A body of elders directed the business of the early congregations. There were three degrees of ministry or eldership. A minister in the first degree was in a trial period to gain training and experience before assuming heavier responsibilities. He was called a speaker because his only real function was to preach. He could not make his own preaching appointments; the elder made these arrangements. A speaker could conduct a meeting if no older ministers or elders were available, and he could preach at funerals. If a man proved competent as a speaker, he was advanced to the second degree and took on additional responsibilities. He could now make his own appointments, administer baptism, take the counsel of the church on the admission of an applicant for baptism (if the elder was absent, serve communion (in the elder was absent or at his request if present), and perform marriages. Men in the first and second degrees were to defer to the wishes of the elders.

 

    The eldership was the most respected and powerful position in the church. An elder gave guidance to the congregations and kept order and harmony. The congregation voted to decide whether a man would be advanced (a unanimous vote was desired). A board of elders examined the man’s life. Upon successful election and examination, the man was charged with his new responsibilities and asked to kneel. Officiating elders laid their hands on him and asked blessing upon his work. Then he was given the hand of fellowship and the kiss of each member (the women only shook his hand). Only an elder was ordained in this manner (by laying on of hands and being asked to kneel). Ministers in other degrees were installed while standing or seated and then given the hand and the kiss. An elder was a servant to the brethren. An elder could preside at any council meeting either in the home congregation or in another. He could give the charge to ministers and deacons and install them and could ordain other elders. He could serve on the Standing Committee of the Yearly Meeting and was held equal to all other elders except where it was appropriate for him to defer to an elder with seniority.

 

    The fourth office of the church was that of deacon or “visiting brother.” Deacons cared for the poor and made an annual visit to members of the congregation to encourage faithfulness, point out and hear reports of misconduct, announce the date of love feast and receive contributions toward the expense of the church. The deacon made all preparations for love feast and assisted the minister when asked by reading scripture, leading singing and prayer, and taking charge of meetings when no minister was present. Early deacons did not preach.

 

    None of the elders, ministers or deacons in the very early church were paid. The Brethren had a “free ministry” at that time. The leaders made their own living and performed their ministry in their non-working hours. The body of elders was eventually replaced by boards of administration at the district and local church levels.

 

    Preaching in the early years of our church was cared for by local ministers, deacons and others from nearby congregations, paid by the sermon or Sunday. S.E. Dorer, L.B. Harshberger, A.V. Berkley, Calvin Beam, W.H. Rummel, N.W. Berkley, James Ream, J.H. Cassady, Haddon Q. Rhodes, J.W. Mills, J.E. Blough and Elmer D. Blue were among those pastors who served the West Johnstown congregation.

 

    Elders who served the church include J.E. Blough, A.V. Berkley, L.B. Harshberger, James Ream, C.C. Sollenberger, Galen K. Walker, Tobias F. Henry, and G.E. Weaver.

 

    Solomon E. Dorer was born in Upper Yoder on August 15, 1856. He was baptized in November 1876 and was very active in Sunday School work. He was elected to the ministry on November 29, 1883.

 

    James Ream was born August 25, 1858 near Goshen, Indiana and moved to Scalp Level, Pennsylvania around 1865. He joined the church in 1882.  He was a great lover of music and was a song leader for many years. He was elected to the ministry July 4, 1893, where he labored until 1908.

 

    Norman W. Berkley was born August 19, 1860 in Somerset County. He was a teacher at various schools and then principal at Roxbury School. In 1890, he resigned and went to work at Lorain Steel Company. On January 26, 1899, Brother Berkley was installed into the ministry and was later advanced to second degree eldership, becoming elder in charge of the West Johnstown congregation.

 

    J.W. Mills was born in Franklin Borough. He attended the United  Evangelical Church. After his marriage to the daughter of Elder Abraham Fyock, he attended the Church of the Brethren and was baptized in late 1904 or early 1905. He was elected to the ministry in the Johnstown Congregation on June 29, 1905 and began serving the West Johnstown Congregation in February, 1914.

 

    J.H. Cassady was born in Grant County, West Virginia October 24, 1871. In 1908, he was elected the first pastor of the West Johnstown congregation and worked with the Roxbury, Westmont, Morrellville, and Pleasant Hill churches. He gave up his teaching career to enter the ministry (at a greatly reduced salary). During the six years he served the West Johnstown churches, he preached over 1,300 sermons. He left this area to go to Juniata College and the Huntingdon church and later devoted his ministry to evangelism.

 

    J.C. Beam was born January 29, 1869 in Cambria County. After finishing school at age 14, he worked in a mill. In 1904 he was elected deacon in the West Johnstown congregation, and on December 12, 1911, he was elected to the ministry and was also forwarded to second degree elder.

 

    John P. Coleman was born in Johnstown on May 17, 1888 and finished common school by age 13. His father died when he was nine, and he worked to help support his family.  He worked during the day and attended Rowe College at night, graduating in 1903. He was a member of the Methodist faith for a number of years before joining the West Johnstown Church of the Brethren. He was active in church and Sunday School and was elected to the ministry on January 13, 1910.

 

    Jerome E. Blough was born August 22, 1861 and was called to the ministry in July of 1887. He was later ordained to eldership in the West Johnstown congregation and was elected elder in charge of Pleasant Hill in the summer of 1915. He was very active in the Sunday School ministry and was noted for promoting missions and temperance. He worked on periodicals and history books.

 

    Elmer D. Blue was born at Chambersville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania on March 20, 1880, the fourth son of David and Margaret (Swan) Blue. His early church and Sunday School training was in the Presbyterian faith. In 1898, he became a school teacher in Cambria County and in 1906 was a mail carrier in the Johnstown post office. He was baptized into the Church of the Brethren on July 5, 1903. He was elected to the ministry in the West Johnstown congregation on December 12, 1911 and installed January 4, 1912.

 

    Haddon Q. Rhodes, the youngest son of Deacon Emanuel and Mary (Knavel) Rhodes, was born in Johnstown on April 25, 1892. He was received into the Pleasant Hill congregation by J.H. Cassady in December 1908. He was elected to the ministry in the West Johnstown congregation on December 12, 1911 and installed the following year. He continued his education at Juniata College.

 

    In 1922, Irwin R. Pletcher became the first full-time pastor.

 

    Irwin R. Pletcher (1922-1924) - Rev. Pletcher was born November 15, 1880, son of Daniel E. and Martha (Miller) Pletcher. In 1906 he was called to the ministry and was ordained in 1908. He entered Bethany Bible School in 1918 to secure further preparation for his work.

 

    C.C. Sollenberger (1924-1928) – Pastor Sollenberger, son of J.J. and Martha (Folkerth) Sollenberger, was born February 8, 1891 at Union, Ohio. He was baptized in January 1911 at Manchester College, called to the ministry at the Salem Church, Ohio in 1912, and was ordained as an elder at Morrellville in 1920. He graduated from Manchester College in 1912, from Bethany Biblical Seminary in 1914, and from Juniata College in 1921. He came to Morrellville in 1918.

 

 

    Grant E. Weaver (1928-1936) – Rev. Weaver was born July 11, 1895, the youngest son of Jacob A. Weaver. He attended Elizabethtown Academy and Elizabethtown College and later transferred to Juniata College where he graduated in 1923 and 1924 with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity degrees. The Shade Creek congregation called him to the ministry in 1920.

 

    Arthur L. Rummel (1936-1944) – The oldest son of William H. and Mary C. (Beeghly) Rummel, Pastor Rummel was born January 23, 1898. He attended several terms of teacher’s summer school and received a certificate to teach school. Later he attended Juniata Academy, concentrating in the Bible department. He was installed into the ministry on May 20, 1920 by the Westmont church. At the same service, his father was ordained to the eldership. Arthur was ordained to the eldership on September 10, 1932.

 

    Clayton Gehman (1944-1947) – Rev. Gehman, born August 13, 1909, was reared in a devout Mennonite home.  He united with the Mohler’s congregation in May 1928. He was licensed to preach in May 1931, was installed in 1932, and ordained as an elder in July 1937. He studied at Mount Morris College, Bethany Biblical Seminary, and Eastern Baptist Seminary, receiving Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology degrees, and finally at the University of Pittsburgh from which he received a Master of Education degree.

  

    William L. Gould (1947-1959) – The son of William M. and Mary (Thomas) Gould, Rev. Gould was born May 21, 1917 in Akron, Ohio. After graduating from Curwensville High School, he attended Elizabethtown College. He united with the church in November 1930 and was licensed to the ministry on September 6, 1938. He was advanced to eldership on May 22, 1945. Beginning his pastoral work at Warriors Mark on June 16, 1940, he continued there until being called to the Leamersville Church on November 4, 1944. He became pastor at Pleasant Hill on October 15, 1947.

 

    Harlan C. Grubb (1959-1974) – Pastor Grubb was born August 15, 1906 in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. His background was in business. He graduated from the Goodyear Industrial University in Akron, Ohio. He began his ministry in the Church of the Brethren in 1946. He came to Pleasant Hill in 1959 from the Center Church of the Brethren in Louisville, Ohio.

 

    Bernard A. Fuska (1974-1986) – Rev. Fuska was born July 9, 1952, the son of Joseph and Mary Fuska. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown and his Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry from St. Francis College in Loretto, Pennsylvania.

 

    Cecil D. Hess (1987-1995) – A third generation Church of the Brethren minister, Pastor Hess was born on May 1, 1936 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the son of Rev. Homer and Vesta (Blue) Hess. He was baptized in the Morrellville Church of the Brethren in Johnstown and ordained at that church in 1972. He received his bachelor’s degree from Elizabethtown College and his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from the Eastern Baptist Seminary.

 

    Phillip A. King (1995-present) – Born on February 3, 1949 in Bellefontaine, Ohio, Pastor King is the son of Harley and Bertha (Hartzler) King. He was baptized in the South Union Mennonite Church in 1961. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Bible in 1971 from Eastern Mennonite College, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and his Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from the same college in 1977. He was licensed to the ministry in 1971. In addition to his ministry, Pastor King taught school at the Johnstown Christian School from 1978 to 1990 and in the Westmont Hilltop School District from 1990 to 1991. He served as principal at the Johnstown Christian School from 1991 to 1995.

 

    Robert L. Rummel (1998-2004)   Associate Pastor/Youth Director  - Pastor Rummel was born on October 9, 1960 son of  Herman Rummel and Sandra Hubbard. He was licensed to the ministry by the Maple Spring Church of the Brethren on March 29, 1998. He was called to the Pleasant Hill congregation as a part-time Pastoral Assistant/Youth Director in 1998. In January, 2002 he began serving the church full time as Associate Pastor and Youth Director.

 

    Russell J. Peruso (2004-present)   Associate Pastor/Youth Director  - Pastor Russ was called to the Pleasant Hill congregation as a full-time Associate Pastor and Youth Director in 2004.  He also leads the bell choir and sings praise songs.

                         

Our congregation has also licensed several pastors and lay speakers over the years.

 

Licensed and Ordained Ministers

Blair Blue

Jack Byers

Terry Gindlesperger

James Houghton

Elsie Berg Matula

C.A. McDowell

Paul Rummel

Michael Swick

Dale Varner

Donald Wentz

 

Lay Speakers

Terry Gindlesperger

Sally Houghton

Eric Kabler

Craig Oaks

Daniel Rhodes

Michael Swick

Rebecca Swick