Staff
John Buckley | Lead Elder | jbuckley@upccmail.org
Born and raised in the midwest, Pastor John has been here in southeastern, PA since 1995. During his years of ministry, God has clearly directed his path serving first as a student pastor, then administrative pastor, and now lead pastor. Pastor John was called to "the Valley” in 2009 where he and his family quickly fell in love with the area and made it their home. If you could sum up Pastor John’s heart and passion in ministry, it would be “relational”. Pastor John challenges the people of UPCC to develop deep relationships for the purpose of loving God and loving others. If you would like to learn more about Pastor John, you can follow his blog by clicking here, or email him.
Derek Whalen | Elder, Assistant Pastor | derekwhalen@gmail.com
Derek was born in Norristown, PA, spent his childhood in Royersford, PA and is
excited to be back in the area where he grew up. After graduating from
Cedarville University (’89) and then Grand Rapids Theological Seminary (’93), he
has served in 3 churches in the Midwest (Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio) over the past
25 years. While he has served the local church in many different roles his main
passion is to help people follow Jesus, be changed by Jesus, and live on mission with
Jesus. His wife, Christy, was born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI and is excited
about living on the East Coast near extended family. Derek and Christy have 3 adult
children: Derek (Chattanooga, TN), Deanna (Knightdale, NC), and Charis (Concord, NC).
Kevin Bennett | Elder, Assistant Pastor | kwbenn@gmail.com
Kevin was born and raised in Lansdale, PA and has spent most of his adult life in the area. He is married to his wife, Jill ('98), and blessed with 2 children, Rachel and Jared. Kevin completed 3 years of study in Bible and Youth Ministry at Phila College of Bible before transferring to and graduating from Colorado Christian University ('01) with a management degree focused on Non-profit and Church ministry. He was on staff at 2 churches (Harleysville PA, Colorado Springs CO) before heading back to the secular working world where his desire was to influence the non-believing world with the good news of the Gospel of grace while serving in lay leadership roles in the local church. Bringing years of church leadership experience, Kevin and family are excited to see how the Lord will continue to use them at UPCC and in our surrounding community.
Lucas Hollenbach | Ministry Assistant, Music | lucashollenbach2@gmail.com
Elder Team
Mike Verguldi | Elder
Jason Zimpfer | Elder
Josh Scheiderer | Elder, Treasurer
Deacon Team
Oty Badea, Brian Landis, Dave Mauer, Rick Ottinger, Eric Rotenberger, Dave Schmell, Todd Smith