Clergy & Staff

“…make her a deacon in your church.” These words are from the Book of Common Prayer at the service for the Ordination of a deacon. These words were pronounced over Johnine at her ordination as a vocational deacon in 2002 in the Diocese of New Jersey.

The Ordination Examination declares what the vocation of a deacon looks like. It states, “In the name of Jesus Christ, you are to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely. As a deacon in the Church, you are to study the Holy Scriptures, to seek nourishment from them. You are to make Christ and his redemptive love known, by your word and example, to those whom you live, and work, and worship. You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world. You are to assist the bishop and priests in public worship and in the ministration of God’s Word and Sacraments, and you are to carry out other duties assigned to you from time to time. At all times, your life and teaching are to show Christ’s people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself.”

The deacon is to be the bridge between the church and the world. The deacon brings the needs of the world to the church and vice versa. The deacon is to empower the faithful to holy service to those in any kind of need outside the church walls. Together the deacon and the parishioners are given the charge to make the work for Christ holy by words and actions.

During the worship service, a deacon reads the gospel, sets the table, announces the prayers, distributes communion, preaches, sends out the Eucharistic Visitors and gives the dismissal. A deacon cannot absolve, bless, or consecrate, which are roles set aside for priests and bishops.

Johnine serves under the direction and guidance of the bishop of the diocese as well as the rector.

Johnine served as the deacon at Church of the Holy Spirit in Lebanon, New Jersey for almost thirteen plus years before moving to Harleysville at the end of September 2015. One of Johnine’s ministries includes bringing a communion worship service to the men and women incarcerated in the Bucks County Correctional Facility in Doylestown.

Her husband, Donald and she have four adult children. Daughter Karin and her husband, Eric and twin granddaughters, Marley and Trinity who live in Plantsville, CT. Son Jonathan and his wife, Kristen and two grandsons, Lincoln and Monroe who live in Jackson, Maine. Jonathan’s son, grandson Connor, a 2021 Hampshire College graduate continues to live and work in Amherst, Massachusetts. Son Michael who is in transition at this time is looking for employment on the east coast. Daughter Anne lives in Portland, Oregon and hopes to move back east in the near future.

Johnine was a Special Education teacher, graduating with a bachelor and master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University. She taught individuals as young as 7 years old and as old as 70 years old. She retired from public school teaching in 2006, where she was teaching high school students with developmental delays. For five more years, Johnine continued to teach adults from all over the world English. She loves to travel, read mysteries, and quilt/sew. Johnine feels extremely fortunate to have been led to the faith community of Church of the Holy Spirit in Harleysville.

Sue Ellen Echard, MM, BS, BMus, is Minister of Music and Organist at Church of the Holy Spirit, Episcopal, Harleysville, PA serving since 2000. Over her career she has worked as choral director, organist, collaborative pianist, workshop leader, Kindermusik® teacher, recitalist and teacher of organ and piano. She has been a member of the Philadelphia AGO for over 35 years and served on the executive committee of the Philadelphia Chapter. She specializes in choir and community building and was recruited early in the founding of Church of Holy Spirit to build music, arts and youth programs. The growing of this new parish was focused on a high quality of music and liturgy. Under her leadership, the choirs have grown to include opportunities for musicians of all ages in a variety of choirs. The church continues to grow and thrive. In recent years, Sue Ellen led choral residencies at Bristol, Winchester, Lincoln and Exeter Cathedrals 2012 -2023.

Sue Ellen has served on the music staff of the Valley Choral Society as collaborative keyboard musician as well as the music staff of Bel Canto Children’s Chorus, and the Royal School of Church Music at the King’s College Course in Wilkes-Barre.

Sue Ellen’s career has been broad and comprehensive serving churches in the Episcopal, Catholic, Presbyterian, Reformed and Evangelical traditions. She holds a Bachelor of Science in theology and Bachelor of Music in Church Music from Cairn University and a Master of Sacred Music Degree from Westminster Choir College where she studied organ with Eugene Roan and choral conducting with Allen Crowell and Andrew Megill. She completed further studies in choral conducting at the Choral Institute at Oxford in 2017 and 2019.

Sue Ellen completed studies in Spiritual Direction through the Adelynrood School of Spiritual Direction in Byfield Massachusetts, a ministry of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross in 2022 and continues to expand her studies in this area of ministry.

Communicationscoord@churchoftheholyspirit.us

Dawn is the Communications Coordinator at Church of the Holy Spirit. She helps to maintain the website and COHS social media, puts together our weekly Constant Contact newsletter and helps with publicizing COHS events.

When not at COHS, she is also a school bus driver for the Daniel Boone School District, and has begun a flower farm.

Dawn loves to sing, and had been a member of the choir since 2000 and had rung in the handbell choir since 2009 as one of its original ringers.  Her participation has been limited since moving further away in 2022.

Dawn and her family have been attending COHS since 1998 and both her children have been on the J2A (Journey to Adulthood) pilgrimages.  In the past, she was a Sunday School teacher for COHS and has been on the third pilgrimage as chaperone for the J2A class she was teaching, and also chaperoned many Spruce Lake Retreats for the youth. Dawn has volunteered as account manager for the Choir tours, and also attended those trips.

Now that the kids are out of the house, she lives with her husband and two dogs – Violet, a pitbull terrier, and Liesl, a Drahthaar.  In 2019 they welcomed their first grandbaby into their lives and spend a lot of time lovin’ on him!

In 2022, Dawn and her husband Charley moved to Elverson, PA and Dawn has started a cut flower farm on her property. The flower farm is named after her pitbull Violet, and is called Violet Hill Flower Co.

SethTrumbore@churchoftheholyspirit.us

Seth Trumbore graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor's in Piano Peformance and Piano Pedagogy, where he studied with Harvey Wedeen. In addition to being an associate musician at Church of the Holy Spirit, Harleysville, Seth is also a piano technician serving the greater Philadelphia area. He has a passion for chamber music, and enjoys collaborating with other musicians whenever he can.

AV@churchoftheholyspirit.us

Patrick is in charge of our online video presence.  He began filming our Sunday services during the pandemic—taking all the pieces of the service that come in separately (the sermon, the readings, the music, the peace, etc.) and combining it into one cohesive service and presenting it Sunday mornings at our Facebook page.

Since the installation of our new AV system in 2021, Patrick has been our livestream coordinator. He is actively teaching volunteers how to use the system, as well. The congregation appreciates his creativity and artistry in this important ministry.

admin@churchoftheholyspirit.us

Karen Work is the Parish Administrator at Church of the Holy Spirit. She has been a member of COHS since 2013 and is a member of both the Adult Choir and the Handbell Choir. She also teaches the God’s Children Sing Sunday School class, which teaches the stories of the Bible through songs, dancing and movement, and storytelling. She is one of our Deanery and Diocesan Delegates and also serves as the Dean’s Warden of the Valley Forge Deanery.

When Karen is not at COHS, she participates in a community choir, the Choristers. She enjoys reading, knitting, crocheting, and working seasonally at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. She holds a Bachelor’s in Music from Furman University and an Associate’s in Social Services from Bucks County Community College, and she is always looking for the next interesting thing to learn.