About

My parents, Charles and Betty Shannon, provided a loving and moral home in the suburbs of Philadelphia. They were church-goers who established their family after World War II. They bought a small home and worked hard to raise a family. Grandparents, aunts and uncles were an important part of family life. As the first grandchild I received a lot of good attention and care from my parents and extended family. When I was a young teenager I witnessed my parents' conversion to Jesus Christ as their living Lord and Savior. The change in their lives was centered upon a new, personal relationship with the resurrected Christ. It became clear to me that this new faith dominated their lives. I could see that this was something real and life-changing. It was as if Jesus had taken up residence in our home. I did not embrace this Gospel and though I was generally moral, I drifted into the pursuit of personal pleasure. In the core of my being I was not a good person, but I was proud my behavior was not as bad as my friends. I became gradually enslaved to a number of self-destructive behaviors and college life provided me with greater opportunity to pursue these. And yet the moral structure provided by my parents and their testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ were deeply ingrained in my conscience. I respected their testimony. It was genuine and heartfelt. It influenced my Dad to get involved in prison ministry with other African-American evangelicals. My parents befriended and sought to help people who lived troubled lives. Their Christian kindness was evidence to all though to some their evangelical Methodism was a little too religious. A few opportunities of serious reflection intruded into my late high school years. An influential teacher helped to read Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. Methodist preachers urged me to be born again. A Jewish friend encouraged discussions about the meaning of life and politics. Nevertheless, I was more like a junior Augustine, dabbling in the life of the mind while principally pursuing my pleasures. At college I continued to pursue my pleasures but I also tried to be a good student and a thinking person. These were the years 1967-1969, the time of youthful rebellion and soul searching during turbulent 1960s. During the summer of 1969, God gradually brought me to faith in Jesus Christ, so that when I returned to college in the fall I was ready to identify with the Christians. Since that time I have sought by God's grace, to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The word of Christ, the Bible, became my guide in every area of life. Thus began my "great conversation" with the Lord of the universe. Imagine that He wants my fellowship and friendship! In some ways this was a radical break with my past, but old habits die hard, and progress in the life of a Christian was not without its failures and troubles. The Bible taught me that my thinking must change and come into agreement with God's thinking. In college I became a Christian in the midst of many intellectual challenges to the Christian faith. I took to reading Christian writers defending the faith and this has become a life-long pursuit. Books became an important part of my life; a life-long companion. My conversion to the Christian faith awakened intellectual interests. As a young Christian God led me to a church where Calvinists and Baptists mixed and I found this to be the most accurate expression of the teachings of the Bible. In 1970, I joined Grace Baptist Church of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and remain there to this day. This was not the church of my family or ethnic group, but I found it to be a church where Christ speaks to and meets with His people. In the early 1970s, God called me to teaching in the church and eventually to teaching as a profession. My latent interest in history was awakened as I now saw God providentially ordering the events of history for His own purposes. Teaching became a central focus of my life. With God's purposes motivating me it has been a great source of joy. God brought to me to Laurie, my wife, who shared a love for Christ. We were married in 1977 which was the first year of my teaching career. Marriage and the blessings of children, and more recently, grandchildren, became the most important earthly blessing from God. Christ has been teaching me through the years to be a more faithful husband, father and grandfather. God has truly showered me with blessings. For all these things and much more I am thankful to the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Born in Chambersburg during the tumultuous late sixties, Jeff enjoyed the faithful guidance of a godly mother who protected her family from the potential hazards of the age. Jeff found early refuge in the life of the church, as God transformed the life of a little lost boy and graciously knitted him into the everyday life of a little Baptist church on the corner of Second Street in Chambersburg within walking distance of his boyhood home. After high school, Jeff enlisted in the Naval Nuclear Power program, serving in the US submarine force. Jeff completed several patrols as Reactor Operator and Electronic Technician on the Ballistic Missile Submarine U.S.S. Daniel Webster, stationed in Holy Loch, Scotland at the height of Cold War tensions. Following his honorable discharge from service in 1992, Jeff began a new life back in Pennsylvania, enrolling in college and enlisting as Sunday school teacher at the church nearby his Path Valley home. Here he would meet the love of his life, Lianne, who was at that time praying for a godly husband, trusting God for His providence. In 1998, Jeff and Lianne were happily married at Calvary Bible Church, with the late Pastor Glen Miller performing the wedding. On November 26, 1999, just a few hours past Thanksgiving Day, daughter Hannah came as a true blessing from God. In another tremendous blessing from the Lord, after a long and patient period of foster-adopting, Jeff and Lianne added a second child to their family in August of 2001, adopting their son David just two months shy of his 15th birthday. Jeff has served as Executive Director of an all-summer evangelistic day camp and as Residential Program Supervisor and Director of Education at The Children’s Aid Society of Franklin County. Calvary Bible Church of Greencastle called Jeff to their pastoral staff in 2000. Here he worked closely with his friend and godly mentor, the late Pastor Glen Miller. Jeff served here until 2006 when Shalom Christian Academy hired Jeff as Bible and English teacher. Jeff holds a B.S. degree in Bible and Christian ministry, an MBA in Nonprofit Management, and a Master of Theology degree. In connection with his service at Grace Baptist Church and his work as Administrator of Providence Christian Academy, Jeff is now completing studies at the doctorate level. Grace Baptist Church called Jeff as Elder in January of 2013. Soli Deo Gloria.

Mike Fitzpatrick was born in 1975 to Christian parents. He grew up in Perry County, PA where his father and mother still live. His father taught Christian school in Carlisle, PA for almost 20 years and was a Reformed Baptist pastor for 19 years before retiring in 2018. Mike came to know the Lord in high school largely due to the influence of his parents and leaders and friends in youth group. He graduated from Grove City College and then furthered his education in Philadelphia, PA. While there he attended Tenth Presbyterian Church and sat under the preaching of Pastors James Boyce and Philip Ryken. He then married Robyn Hannaman, with whom he had been good friends from childhood. They have four children: Molly, Stephen, Megan, and Joshua. The Lord brought them to Chambersburg in 2008 and they are happy to be members of a local Reformed Baptist church.

Ben was born in 1987 in Hagerstown, MD. The Lord brought Ben to Chambersburg to work at Cross & Crown, where he met Lydia and they were married shortly after. Ben and Lydia have three boys, Caspian, Thomas, and Maxwell. Ben has been a deacon since 2021.

The Lord found me at about the age of 5 or 6 after attending a worship service in which the Spirit used the message of a visiting evangelist to convict me of my sin against God, even at such a tender age. I remember like it was yesterday when my parents sat with me on the steps leading to my upstairs bedroom as I repented of my sins and asked the Lord to save me. I am blessed to have been raised by godly parents, Ron and Rene Jones, as there was never a time in my life when I can remember being deprived of regular Christian teaching in the home or regular attendance at church. Be it Sunday school, Good News Club, Vacation Bible School, Good News Camp, or the many Reformed Baptist Family Conferences sponsored by GBC Carlisle, my formative years were chock full of biblical teaching and application from the Word of God. Who in attendance at the family conferences can forget the thunderous voice of Al Martin preaching on the book of Jonah – Prophet running, prophet praying, prophet preaching, and prophet pouting; or Wayne Mack preaching on the Peculiar Problems and Blessings of Old Age? During my teen years we had a strong youth group at church that continued to fortify and deepen my understanding of the Scriptures through faithful instruction by men such as Mike Hocker and Ken Shannon. Life certainly had its challenges as it does for most young people, but a firm grounding in God’s Word provided increasing stability through the passing years. I have attended Grace Baptist Church since its genesis in 1969 in Shippensburg, PA as a church plant of Grace Baptist Church of Carlisle, PA. At the time I was twelve years old but did not become a member until I was baptized in 1970. In the ensuing years I had multiple teaching opportunities and served for seventeen years in the Diaconate from 1992 - 2009. Meanwhile, in 1979 I was graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering, and shortly thereafter married my best friend and love of my life, the former Mandy Hurley of Carlisle, PA. Together we raised three children, Deborah, Benjamin, and Andrew, each of whom are married and have two children of their own. The Lord has blessed us indeed with a “full quiver”. My entire 46-year professional career as a structural engineer specializing in precast, prestressed concrete design was spent with Nitterhouse Concrete Products, Inc. until retirement in July 2025, upon which time I was asked to serve again as a Deacon.

I was born and raised in the state of Indiana. I grew up in church, but mostly it was a works religion. I began attending Baptist churches where I heard the gospel preached. Gradually I realized my own nature and my need of a savior, and the Lord drew me in. I was baptized at a small Baptist church in 1980. The Lord brought us to Chambersburg in 1982. I came to understand and believe the doctrines of grace, eventually joined GBC, and have remained a member here ever since. I am married to Lisa. We have 5 children and 12 grandchildren. I am retired from the Department of Defense. These days I like to stay active with volunteering, mowing yards, tinkering around the house, and trying to keep up with my younger grandchildren.

I've been a member of Grace Baptist Chambersburg since 1979. My wife, Nina and I have been married for 44 years, and have been blessed with 3 children, Sara, Abi, Joel, and 13 grandchildren. I am humbled and honored to serve as a deacon. My curiosity and vocation (home building) have taken me in the direction of exploring how things work, so I have been involved in church building concerns since I arrived in 1978. I hope to continue to use my experience for the benefit of the church. As a family, we count it a privilege to be a part of this ministry.