Getting to Know You:
A Q&A with Jack Haberer Elected August 14, FPCA’s new lead pastor talks about his background, faith, hopes, and call
What’s the 60-second elevator-talk version of your life story?
Raised a Roman Catholic, I actually committed my life to the Lord at age 15 in the early days of the Jesus Movement. Tree years later, feeling a clear call to be a pastor, I enrolled in a Bible college—where I fell in love with the prettiest girl on campus, Barbie Niswander. We married a week after graduation. Tree years later we headed to seminary with a toddler (David) and newborn (Kelly) in tow. After seminary I was hired by a United Presbyterian Church (USA) church in Southern Florida, my first foray into Presbyterianism. Two years later I was ordained and began a 10-year pastorate near the Kennedy Space Center. Ten followed a 12-year pastorate next to Johnson Space Center, a nine-year run as editor-publisher of the Presbyterian Outlook, and a brief run in another Southern Florida congregation, and now I am privileged to be lead pastor of FPCA.
ENCOUNTERING FPCA
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST VISIT TO OUR CHURCH LIKE? Stealthy. We slipped quietly into three worship services. It was Memorial Day weekend, so the attendance was down a bit. But the vibrancy of the alternative, the sincerity of the Arabic, and the reverence of the traditional services were all palpable. (We did miss the Chin Burmese and 8 a.m. services—we’ll see you in September, to be sure!)
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO? We simply can’t wait to jump in and swim with y’all (that’s Texan for “youse guys”) … to get to know each one’s own special story, to laugh together and cry together, to share the best of what we know with folks eager to engage together in glorifying God and enjoying God fully.
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL DO ON YOUR FIRST DAY AT FPCA? Mostly hang out with the church and preschool staff, the office volunteers, and whoever wanders in— maybe you’ll want to think of October 3 as an open house? Just sayin’…
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Could you tell us a little about your walk of faith?
To love God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength rises from the core of my being. As with a beloved child of a loving parent, I commune with God daily, listening for God’s voice by reading/studying God’s word, conversing with God in prayer, fellowshipping and learning with my spiritual siblings, singing love-songs to my Lord, obeying God’s directives for a life of service to God and God’s world, and, ultimately, aiming to be a reflection of God’s character qualities. I stumble and fall all along the way, but I cling tight to the grace of Christ Jesus to make all things well.
How did you come to hear about FPCA?
My teenager-best friend Tim Pendry told me all about Allentown, with hints of FPCA (he first heard of Jesus here at the church). As I became active in denominational leadership roles, I heard repeatedly about the groundbreaking leadership of FPCA—becoming friends with Margaret Towner, the first woman to be ordained a Presbyterian minister, right here 60 years ago. Finally, it was Keith Brown, retired pastor of FPC Bethlehem, who suggested my name to the Pastor Nominating Committee.
You’re seeing us with fresh eyes. What do you feel are some FPCA strengths?
A diverse congregation ethnically, socio-economically, generationally, and theologically, yet unified in its boldness to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. A vision for mission as large as the globe. A commitment to excellence in worship via a variety of styles and languages. Scores of leaders who are driven by servants’ hearts.
Throughout the Pastor Nominating Committee’s work, we heard about the importance of mutual call. What makes you feel called to this congregation?
My sense of call began with analysis: a thorough vetting through which I put the PNC and the church. I studied the church’s vision and mission statements, its mission study, its longtime patterns of gathering-and-scattering, its innovations
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