He is a role model, a moral sounding board, a liaison between this world and the next. He is a man of God.

Kirk Marks is the new pastor at Faith Church.

"Here at Faith Church, the pastor has the responsibility of providing leadership for the implementation of biblical principles of mission and ministry of our church's life," said Marks. "The pastor preaches, works with the staff to create worship services, supervises the church employees, leads a sermon discussion each Sunday, oversees all pastoral care of the congregation and serves as the theologian-in-residence for all facets of church life."

In the middle of September, Marks officially became the next pastor at Faith Church, 2124 Old Philadelphia Pike, Lancaster. Since February, Marks had functioned as the interim pastor at Faith Church, replacing Dr. Joel Kime, who had served the church as pastor for 19 years.

"After serving as the pastor of various churches across Pennsylvania for 30 years, I retired from pastoral ministry in 2022," said Marks. "I was very honored to be invited to come out of retirement to serve as Faith Church's pastor and very excited by the opportunity.

"I have a casual worship style," Marks continued. "While always respectful of the setting, my worship leading and pulpit presence is handled in a conversational, personal and relaxed way, incorporating storytelling and humor. Pastors are successful when they as followers of Jesus are faithful to the calling and responsibilities they have, demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit and Christian love in all they do."

Born in Berks County, Marks attended Kutztown Area High School and enrolled in Kutztown University. He attended seminary at the Evangelical School of Theology in Myerstown.

"I felt called to pastoral ministry in the Evangelical Congregational Church when I was a college student," said Marks, a resident of Schoeneck. "I was working in municipal policing and working on a degree in criminal justice at Kutztown University when God changed my direction in life. My family was very involved in a local Evangelical Congregational Church at that time, and I pursued becoming a pastor through that denomination, where I ended up serving now for over 30 years."

The Faith Church family consists of more than 150 members. Faith Church, which works closely with local nonprofits Conestoga Valley Christian Community Services (CVCCS) and Conestoga Valley SEEDS, supports its own active prison ministry and hosts six other local churches for events, services and meetings.

"Faith Church is like many other churches in that we have a building and congregation, hold services and seek to represent Jesus to our community," said Marks. "As is also true of any church, it is the uniqueness of the people in our church family that makes us who we are. Faith Church especially emphasizes following Jesus, being his disciples in all we do, and we work diligently to equip our people to do that together."

Faith Church has been a member of the Conestoga Valley community since 1960. The congregation constructed the initial building at its current site in 1971 and has added to it a handful of times over the last half-century.

"Most of the pastor's job is done behind the scenes," said Marks. "Preaching, teaching and 'being out in front' of the congregation or other groups is actually only a small percentage of how pastors spend their time. Preparing messages and lessons, preparing for and attending meetings, ministering directly to congregants, overseeing staff, connecting with others in the community and church administration are all very important pastoral tasks, and are all done behind the scenes."

For additional information, go to http://www.findfaithhere.org.