Pastor John H. Brock, M.Div.

Pastor John H. Brock, M.Div.

Pastor for Parish Life

Phone: 717-737-8635

Pastor John Brock has been part of Trinity’s life since 2002. A native of the Midwest, he lived in many different parts of our country before coming to Pennsylvania.

While many people felt he had a gift for ordained ministry, John shied away from seminary and focused instead on youth ministry.

He was a youth director in Connecticut, and certified as an ELCA Associate in Ministry, when he met another youth director named Marianne.

“My relationship with this wonderful, vibrant woman was difficult because she lived in Pennsylvania, four hours away,” he explained. “So we rectified that situation by getting married.”

Marianne saw in John the same gift for ordination that others had seen. But he still wasn’t sure.

In 1992, Marianne gave birth to their first son, Noah, 15 weeks early. The baby survived just 36 hours. Losing Noah hit John and Marianne hard. Yet when John found himself able to comfort the many people who reached out to comfort him, something crystallized. It was time to heed what others encouraged him to do. The final push to seminary came from Ted W., a New England Synod leader and a corporate executive with vast experience in developing people.

Pastor John was ordained in 1997 after graduating from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg. His first call was in Elysburg, Pa., followed by his call to Trinity as Associate Pastor. John and Marianne went on to have two more sons, Benjamin and Evan.

An ELCA Deaconess, Sister Marianne is Regional Gift Planner with the ELCA Foundation; she serves the Upper and Lower Susquehanna Synods as well as the Allegheny Synod.

The Brocks live in a 200-year-old house with two very friendly dogs and one very put-upon elder son.