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.
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.
Nick Galan
Audio/Visual Technician
Nick runs all of the equipment for the sound, lighting and videos during our worship services.
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.
Christopher Rodgers
Director of Traditional Music
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.
Diane Soper
Bell Choir Director
Diane Soper is a retired music teacher and has been a handbell enthusiast and ringer for 40 years. Diane comes to us with over 24 years experience directing handbell choirs and ensembles in several churches. During that time she has started a dozen new handbell groups, participated in several handbell festivals and numerous handbell workshops, and has attended several national handbell seminars to hone her ringing and directing skills.
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.
David Haas
Facility Manager and Sexton
David is in charge of keeping our buildings, garages, and vehicles all in the best condition possible as well as keeping our campus clean.