Atonement Lutheran Church: Staff Biographies
 The Rev. Rick Summy, senior pastor of
Atonement, Wyomissing, was ordained in 1985, served St. Luke's,
Freeland, from 1985-90 and St. Michael's, Sellersville, from
1990-1995. He was the Region 7 Coordinator and Deployed Staff
(Synodical Relations and Division for Ministry) for the ELCA from
1995-1999. From 1999 -2007, he was the Director of Admissions
at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He
graduated from Wittenberg University in 1980 and from The Lutheran
Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1985.
As Senior
Pastor, Pastor Summy is the executive head of the staff and
congregation and is also responsible for carrying out and/or delegating
to appropriate staff the duties of a pastor of a congregation in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
His churchwide
experience includes service on the First Call Theological Education
Advisory Committee and as a voting member to the 2003 Churchwide
Assembly. During the 1990s he was active in leadership of the
Philadelphia Chapter of the Academy of Preachers. He has led
workshops on vocation and Mutual Ministry in a variety of
settings. Published materials include sermons, sermon
reviews, devotional materials and articles. He was co-author
of the Augsburg Fortress Senior High Outdoor Ministry Curriculum for
2007 and of Connect: Calling Faithful Leaders for a Changing
World, a successful $3,000,000 grant request on behalf of
the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries. He wrote a
chapter ("Mutual Ministry") in the book Pastor and People:
Making Mutual Ministry Work which was published by Augsburg
Fortress in 2003.
Pastor Summy is married to Christine Summy,
who serves Atonement as the Director of Adult Ministries.
They have two daughters, Ashley, 22, and Haley, 19. He enjoys
golf, roots for the New York Yankees, and is a rabid Penn State
football fan.
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 Pastor Jason Lee came to us from the land of
the South - South Carolina to be exact. After graduating from
Newberry College in 2003, he received his Master of Divinity from
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC in
2007. While in college and seminary, he spent five summers
working at Lutheridge, a Lutheran camp located near Asheville,
NC. During those summers, Pastor Jason worked as a camp
counselor and as an Area Director.
Pastor Jason has been with
Atonement since July, 2007. His chief responsibilities are
organizing and leading the youth groups, youth education, and the
Catechetics program, along with other pastoral duties.
He and
his wife Dana enjoy cooking and their cats, Malachi and
Sophia. Pastor Jason also enjoys racquetball and disc golf,
as well as video games and computers.
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 Tom Yenser, an Associate in Ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has served for nine
years as Director of Music at Atonement Lutheran Church in Wyomissing,
Pennsylvania, where he plans and accompanies worship, leads choirs of
children, youth and adults, and oversees an annual concert
series. He previously served congregations in Allentown and
Northampton, PA.
Tom earned a B.A. in music from Haverford
College and an M.M. in organ performance from Westminster Choir
College. His principal organ teachers were Robert Plimpton
and Eugene Roan. Tom has planned and led worship and offered
workshops on worship and music topics throughout the Northeastern
Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA. His skill as an accompanist
has brought opportunities to collaborate with everyone from opera
singers to chimpanzees on roller skates.
Tom resides in
Wyomissing with his wife Kathy, a Christian education director, and his
daughter Lydia, a third grader. |
 Christine Summy is a commissioned Associate
in Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 2003.
She received her seminary training at the Lutheran Theological Seminary
at Philadelphia with a dual emphasis in liturgy and church history. She
serves Atonement Lutheran Church as Director of Adult Ministries which
includes, among other things, adult faith formation and spiritual
growth, pastoral care, several small group ministries, Stephen
Ministry, Atonement's Prayer Team Ministry, and the Women of Atonement.
She also enjoys the opportunity to assist in leading worship and
preaching every now and then.
Christine lives with her
husband Rick, who serves as Atonement's Senior Pastor, her mother Emmy,
stepdaughter Ashley, and her cats Max and Miss Olivia Spots. |
 Kathy Yenser is the Director of Children's
Ministries at Atonement since November 2007. Kathy oversees
the Sunday school, nursery, Vacation Bible School, First Communion
program and other ministries for children from birth through Grade
6. She especially enjoys using her talents to help children
and adults nurture their faith through the richness of worship and
scripture.
Kathy has been an Associate in Ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 1998. She is a
graduate of Moravian College and worked as a computer
programmer/trainer for 15 years before being called to
ministry. By joining her husband Tom on staff at Atonement,
the Yensers are once again a one-congregation family.
She
enjoys traveling, going to movies and shows, and playing at amusement
parks with Tom and their daughter Lydia. |
 Cynthia Bickley accepted the position of Director of Atonement Christian Preschool in July 1996. A graduate of Dana Hall School, Wellesley, MA and Briarcliff College, Briar Cliff Manor, NY with a degree in Early Childhood Education, and Liberal Arts, she formerly taught Pre-K and the Explorer Program at the Wyomissing Institute as well as directed their Summer Arts Camp. A member of NAEYC for over thirty years, she has attended numerous conferences and workshops. She thoroughly enjoys her time interacting with the children, teachers and families of Atonement Christian Preschool.
Cynthia and her husband, Ray, enjoy travel, golf, gardening and their children and grandchildren. |
 Jo Eileen Sturgis has been the parish
secretary at Atonement over 30 years. A native of Berks
County, she is a graduate of Governor Mifflin High School and
Muhlenberg College in Allentown. As parish secretary she is
responsible for greeting people, answering plenty of phone calls,
preparing bulletins and newsletters, and supervising the very dedicated
volunteers who help out with printing, collating, stuffing envelopes,
and many other clerical needs.
In her spare time Jo enjoys
gardening, collecting dolls and sewing clothes for them, reading, and
relaxing with her cat, Willow. |
 Tom Gresh has been Property Manager since
August of 1998. He is a 1972 graduate of Boyertown High School, Berks
Vo-Tec East in Instrumentation Technology, United Wesleyan College
Allentown with a B.S. in Bible, and M.Div. from Evangelical School of
Theology, Myerstown, Pa.
Tom learned the building trades over the
years, first as a hobby working with his Dad remodeling homes, then
working for Triple H Construction in Ephrata. After serving churches
with the Evangelical Congregational Church for thirteen years, he
started his own business in 1990 doing small residential and commercial
repairs and construction, work he now carries over to the maintenance
of the property of Atonement Lutheran Church.
Tom married Betty Licht
in 1974, has four children and one grand-child. They are members of
Salem Evangelical Church, Voganville, Pa. His hobbies include biking,
basketball, tennis, and fixing cars. |
 Lois Hein is a registered nurse
with 25 years of experience in the field of coordinating care and
advocating for patients, and families in need of support due to acute
and chronic illness, aging process, and bereavement. Past experiences
include staff nursing at St Christopher's Hospital for Children on the
adolescent/ young adult unit and advancing to management on the same
unit.
After moving to
Berks
County
Lois
took on the challenge of practice administration at
Berkshire
Allergy
& Asthma
Center
in Wyomissing. As a practice
manager Lois became acutely aware of the complexities of accessing care
and medications due to an increasingly complex health care delivery
system and an even more challenging insurance industry. Congregational
health advocacy is a means to assist our neighbors in accessing quality
care and providing support during the challenging and frightening
process of making health care choices when facing one's own illness or
the illness of a loved one.
Not a native to Berks County,
Lois grew up in Suffolk County, Long Island and was raised as a
"country girl with my toes in the sand." Lois knows the need for a
healthy dose of sea air and a dip in the ocean. She will settle for a
dip in the pool, but becomes restless for the sea. She has a passion
for the importance of recognizing life's seasons and transitions and
tries to balance her life with mental, physical and spiritual nurture.
She is not always successful in her endeavor but knows how to
persevere. She can be found at the bookstore, taking a Sunday
drive with her hubby Ed, petting her golden retrievers, Brandy and
Alex, or studying into the wee hours of the morning in pursuit of her
Bachelor's of Science in Nursing at
Eastern
University
. She will obtain her degree in
December 2008 and plans to walk tall at her graduation, though, she
confesses, not as tall as her husband.
When asked about her blessings
she will tell you about her three grown daughters, four grandchildren,
train loving husband, three step children, fabulous sons-in-law,
wonderful friends, and a full plate of activities. Lois spends time
writing, reading, praying, listening to music, but her greatest love is
people. Atonement is where Lois heard the voice of God say, "Comfort,
comfort ye my people, says your God." With God's grace she will step
forward every day trying to follow his lead. |
 Sexton - Mick Bryan
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