Our Leadership Structure
We believe that a local church should be governed by local elders who have been placed in a position of oversight for that church (qualifications defined in 1 Tim 3:2-7; Titus 1:7-9). We also believe in the plurality of eldership, which seems to be the divine arrangement seen throughout the New Testament as expressed in Acts 14:23; 20:17; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 5:17 and Titus 1:5. Our elders function co-equally in the decision making process. One of the elders, who functions as the senior pastor, has authority to make final decisions if the elders cannot come to a unanimous agreement on an issue. The elders primary focus is prayer, care, governing and vision. The elders of New Covenant are Jack Groblewski, Warren Moore, Bob Rentler, Gene Wakeman, Tony Piergiovanni, Eric Frank and Chad Licsko. (Elder Contact Info)
Pastoral Staff
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Jack Groblewski - Senior Pastor - has been pastoring New Covenant Christian Community Church since April, 1982. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Kings College in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and a Masters in Theology from Moravian Theological Seminary, in Bethlehem, PA. He is also the Executive Director of Grace Presbytery Network of Churches, a group of churches in the eastern U.S. which provides support, accountability and leadership to one another. He also serves on the Apostolic Team of New Life Christian Fellowship Church in Lincoln, England. Jack is a very gifted and insightful teacher who has ministered both nationally and abroad. He uniquely communicates deep theological revelations mixed with real world experiences and humor. Jack and his wife Tricia have been married since 1971. They have 4 children and 8 grandchildren and reside in Center Valley, PA.
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Bob Rentler - Associate Pastor - joined the staff of New Covenant in 2003. He was previously ordained as an elder in 1997. He came to NC4 from the corporate world, where he worked as a chemical engineer for 25 years. His responsibilities at New Covenant are focused on helping people to find their place in the Body of Christ. This involves our small groups, discipleship and pastoral care. Bob also can be found riding his bike, playing bagpipes, or browsing through thrift stores and used book sales. He holds a BS and MS in chemical engineering from Lehigh University. Bob is currently working part-time on his MDiv at Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana. He and his wife Lisa, reside in Bethlehem, PA. They have two married daughters and three grandchildren.
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Tony Piergiovanni - Administrative Pastor - has attended New Covenant since 1989 and joined the staff as Administrative Pastor in April 2002 after 'retiring' from a successful 22 year business career. Tony holds a B.S. in Finance from Penn State and an MBA from Lehigh University. He was ordained as an elder in July 2002. Tony has a wealth of experience in business administration having served as Vice President & General Manager and prior to that VP & Chief Financial Officer of a global chemical company based in NJ. At New Covenant, Tony manages the business of the church including finance, HR, systems, facilities, legal, and strategy development. Tony also serves as Treasurer and a Board Director of Casa Refugio, a local Hispanic Drug Rehab. Tony and his wife, Dr. Polly R. Piergiovanni, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Lafayette College, have been married since 1991, have three children and live in Nazareth, PA.
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Mike Dunstan - Associate Pastor - Youth (part-time) is a native to Bethlehem, PA where he graduated from Liberty High School. He attended Philadelphia Biblical University where he graduated with honors and received a Bachelor of Science in Bible and in English education. He also holds a Master's of Education degree from Wilkes University. Mike works as a 10th grade Language Arts teacher at Freedom High School in Bethlehem and has been working with youth for over ten years. His heart is to see every teenager realize their potential in Christ and take hold of the call of the younger generation to rise up in the power of the Holy Spirit and engage their culture in truth. Mike and his wife Kendra were married in 2002 and reside with their two children, Trinity and Cade, in Fountain Hill, PA.
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Judy Frei - Pastoral Counselor (part-time) - graduated with a nursing degree from Eastern Mennonite College after which she worked 6 years as a nurse. She has an additional 25 years of ministry experience as a volunteer counselor with women and families at the Lehigh Valley CareNet Pregnancy Centers. In 2007, she completed her Master of Arts degree in counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, PA including a 9 month internship at NC4. Judy has been married since 1978 to Dr. Steve Frei, an ER physician. They have 4 children and live in Whitehall. They have been attending NC4 since 1999 and became members in 2000. Judy’s counseling is best described as Biblical counseling. She regularly uses the Bible and prayer in counseling; the Holy Spirit is deeply appreciated and welcomed to lead, convict, heal and touch the lives of those receiving counseling. Counseling is available to members and regular attendees of NC4.
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Matt Berry - Associate Pastor (part-time) - joined the staff of NC4 in September of 2010. Matt comes from Denton, TX where he was a Team Pastor at The Bridge church under the direction of Pastor Duane White. Matt has a Master of Ministry degree with an emphasis in Leadership from Southwest Christian University. He has extensive ministry experience including as a hospice chaplain, youth pastor and college pastor. Additionally, he has coordinated numerous international & domestic short term mission trips and trained many mission teams with Beyond These Shores Ministry. At NC4, Matt is a care and discipleship pastor and leader of our Local Missions outreach ministry. Matt and his wife Clair, who hails from the UK, have two young sons, Micah & Joel.
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Grace Network (GN)
New Covenant Christian Community Church participates in an organization of churches of like faith and practice called Grace Network. GN provides accountability, ministry resources, training and fellowship to its member churches. There are about 20 churches in the network, most of which are located in Virginia. GN members pool their resources so that the experience, theological training and practical teaching we enjoy together can be available to both current and next-generation leaders. Through our combined resources, we are able to equip, assist and strengthen one another and provide opportunities for fellowship and accountability, while still recognizing the autonomy of each local church. Most importantly, the network allows each otherwise independent church to have qualified, godly accountability.
Grace Network also has relationships with two similar networks of like faith and practice located in the UK (Groundlevel) and South Africa (TCN). We work together to effect an extension of the Kingdom of God and promote a great harvest of souls across nations. We believe that through this relating the Holy Spirit will help us to model a biblical unity that will include and involve other teams in other nations. We cooperate to forge relationships that equip one another through conferences where we share innovations and insights as we apply the gospel in our churches. We also cooperate to facilitate building and planting churches, most recently in the French-speaking West African nation of Cameroon. Visit www.gracenetwork.org for more information.
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