The primary individuals you’ll see leading various areas of worship during our Sunday morning service are the pastors or elders. By grace alone, these men meet the qualifications God gave for pastors in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and serve in that capacity on an open-ended basis. Our elders meet together weekly and spend much time, energy, and prayer in preparation to lead the congregation in worship as well as to serve the spiritual needs of those who are part of GHBC.
United in spirit and in truth, their main objective is to orchestrate each detail of the service to harmoniously glorify our great God and present His Word, the Bible, as the source of all Truth by which God reveals Himself to us. We currently have three pastors.
Jonathan Wagner
Preaching Pastor
pastorjonathan@gardenheights.org
Pastor Jonathan has been serving at Garden Heights since 2018. He previously served in Oregon, Wisconsin and most recently in Linesville, PA. He and his wife Tammy have four children: Caleb, Joshua, Lydia and Rebekah.
Responsibilities:
On most Sunday mornings, Pastor Jonathan delivers an expository message from God’s Word, typically in the context of a book study, taking time to go through a single book of the Bible at a time. His preaching reflects the strong conviction that the top three rules of Bible interpretation are as follows: context, context, context. He believes that we should all respond whenever we encounter God’s Word, and he is passionate about including suggested applications for each text.
After the service, you’ll usually find him standing at the back of the Worship Center to greet the congregation.
Mark Warnshuis
Worship Pastor
Pastor Mark is a graduate of Cedarville University and has been attending GHBC since the late 1980’s. He became the Associate Pastor of the church in 1999 and is now our Worship Pastor. Mark and his wife, Cheryl, have been working with the youth as well as leading music ministry for over 20 years. Mark leads leads the Outreach team and coordinates our greeter teams on Sunday mornings. He and Cheryl have five daughters: Rachel, Rebecca, Sara, Hannah, and Aleah.
Responsibilities:
On Sunday mornings, Pastor Mark leads the congregation in worship of God through music and song. He prayerfully selects songs that coordinate with the given passage of Scripture and central theme of the message. Pastor Mark also rotates with Jonathan in preaching through the current book series on Sunday mornings and in Wednesday night prayer meeting.
Brian Helm
Missions Pastor
A graduate of Geneva College, Pastor Brian is an engineer by trade. He was installed as a GHBC elder in 2012. Pastor Brian and his wife Darcie are both involved leading and directing with the Sunday School and Missions Ministries of the church. They have four children: Caleb, Nathanael, Daniel and Anna who is with her Savior in heaven.
Responsibilities:
On Sunday mornings, Pastor Brian opens the Sunday morning service with announcements, including a review of our weekly Scripture memory verse or passage, and starts our service with a call to worship. Some months, Pastor Brian takes a turn teaching elementary-aged children during children’s church.
Once a quarter, he also helps lead a group that ministers at Erie City Mission.
Additional Worship Leaders
Throughout the Sunday morning Worship Service, you’ll see many additional individuals–mostly teens and adults–leading in a variety of ways: reading Scripture, leading in prayers of adoration and confession, [insert/embed link to “Blog—If We’re Known as a Praying Church” page] and leading in “songs, hymns, and spiritual songs” by singing as well as using a variety of musical instruments.
Deacons
The root of the word “deacon” means “to serve.” By grace, these men meet the qualifications set in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 and willingly serve on a volunteer basis. Our deacons rotate and usually serve 3-year terms, and they are carefully recommended by the congregation, selected by the elders, and approved by the congregation.