Early childhood director

I am very happy to announce the addition of a part-time Director of Early Childhood Ministries position here at Grace Church. In the past, this has been just a 5-hour a week position which focused primarily on making sure we had all the teachers and workers that were needed for Sunday mornings. This position has now been expanded to a 16-hour a week staff position that will oversee the nursery through Kindergarten for our entire church ministry including Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, Bible School and special occasion ministries. This position will allow us to have an individual whose responsibility is more than just the week to week logistics of our Early Childhood ministry, but who will also be giving attention to developing this area of ministry as well.

I am pleased to announce that we have hired our own Beth Kachel to fill this position. Beth has been part of the Grace Church family since 1994 and has served as a Sunday School teacher for the 2nd grade, Kindergarten and the three year old and four year old classes. She has also worked in Vacation Bible School; been part of the Homebuilders ABF class; been a Bible Study leader; organized a marriage seminar; and served on our Mission Committee. Beth is married to her husband, Ted, and they have three children.

Beth is a graduate of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana where she graduated Cum Laude and received a B.A. double majoring in Christian Education and Bible. She also has a certificate in Youth Ministry under the leadership of Jay Kessler. She also filled a Christian Education Internship at Congregational Bible Church and was part of a Cross Cultural Missions Trip to Singapore. Beth has also served as a Bridge of Hope mentor.

Beth’s experience includes her serving as a human resources secretary for Ephrata Community Hospital which included assisting in the recruitment and hiring of new staff. She was a Released Time teacher for the Warwick Association of Churches where she taught New Testament Bible curriculum for the 5th grade class.

From 1994 to 2000, Beth served as the Interim Dean of Women at Lancaster Bible College where she provided oversight for student activities; counseled female students; led discipleship groups for women; and worked with the female Resident Assistants. She also served at Lancaster Bible College as the Director of Financial Aid, overseeing $5,000,000.00 in financial aid and was honored to receive the student staff person of the year award. During this time she led many workshops on the ABC’s of student scholarships and financial aid and led summer mission trips to Jamaica and Ecuador. In 1993 to 2004, Beth served as a Christian Education Sales Associate for Provident bookstores where she organized the Vacation Bible School curriculum exposition and reviewed Sunday School curriculum.

Our Early Childhood ministry has seen rapid growth over the last two years and we are excited about what Beth will bring to our Early Childhood ministry and ask that you encourage her and pray for her as she takes on this vital ministry position.