake. She is excited to begin this new chapter with Christ Episcopal Church! You can reach her through the general church office email: christchurchsburg@gmail.com

Bethann Kratzer

Music Director

Bethann Kratzer is a pianist and organist who also teaches piano at her Easton, PA studio. Her career in Music Ministry spans three decades. She first served as Music Director to the congregation of the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain in Delaware Water Gap, PA. She later served the as Music Director to the Montgomery Presbyterian Church in Savannah, GA. Most recently, Bethann has been the Music Director at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bangor, PA where she directed the choir and bell choir, reestablishing it after years of inactivity. She was also involved in musical education and performance at Lafayette College. There she served as the pianist in Worship and Music Ministry at the Ecumenical Christian Community Chapel, and for the “The Graduates,” an all-male choir of Lafayette alumni. As a professional accompanist in both classical and jazz, she has performed with vocal and instrumental soloists, choral and instrumental ensembles, and musical theatre. From her home studio, Bethann teaches private piano covering classical, Jazz, Broadway, and popular music. She has students of all ages but specializes in early youth instruction.

Kevin Casey

Junior Warden

The junior warden is often given responsibility for the upkeep of the parish buildings and grounds.

In some parishes, the senior warden is known as the “priest's warden,” and the junior warden is known as the “people's warden.” Historically, in the Church of England, one warden was named by the priest and the other chosen by the congregation.

Jan Selving

Clerk of Vestry

The clerk or secretary of the parish vestry records minutes of the vestry meetings. These minutes are approved by the vestry and kept in the permanent records of the parish. The clerk may or may not be a member of the vestry. The parish by-laws typically include provisions concerning selection and duties of the clerk. The Episcopal Church canons require the clerk's attestation for the rector and vestry's certificates of a candidate's fitness for ordination.

Debby Campbell

Co-Director of the Food Ministry

Peggy Walck

Co-Director of the Food Ministry

Vestry

In England, the annual election of churchwardens took place in Easter week. The parishioners gathered at the church to hear the outgoing wardens render their accounts and elect their successors. The parishioners assembled in the vestry, the room off the chancel where the clergy vested. The assembled parishioners came to be known as the vestry. These were open vestries in that all adult male parishioners could participate. It was like a modern annual congregational meeting. In Virginia the parishes were very large and it was difficult to get all the male parishioners together. So they would meet only once and elect twelve of their number to serve for life. This was known as a closed vestry. The transition to a closed vestry was completed by 1633 or 1634, when a Vestry Act was passed. It provided that “there be a vestrie held in each parish.” The current vestry evolved from this colonial pattern.

The vestry is the legal representative of the parish with regard to all matters pertaining to its corporate property. The number of vestry members and the term of office varies from parish to parish. Vestry members are usually elected at the annual parish meeting. The presiding officer of the vestry is the rector. There are usually two wardens. The senior warden leads the parish between rectors and is a support person for the rector. The junior warden often has responsibility for church property and buildings. A treasurer and a secretary or clerk may be chosen. These officers may or may not be vestry members. The basic responsibilities of the vestry are to help define and articulate the mission of the congregation; to support the church’s mission by word and deed, to select the rector, to ensure effective organization and planning, and to manage resources and finances.