Staff

  • Bob Gerhart - Interim Pastor

    Pastor Bob Gerhart and his wife, Joyce, have been in Christian Ministry together since their marriage in 1963. Pastor Bob began serving as Interim Pastor of Springfield Mennonite Church in September 2023. The Gerhart’s live at 619 Cherry Street in Bally, PA.

    Bob grew up in Berks County Pennsylvania and graduated from Boyertown High School. Joyce was raised in northwestern South Dakota near the town of Isabel, growing up on a sheep ranch. Bob and Joyce met at Bible College in Nebraska. In addition to benefiting from solid Christian homes, both had been greatly influenced by attending and working at summer Bible camps, Camp Men-O-Lan for Bob and Byron Bible Camp in Huron, SD, for Joyce.

    Bob’s first link with Springfield was serving the church for eleven weeks as a Student Supply Pastor during the summer of 1961, while a student at Grace Bible Institute in Omaha. Joyce was introduced to the Springfield congregation at a New Year’s Eve Service welcoming the New Year of 1962. Bob’s first Pastorate was at two congregations in the Quakertown area, Bethany, and Flatland, from 1963 to 1970. During these years he was Ordained to the Gospel Ministry in June of 1964 and completed Seminary training in R. E. Seminary in Philadelphia in 1967.

    In February 1970 the Gerharts were called to serve the Immanuel Mennonite Church in Downey California. After 4 ½ years in the Los Angeles region, they answered a Call to overseas mission work, serving a multi-denominational and international congregation in Southern Africa’s Kingdom of Lesotho. Their 6 ½ year ministry with the Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM) in the capital city of Maseru, also opened the way for an expansion of mission assistance with African led churches. In 1980 Bob was asked by his Mission agency to join the home staff in Indiana and in 1981 the Gerharts returned to the USA for a seven-year assignment with AIMM in Mission Communications and Church Relations.

    In 1988 Bob was asked to return to his home community to Pastor the Hereford Mennonite Church where he then served for twenty years. During these years he earned a D.Min. degree at Westminster Theological Seminary in 2005. With his passion for retaining faithfulness to Biblical Authority and sound doctrine, Bob helped develop the Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations (AMEC), a fellowship of churches of which Springfield became a Charter Member. In 2008, when he was appointed Executive Director of AMEC, Bob stepped down as Senior Pastor from the Hereford Church (now called Butter Valley Community Church), and served with AMEC until he retired from this role in the Fall of 2020.

    Bob’s other ministries have included Gospel Chalk Art, reenactments of several characters from 19th century church history and researching the life of Titanic passenger Annie Funk, a Mennonite missionary returning from India to her home near Bally.

    The Gerharts have two adult children: a daughter, Barbara, (serving as a writer/editor with Global Disciples based in Lancaster County, PA), and a son, John, who with his wife, Dawn, and their daughter Kennedy, lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where Johnny is a free-lance cinematographer and photographer.

Deacons

  • Chris Gehman

    Chris and his family have been attending Springfield since 2004; Chris has served as a deacon since 2007. Chris and his wife Anita live in the Palisades school district and have four children, Danielle, Jason, Carli and Tim along with Oreo the cat. Chris is a Program Control Analyst at BAE Systems.


    Getting to Know You

    1. What is your favorite family vacation? My favorite family vacation was probably our trip to Disney World a few years ago, although it's tough to rule out our annual beach vacation with friends.

    2. What makes you laugh the most? A good comedy makes me laugh; movie or sitcom.

  • Gary Meyers

    Gary has attended SMC all of his life. He became the Song Leader in 1973 and has also served as a Deacon since 1978. Gary met his wife, Kathy, in 1976 while working at a Youth For Christ camp in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where they were married the following year. Gary and Kathy have 3 wonderful children... Joel & (Jess), Jennifer & (Collin), and Brenden, and have also been blessed with 3 beautiful grandchildren..... Aubrey, Jordan & Katelyn. Gary retired in 2021 as the Parts manager for an area John Deere dealer.


    Getting to Know You

    1. What is your favorite family vacation? Grand Teton National Park

    2. If money was no object, what would you do all day? Restore antique cars

    3. What's your favorite family tradition? Homemade pizza on Fridays

  • Tom Stenson

    Tom and his wife, Jeannie, have been attending SMC since 1989.  Tom became a deacon in 2018.  After working for 13 years in the electronics industry, he changed careers in 2003 and is now an RN working for Penn Medicine.  In 2014, he retired from volunteer firefighting after almost 20 years.  He and Jeannie have 3 adult children, Brian (Jenn), Kristy, and Randy (Noelle), and 2 grandsons, Nolan and Kieran. Tom is enjoying his role as Grandpa!


    Getting to Know You

    1. What is your favorite sport? My favorite sport to watch is hockey, especially the Flyers. I also enjoy going to Phantoms games. 

    2. What is your favorite vacation? My favorite vacation was three weeks in Japan. 

    3. What is the strangest food you've ever eaten? The strangest food I ever ate was raw octopus. 

  • Bill Mease

    Bill was born at home on the farm. While growing up, he played both the piano and the organ for SMC, and has also been teaching Sunday School since he was 22 years old. He has been a deacon at Springfield Mennonite for about 45 years. Bill has a passion for singing and has been a member of Zion Choral Society for 40 years and Summer Harmony for 21 years. Bill accepted Christ at Camp Men-o-lan. Growing up Bill was in Boy Scouts and held the rank of Eagle Scout. He worked for the same company for 47 years until his retirement. Bill has been married to his lovely wife Shirley for 60 years. They have 4 daughters, 14 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren. Bill and Shirley love camping and annually go camping in June with their family. He particularly loves to talk to people they meet on their camping trips. Bill has been to all the lower 48 states as well as Alaska.


    Getting to Know You

    1. What is your favorite game or sport to watch and play? Bowling

    2. What is your favorite zoo animal? Lion

    3. What is your favorite family tradition? Christmas Dinner