Calvary Bible Church Staff

Senior Pastor, Rev. Randal E. Pelton, Ph.D., D.Min., Th.M.,

I was born and raised in Weeks Mills, Maine and received Christ at an early age at Weeks Mills Baptist Church. God stirred me to teach the Scriptures during my first year in college through the prompting of my pastor. I transferred the following year to New Brunswick Bible Institute to begin my training for ministry. After graduating with their three-year diploma (1983), I enrolled at Washington Bible College to earn a bachelors degree (1984) so I could attend Dallas Theological Seminary (Master of Theology, 1989).

During my Dallas days, I attended Reinhardt Bible Church and served as a Bible teacher and later the director of the Inner City Bible Ministry that met in the second largest projects in Dallas called Roseland Homes. That is how I met my beautiful wife, Michele Miller, who was also attending RBC and serving in that ministry. Any young woman who would serve the Lord like that was serious about Him and His work. She is the most Spirit-sensitive person I know and God’s best gift to me. Michele and I were married in 1987 in her hometown of Charlotte, NC.

After graduating from DTS, Michele and I moved to Lanham, MD where I spent two years in administration, teaching, and coaching at WBC. God graciously allowed Michele and me to be shepherded and mentored by Dr. Jeff Watson at Grace Bible Church. I was ordained under the authority of GBC and soon convinced by my DTS preaching professor, Dr. John Reed, that I should enter pastoral ministry. Because I taught preaching classes at WBC, I began to sense a passion for helping train other expository preachers.

In August of 1991 Michele and I and our 9-month old daughter, Moriah, moved to Somerville, New Brunswick, Canada to begin pastoring The People’s Church with my former teacher, coach, and mentor, Rev. Bob McNutt. During those years God blessed Michele and me with two more children: Michael and Amanda. Those years created an increased passion for teaching the Bible and helping others to do so. I obtained additional training in Dr. Haddon Robinson’s first Doctor of Ministry class in Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and graduated in 1996.

After twelve years with the dear folks at The People’s Church, I accepted the Senior Pastor position at Calvary Bible Church in Mount Joy, PA in order to continue pastoring and studying at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Our family arrived during in the fall of 2003. I cannot say enough good things about this faith-family. The Elders knew up front that my goals were to continue pastoring, teaching, studying, and training pastors as God gives opportunities. For years I enjoyed riding the train to take Ph.D. classes in Old Testament Hermeneutics and Bible Interpretation at WTS. I was a founding member and later president of the Evangelical Homiletics Society. I continue to enjoy teaching Advanced Homiletics to graduate students at Lancaster Bible College Capital Seminary & Graduate School in Lancaster and their D.C. location, plus Doctor of Ministry students at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, MA. In the fall of 2017 I enrolled in LBC Capital’s Ph.D. program in Biblical Studies, completed all course work, passed qualifying exams, obtained candidate status, and am currently (2020) writing my dissertation on the Psalms. I am fortunate to have authored, A Preacher’s Manifesto (Amazon), and Preaching With Accuracy (Kregel). I produce one post per week on my blog, peltononpreaching.com. I enjoy daily walks with Michele, working out at Spooky Nook Sports, playing the cello, riding my Triumph Trophy with the Mild Hogs on our annual ride, tying and wearing bow ties, and visiting Dekken Boerboels in York, PA whenever I can see their magnificent South African Mastiffs.

Pastor of Discipleship, Rev. Jonathan S. Kauffman, M.A.B.S.

With the exception of a few years, all of my life has been spent here in Lancaster County, a place that has a dear place in my heart.  Though ministry wasn’t in my plans, my passion for it began in high school while counseling at Circle K Camp.  Watching the Lord work in the lives of students and having the opportunity to be a part of it was thrilling and has always been one of my life’s greatest joys.  After graduating from Donegal High School in 2002, I attended Word of Life Bible Institute, where I met Rebekah.  Then in the summer of 2006, I finished my bachelor’s at Lancaster Bible College, was hired by Calvary Bible Church, and got married!  Since then I’ve been fortunate enough to grow in my ministry experience here at CBC, earn a master’s degree from LBC’s Graduate School, and continue to serve the Lord faithfully along the way. 

Other than my love for Jesus and his church, my greatest joy is being married to my wonderful wife Rebekah.  Some of our favorite things to do together include working on projects around the house, watching some of our favorite shows (many of which are about houses!), and going to the beach.  We have 4 great kids, who make everything in life all the sweeter, and also have been burdened and blessed to serve as foster parents as the Lord has allowed.  Personally, some of favorite things to do include playing with the kids, anything Philly sports related, woodworking, growing and selling pumpkins, and “trying” to fix things around the house!

Jason Slobozien, Director of Worship

I was born and raised in York, PA and grew up attending a Lutheran church in York.  I began a personal relationship with Jesus in high school as a result of hearing the Gospel through the ministry of Young Life, and began attending a United Methodist church in York.  After graduating from West York High School in 1994, I attended Penn State University, where I received bachelor's and master's degrees in Architectural Engineering and met my wife-to-be, Sarah.  Since graduation, I have worked as a structural engineer for various local firms, and am currently a Senior Project Manager with Providence Engineering, where I have been employed since 2008.

Sarah and I were married in 2001 in her hometown of Allentown, PA.  We have been blessed with three beautiful daughters - Hannah, Emily, and Julia - who attend the Donegal schools.  We enjoy beach and other vacations with extended family, watching our daughters' sporting events, band concerts, and dance recitals, and doing house and landscaping projects.  I also enjoy watching and playing sports (at least, I try to convince myself that I can still play); reading literary classics, Christian fiction, historical fiction, and biographies; and teaching private piano and French Horn lessons.

My formal musical training included seven years of piano lessons and eight years of French Horn lessons.  In high school, I was heavily involved with marching and symphonic bands, as well as various musical ensembles.  I first got involved in worship ministry at Penn State, by playing piano for my on-campus church.  With acoustic guitar-led worship music growing in popularity at the time, I decided to teach myself to play the guitar.  Eventually I began leading worship, and it was in these years that I developed a passion for seeing the Body of Christ lift up the name of the Lord corporately.  After college, I led worship for a newly-formed "contemporary" service at the Methodist church until Sarah and I got married.  We then began attending Community Bible Church in Marietta, where I served in various capacities over seventeen years, including leading worship for Sunday morning services, VBS and a young adult ministry.  I have also had the privilege of participating musically in weddings, funerals, and other community events.

I'm humbled to serve as Calvary's Director of Worship and look forward to seeing the Lord continue to build His church, locally and around the world.

Bill Patton, Faith-Family Care Leader, M.A.B.S.

I was born in Wakefield, Rhode Island and spent most of my growing up years there. Because my father was in the Navy, our family moved 4-5 times during my first 6 years but always found Rhode Island to be home. I was one of eight children and, along with mom and dad and a dog named Spot, life was fairly busy in the Patton household. 

During a week of evangelistic meetings at my home church, I trusted Christ as my Savior at the age of twelve. Though I was progressing in spiritual knowledge and memorizing Scripture, I began to struggle with whether my decision as a twelve year old was real. God made it very evident to me at the age of sixteen that I was indeed His child and I have continued throughout my life to enjoy the one hundred percent assurance of eternal life through faith in Christ. 

During my junior and senior years in high school, I felt God calling me to live a life of service for Him. At that time, I was sure it was a call to go to Africa as a missionary. One thing my home church, Perryville Baptist Church, did well was to keep missions and missionaries before us on a regular basis. With that in mind, I enrolled in what was then Lancaster School to the Bible-now Lancaster Bible College. There I met a girl who had been a missionary kid from Tanzania in East Africa. Phyllis and I were married in 1971 and are celebrating our 50 year anniversary this year (2021). God has blessed Phyllis and me with three children and eleven grandchildren.

Though God did not call us to missionary service in a foreign county, He definitely called us to serve Him in the local church. Along with working in the nurseries and Junior Church, Phyllis taught the kindergarten class in Sunday School for 30 years and I continue to teach in the Adult Bible Fellowship department of Calvary Bible Church. I so much enjoy studying and teaching God’s word. And, I enjoy being with the faith-family at Calvary Bible Church. Over the years I have acquired a BS in Bible and a MA in biblical studies from Lancaster Bible College. Being on the Elder board has been a blessing to me as well.

My occupation over the years has been in the industrial roofing industry for 41 years. I retired in 2018 to attend to some medical issues. God has blessed me with good health following a stem cell transplant. My life goal is to “…redeem the time…” for as long as God gives me strength. “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised!”

Austin Burkholder, Director of Student Ministries and Local Evangelism

I was born and raised here in Lancaster County, in a house just outside of Maytown. Growing up my dad was a pastor, so in many ways I grew up in the church. After watching my dad faithfully serve the Lord as a senior pastor for many years, I quickly realized I wanted to do the same thing. However, it wasn’t until my Junior year of high school on a missions trip that I felt the Lord confirm my desire and call me to ministry! After returning from this mission trip, I was able to finish high school and graduate with a degree from Donegal High School in 2017. However, instead of starting college right away, I decided to take a year off and work in order to save up money and prepare for college. In the fall of 2018, I left B.R Kreider and Sons excavating and enrolled at Lancaster Bible College as a youth ministry major. As part of my college requirement, I completed my internship here at CBC which eventually led to a job opportunity in the spring of 2021. One year later, during the spring of 2022 I graduated from Lancaster Bible College with a degree in Youth Ministry and Biblical Studies. After my college graduation, I began full-time work here at CBC!. 

While my greatest love is Jesus Christ, I also love being able to spend time with my family. Other than my parents, I have an older sister and brother-in-law, as well as a younger brother. Our family trips often include time away at the beach, along with getaway weekends in the mountains! When I’m not spending time with family, you can usually find me in the woods hunting. While my hunting trips aren’t usually successful, the part I love about it the most is bonding with family and spending time in God’s beautiful creation! Other hobbies of mine include snowboarding, playing almost any sport (except for soccer), winning anything (which is never soccer), relaxing in the mountains, and hanging out with friends.

Lydia Brouillette, Children’s Ministry Director

I was born and raised in a very small town in northern Wisconsin and grew up with an awesome christian family.  I accepted Christ as my savior at a young age and recommitted my life to Him as a teenager. It was during my later years in high school that I took several mission trips to Hungary, which stirred in my heart a desire for ministry and discipleship.  After high school, I attended a 1-year Christian gap year program called One Life in Northen PA.  I continued my education at Lancaster Bible College and majored in Youth Ministry because of my passion for discipling young people and seeing others grow in faith through relationship with believers. It was in college that I meet my future husband, Miles, and we got married after we graduated college in June of 2022. After we got married, I worked in a church as Student Ministry Coordinator until Miles and I made the move to Calvary Bible Church in February of 2023. We immediately felt welcomed in by the faith family and have loved being a part of CBC ever since. Miles and I welcomed our son Ezra in Dec of 2023, and we love living locally in Mount Joy! We enjoy getting outside, reading together and growing in relationships with other believers.

 I am excited and honored to be in a position here at CBC where I can serve children and families of this church and the community!

Jill Beachy, Administrative Assistant

Jill works in the office throughout the week to provide administrative support for the pastors, staff, and Faith-Family of Calvary Bible Church. If you have any questions or need assistance, Jill can be contacted in the office at 717-653-5857 or office@cbcmj.com.