About Our Church

Contact Pastor Karen

Karen has long been interested in helping people and organizations thrive through her professional and personal relationships. Known as the Ann Landers of her crew in high school, she took that role seriously, listening deeply to concerns, fears and hopes, asking hard questions, and guiding folks to discern a path forward.

In her previous 30-year nonprofit career, Karen worked with hundreds of organizations through raising money, recommending grants, helping build their capacity to deliver services and programs, and creating coalitions to work on housing, economic development, and racial justice among others. She says one of her favorite parts of the job was the privilege of hearing people’s dreams and helping make them reality.

For the last 10+ years, Karen has been an ordained Teaching Elder in the PCUSA. She finally said yes to the call to ministry and seminary in 2006, graduating from Wesley Theological Seminary (there’s a story there – ask her) in 2013 and ordained and installed in 2014.

Karen carried her commitment to listening to dreams and hopes, connecting to the community, and building the capacity for churches to be loved in their communities by spreading the Gospel message far and wide into her work as a pastor. She is an ecumenical (she’s been Methodist and Baptist), and interfaith voice having experienced the value of working together across boundaries to bring understanding and the desire to work together with and on behalf of those who are too often “otherized.”

The proud mother of two adult children, in her spare time Karen likes to read and watch murder mysteries (not the super violent kind…), be with friends and family, visit the ocean and go to the mountains. She often says that being born in West Virginia means mountains are part of her DNA providing a place of joy, rest and renewal.

Karen most recently wrapped up a year-long position as the Merger Coordinator for the Lehigh and Lackawanna presbyteries. Before that, she was the designated pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church of the Slate Belt in Roseto, PA.

Contact Lindsey

Lindsey is a self-proclaimed nerd who enjoys life’s simple pleasures: hammocks, a good book, playing outside, Vietnamese iced coffee, laughing until it hurts, kayaking, board games, ice cream, and writing liturgy.  Before being called to serve  at First Pres in March of 2021, she served as Co-Pastor of Forest Hills Presbyterian Church in High Point, NC.

She was born and raised in Greensboro, NC, and is an alum of Elon University (B.A., 2009) and Wake Forest University (M.Div. 2016).  Her faith journey has been rather ecumenical (ask her about it sometime), so she has served as a lay leader and staff person in a few denominational traditions.  She also taught high school English for four years (and loved it!) before going to divinity school.  These experiences have taught her the value of curiosity and openness, humility and playfulness.

Since her ordination in 2017, Lindsey has served on the Executive Council and the Committee on Representation in Salem Presbytery.  She was a planning team member and primary worship leader for the Southeast Regional Festival of Young Preachers (Academy of Preachers) in 2018 and the Presbyterians for Earth Care Annual Conference in 2019.  Lindsey also had the privilege of being a Teaching Associate for the Introduction to Homiletics course at WFU’s School of Divinity in 2018.

Lindsey is happily getting to know the Lehigh Valley with her wife, Laura, and their sweet, goofy dog, Maggie, and new puppy, Augie.  She enjoys learning about new spiritual practices and exploring them with others.  Lindsey is passionate about creative intergenerational ministry and community engagement, faith formation and missional outreach. She loves worship planning and preaching, and she finds joy in helping folks of all ages connect to the life of the church – both within the congregation and in the wider community.  And she’d love to have coffee or lunch with you sometime!

Contact David 

David serves as the Director of Music Ministries and Choirmaster at First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem.

He leads our Chancel Choir and directs the music for both traditional and contemporary services.

A founding member of the faculty at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School of the Arts, David is vocal department artistic director, conducts three of the school’s five choral ensembles, and teaches classes in advanced placement (AP) music theory, music history, keyboarding, and applied vocal techniques.

David holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in music education, vocal performance and choral conducting from Westchester University. He minored in piano and organ performance and graduated magna cum laude.

While at Westchester, David was awarded numerous merit and performance scholarships. In 2013, he achieved the American Guild of Organists Choir Master certification, ranking third nationally among that year’s applicants.

In 2015 David was awarded a choral conducting fellowship with the Yale School of Music Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, studying advanced choral conducting under Simon Carrington.  He has conducted choral ensembles at such world-class venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, the National Cathedral in Washington, DC., King’s Chapel, Boston, and the Dome Cathedral, Riga, Latvia.