Westminster Church is committed to a Presbyterian system of church government. This means that the congregation elects their leaders, who then make decisions about the vision, ministries, finances, and life of the church. In a Presbyterian system of government, there are two ordained offices that have authority to lead the ministry of the church: elders and deacons.
ELders
The elders form the governing board of the church, called the Session. The elders are all elected by the congregation and called to shepherd the members of Westminster. The Session is made up of teaching elders, whom we typically identify as pastors and whose primary role is the teaching ministry of the Word, and ruling elders, whose primary role is shepherding care and providing leadership to the mission and ministries of the church.
The elders lead and serve on the following committees and each committee consists of men and women of WPC.
Eric Conner
Clerk of Session
Andrew Soule
Chair
Mark Bleecker
Paul Rogers
Chair
Matt Allgyer
Kyle Hunt
Chair
Kevin Snoke
Bob Hivner
Chair
Michael Mante
Kim Seldomridge
Rick Anderson
Chair
Dave Helms
John Barry
Chair
Mark Espenshade
Todd Williams
Bill Ziegler
Chair
Ben Barrall
Lee Brooks
Rick Frey
Dana Ormerod
Patrick Rohal
Chair
Tim Sidebothom
Deacons
Besides ruling elders and teaching elders, there are ordained deacons who have a ministry of practical service and mercy tasks within the church. The ordained offices are open to men only, consistent with I Timothy 2 & 3.
Jim Oosting
Head Deacon
Jeff Caddick
Mel Carwile
John Davies
Aaron Donnachie
Ben Hagan
Seth Johnston
Quentin Lapp
Duane Miller
Mark Moses
Kevin Reed
Ron Runk
Tim Sheetz
Penn Tomassetti
Ed Vander Bush
Kyle Wenger
Mike Zappitella
Deaconesses
In accordance with 1 Timothy 2 and 3, Westminster believes God’s Word calls men to fill these ordained roles of elder and deacon. However, there are many other significant leadership and ministry roles that women fill at Westminster. In addition to the ministry and staff positions that women fill, Westminster’s congregation elects a non-ordained board of deaconesses who assist the deacons in practical ministry of the church.
Linda Gillingham
Chairwoman
Amy Ormerod
Co-Chairwoman
Deloras Ammerman
Sue Anderson
Shelley Armstrong
Lois Bower
Carol Boyer
Deb Butterworth
Deb Chapin
Katie Edwards
Brenda Fentiman
Dawn Fortna
Barb Heisey
Jen Helms
Valerie Hise
Lynn Hivner
Diane La Belle
Kathy Newhard
Doris Nolt
Linda Phillips
Naomi Rizzuti
Marge Styer
Ann Marie Teply
Carol Warfel
Marilyn Winpenny
Patty Ziegler
Nominations
Later this Spring, Session will meet to begin the process of identifying and evaluating men to serve as elders and deacons and women to serve as deaconesses beginning in 2026. The congregation has the responsibility to nominate godly, qualified men and women in the congregation for these positions, respectively. Session desires and takes seriously each nomination that comes from the congregation. All nominations must be received by Sunday, April 13.
