Leadership

Pastors & Staff

Rev. Tom Ebersole

Lead Pastor

Effective July 1, 2022, Pastor Tom became WLUMC's lead pastor. Tom graduated from Penn State University in 1987 with a BS in Earth and Mineral Sciences before responding to a call to ministry. In 2008, Tom completed a Master of Divinity degree at Palmer Theological Seminary and was ordained in 2010. Prior to WLUMC, he served at Valley Forge UMC, Messiah UMC, and Wayne UMC. 

Rev. Chris Hardy

Associate Pastor

Associate Pastor since 2019, Pastor Chris previously worked in law enforcement before following a call into ministry and being ordained in 2018. Studying criminology, he earned his undergraduate degree from Wilkes University and completed his Master of Divinity degree in 2016 from Drew Theological School.  Chris is married to his best friend, Teisha, and have three beautiful children, and two dogs. In his spare time, Chris enjoys coaching youth baseball, watching sports, and reading. 

Rev. Terry Cooney

Pastor of Visitation

Besides our Pastor of Visitation, Terry is also the Pastor at Christ United Methodist Church in Birdsboro and is pursuing a Masters of Divinity degree at Evangelical Theology Seminary.

Rev. Pat Goshert

Pastor of Congregational Care

Pat oversees the caring ministries of the church, including GriefShare, DivorceCare, Stephen Ministry and other outreach related ministries. After 20 years of working for various railroads, and as Executive Administrator at West Lawn UMC for 6 years, Pat received her call to ministry and has since served four congregations, including Cedarville UMC, which she is currently the Associate Pastor.

John "Doc" Moyer

Lay Leader

Serving as an unpaid member of our staff, "Doc" plays an integral role in representing the laity at staff meetings and leadership meetings providing valuable insight and ideas for mission and ministry.

Kelly Rismiller

Director of Leadership Development and Volunteer Recruitment

Kelly identifies the amazing source of talent in the pews, encourage everyone to be engaged in some volunteer activity, and empowers all to be the church, as an act of discipleship in action. She makes newcomers feel “at home” in our church family and helps each individual along their unique discipleship path. Kelly serves as the primary link between volunteers, ministry leaders and the staff, as well as cultivates relationship building experiences for the entire congregation. Her goal is to promote a growing community of faith where everyone feels connected to their West Lawn Church home and family.

Stephanie Serfass

Director of  Children and Family Ministries & Youth Pastor

Steph ministers to children, infants to tweens, and their families. She coordinates age appropriate discipleship programs, events, mission projects and special events including Sunday School, VBS, Kid’s Club, Tween Group and more.

Laurie Jentes

Program Coordinator for Children and Family Ministries

Laurie plans, executes and supports all programs and special events within the scope of Children’s and Family Ministries. She is involved with our mid week, Sunday evening and special event programs for children, assists with Sunday School scheduling, classroom organization and teacher support, and overall supports this growing & active ministry.

Elise Coakley

Preschool Director

Elise has a bachelor’s degree in both Early Childhood and Elementary Education from West Chester University, and brings years of teaching and leadership experience to our preschool. She previously taught in the Children’s Center of West Chester United Methodist Church. She also worked as a substitute teacher in various school districts, and most recently taught nutrition and cooking education programs for pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade children in the Reading and William Penn School Districts, as an employee of The Food Trust.

Trisha Rabold

Youth Pastor

Trisha is in charge of ministering to students in grades 6-12. She coordinates all Youth Group related activities, Youth Sunday School, as well as our Confirmation program.   She graduated from Eastern University in 2004 with a BA in Youth Ministry, and by 2007 she earned a MA in Education and began teaching Secondary Science.  After 8 years of teaching High School Physics, and 4 years of staying home with her 3 children, she returned to ministry here at West Lawn during the summer of 2020.   

David Haas

Audio/Visual Technician and Sexton

Dave runs all of the equipment for the sound, lighting and videos during our worship services, and keeps our campus clean.

Pat Kenna

Director of Contemporary Music

Pat leads our worship band at the contemporary service.

Jayme Raffauf

Director of Contemporary Music

Jayme is a US Army Veteran and is currently a 7th grade math teacher. After her military service she received her BS in Secondary Education, Mathematics from Kutztown University and a MS in Classroom Technology from Wilkes University. Jayme is married to Justin and they have two boys. Jayme has been a part of West Lawn UMC since she was a small child and has been singing in the praise team since its inception in 1996.

John Coakley

Minister of  Music

John leads our traditional music, working closely with other members of our music ministry to make worship an exciting and moving experience . John is a graduate of West Chester University where he studied music education and vocal performance. John and his wife, Elise, our Director of Children's Music, lead our Children’s worship during Sunday School and direct our Children’s Choir.

Christopher Rodgers

Organist

Christopher Rodgers has served as both organist and director of music at numerous churches in the Philadelphia and Reading areas for over thirty years. He currently provides organ music for our Sunday morning worship, as well as accompaniment for our choirs and soloists.

Judith Alvarez

Bell Choir Director

Kathy Ballick

Administrative Assistant

Kathy assists Church office guests with their special requests. Also, she’s the primary assistant to our Pastors & staff and coordinates many of the publications.

Diane Moyer

Administrative Assistant

Diane works on our office administration team. Her primary duties include preparing the weekly worship bulletin and other special bulletins or documents, managing our church statistical rolls and database, and supporting the needs of our pastors and administrator.

Sally Brown

Receptionist

When you call West Lawn UMC, or come into our Education Building, you will be greeted first by Sally. She also assists the staff with clerical and administrative tasks.

Paul Eisenhuth

Financial Manager

Paul works to oversee line item budgets and handle all outgoing expenses in the form of check requests and payments of receipts.

Kim Swartz

Assistant to the Financial Manager

Kim oversees all incoming funds the church receives, including tithes and offerings, online giving, and ministry funds.

Warren Marweg

Maintenance Manager

Warren is in charge of keeping our buildings, garages, and vehicles all in the best condition possible.