Tere was a need at the church for maintenance and repair. We did not have a property manager due to our restrained financial position. Jon Dubbs and I decided to co-chair the Property Committee. With limited funds we did not look at what we would like (more members, thus more funds) but looked at what we had.


First Presbyterian Church members are living God’s love in all kinds of ways. One of them is John Van Den Elzen, whose work with the JACK team has had such a positive impact on our church facilities. Here’s his story, in his own words.


I have been a member of First Presbyterian Church for more than 20 years.


My background is Dutch/Canadian. I was born and partially educated in the Netherlands, and I emigrated with my parents to Canada in 1955. All that time I was a member of the Catholic Church.


After I had lived in Canada for 29 years, my business forced me to move to Allentown, where I met my wife, Sue.


Sue urged me to join the Bible study group at First Presbyterian Church, which I did and made a lot of new friends. After I joined the church, Sue and I got married by Rev. Dr. Jeff Aiken on April 20, 2006.


We faithfully attended church services, but I did not get involved in any activities until Georgia Baldrige asked me to become a trustee. Tat is how my involvement in church operations started.


I was not happy with management of the finances—i.e., spending more than our income. I believe that is why Bob Martin under the new management structure asked me to become involved in the Investment Committee and asked me to head the Property Committee. I thought about this a lot, and when the 10:10 band played their song “God Is Calling You,” I believed the song was directed at me.


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I then formed a construction team. I had met some congregation members while volunteering at the Sixth Street Shelter. I asked Anthony Amaro, Charlie Underwood, and Kline Pepper if they would join the team. We chose a name for the team from the first letter of our first names, and that became our moniker JACK (John, Anthony, Charlie, and Kline) team. Te perception is (and mine was also) that FPCA is the rich church on the corner, but that changed quickly. We are rich in that we have a great group of members in our congregation.


Our first challenge was to start repairing the various deficiencies, starting with the most urgent items. So it was that we worked on walls, floors, ceilings, doors, windows, equipment, and trees.


When our playground was in a sad state of repair and something needed to be done, the JACK team dismantled the old playground. We needed a new playground for the preschoolers. I contacted a friend of my son in Atlanta and negotiated an excellent discount for the Little Tikes equipment. Money was in short supply, but with the help of congregational members Jill and Al Douglass and our pastor, Jack Haberer, sufficient funds were raised to install the


new playground. Te final touches were put in place in time for the dedication on August 13.


I’m also part of the small group that has planned our church golf tournament the last two years. Te 2016 tournament raised about $13,000 for the Allentown Warming Station, which provides overnight emergency shelter from November through April for area homeless people.


Te JACK team has some new members (Duane Ott, Jeff Krause, Roger Yott, and Lew Behringer). I think the effort we are making is having an impact on the operation of the church facilities.


I enjoy the Christian fellowship with church members and the JACK team, and I believe being a member of the Wednesday Disciple group and all the other activities, including serving breakfast to the homeless and making up lunch bags for them, have made me a better Christian. Not perfect, but better.


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