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Staff Biographies
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REV. JOHN
ZEHRING SENIOR PASTOR
John Zehring, the 17th Senior Pastor of South Church in
Andover, has served as Senior Pastor of churches in Rhode Island
(Kingston) and in Maine (Augusta).
John loves “tending the flock” at South Church and is passionate about
preaching, teaching, visiting, being among the people and
encouraging our people to grow in their spiritual faith.
Faith, family and friends are his passions, along with
the sea, a cottage in Maine, kayaking, skiing, snowshoeing, home
remodeling, travel, reading by the fireplace and writing.
A jazz and swing drummer, he plays with the Jazz
Disciples. Favorite
justice issues include world hunger, domestic abuse, non-violent
resolution of conflict, environmental stewardship, and care for
the ones Jesus called “the least of these.”
Married forty-one years,
Donna and John grew up in Springfield, Pennsylvania where they
attended junior and senior high school together.
They have two adult children and four grandchildren.
Before entering parish ministry, John served more than twenty years in
the senior administration of colleges and a seminary and has
taught Church Administration, Psychology, Creative Writing, and
Communications. For
the past few years he served on the Adjunct Faculty at Bryant
University where he taught Public Speaking.
He holds graduate degrees from two seminaries (Princeton
Theological Seminary and the Earlham School of Religion) and a
third graduate degree in counseling from Rider University.
In the Rhode Island Conference, John chaired the Church and Ministry
Committee and was Preacher at the Annual Meeting of the
Conference. He
served on the search committees for the Rhode Island Conference
Minister and for the Executive Minister of the RI State Council
of Churches.
He is author of articles in magazines and journals, and nine books,
including You Can Run a Capital Campaign (Abingdon Press)
and WORKING SMART: the
Handbook for New Managers (Garrett Park Press).
While working in theological education, he was a
consultant to Lilly Endowment and served as Founding Editor of
Seminary Development News, a publication for presidents,
vice presidents, and trustees in theological education,
published by the Association of Theological Schools.
Favorite food: Chinese,
dark chocolate Favorite music:
Radios are always playing Classical Favorite chapter
of the bible: Psalm
23 Favorite philosopher:
D. Elton Trueblood (my mentor) Favorite bible
scholars: Bruce
Metzger (Princeton), William Barclay (Glasgow) Favorite
hymns:
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.
Great Is Thy Faithfulness.
You Have Come Down To The Lakeshore.
This Is My Father’s World.
When Peace Like A River.
This Is My Song. Go Now in Peace.
Most of the rest. Favorite magazines:
Coastal Living. This Old House.
Christian Century. Favorite colors:
blue, maroon Favorite stores:
Home Depot and Lowes, especially the tools section.
Favorite mode of travel:
cruising. Favorite
kind of relaxing:
a) anything with the grandchildren.
b) sitting for hours in the cushioned Adirondack chairs
by the bay with friends, watching the tide come in and go out,
and looking forward to Donna making homemade pizza on the BBQ
grill. Favorite part of the ministry:
being there when needed most, representing the presence
of God.
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REV. JONATHAN DRURY
Associate Pastor for Youth and Church
Life Jonathan
Drury
has been serving as South Church’s full time Youth Ministry
Director since August of 2002. Jonathan finished his course work
for a Master of Divinity degree at Andover Newton Theological
School in the spring of 2004 and will be eligible for a call
into full ministry after receiving his ordination in early 2005.
He has a real passion for working with youth, and brings
the right mix of personality and charisma to connect and
communicate with people of all ages.
Jonathan
graduated from Bates College in 1996 with a Comparative Religion
major. He has served as a Student Minister at West Gloucester
Trinitarian Church, UCC, and has worked as a hospital chaplain
at both Westborough State Mental Hospital, and South Shore
Hospital in South Weymouth, MA. Jonathan says that he has a deep love for acting, having
participated since his teens in school and community theater,
productions at Bates and at the Actor’s Studio in Boston. In
addition to his stage acting, Jonathan has sung in various
choirs since childhood. He
began his ministry at South Church in August of 2002, and in the
last two years he and his wife, Jolie Thomas Drury, have become
parents to a beautiful boy named Nathaniel, bought a small house
ten minutes away from the church, and are well on their way to
building a life around our community.
Jonathan
says that his time at South Church in Andover has been
instrumental to his pastoral development. Along with refining
his practical skills for ministry, like leading worship,
preaching, pastoral care, and the administrative ability needed
to lead a flourishing youth program, Jonathan believes that his
time at South Church has helped him to more fully understand
God’s call in his life. At some point during his first few
months in Andover, Jonathan realized that the only reason that
he had ever pursued his current vocation was that he had had the
good fortune to learn from people who shared a different
perspective than that of the status quo. People who, like Jesus,
were able to look beyond the superficial trappings of our world,
and seeing the Truth that exists at the center of creation,
loved Jonathan enough to share with him what they had
discovered. “If
these people had not nurtured me”, says Jonathan, “I might
have lost my sense of wonder long ago. The gift that they gave
me was truly awesome, and I realize how lucky I am to be able to
pass this gift on to others.”
In
closing, Jonathan says, “I consider myself blessed to have
been welcomed into a community of faithful people who are doing
their best to live their lives guided by the example of Jesus’
love for the world. I believe that I have a real opportunity to do good work at
South Church in Andover, and I am honored that God had called me
to serve this community.”
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Charles
Leinbach - Director of Youth Choirs
Charles Leinbach
is the Director of Youth Choirs at South
Church—the Treble Choir, grades 3-8, and the Carol Choir, grades K-2. Charles
is a graduate of Bates College, where he studied organ with Marion
Anderson and composition with Bill Matthews and received a Bachelors of
Science in music and physics. Charles earned a Masters of Arts in music
composition from the Brooklyn College Conservatory at the City University
of New York where he studied with Charles Dodge and Noah Creshevsky. Charles
is an active composer and church musician, having served as composer,
organist and choir director in the Episcopal and UCC churches. Charles is
the current Executive Director of the Andover Community Music School where
is manages the school’s activities and teaches privately. He also
currently serves on the board of Classical Voice of New England (http://www.cvneweng.org)
and serves as the Vice President of the Service Club of Andover
(http://www.serviceclubofandover.org).
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