Meet the moderator
‘Great hope for what I see’ As a teenager, Glenn Bollinger was ap-
proached by Ron Petry, his pastor at Sebring (Fla.)
Church of the Brethren, who asked if Glenn had
ever considered ministry.
“I laughed,” Glenn recalls. “I told him, ‘That is
not who I am.’ I believed then that preachers do
not know what it means to love life.”
Fast forward two years – Glenn Bollinger was
being licensed to the ministry after deciding at
Bridgewater College to add a philosophy and relig-
ion major to his computer science and mathemat-
ics major. And, when he was ordained in October
1993, Ron Petry was there at Beaver Creek – per-
haps with a knowing smile on his face.
Ron Petry is just one of the “cloud of wit-
nesses” that Glenn recalls as he traces his journey
from a teenager with no interest in ministry to
serving more than 21 years as pastor of Beaver
Creek Church of the Brethren and, this year, serv-
ing as district conference moderator in the Shen-
andoah District.
He thinks of the late Wendell Flory, who
called Glenn to be a youth worker in his congrega-
tion in Easton, Md., for the summer before
Glenn’s sophomore year at Bridgewater College.
The congregation welcomed him back for a total
of four summers, continuing as Dan Ulrich as-
sumed the pastorate when Wendell retired. “That
was a testing and growing period for me,” he says.
And there was Paul White, pastor at the Staun-
ton Church of the Brethren, who took Glenn on
as an associate pastor for two-and-a-half years.
Glenn preached, had a focus on youth and young
adults, and enjoyed ministering to all ages.
While serving at Staunton, he met, fell in love
with and married Debbie, a Michigander of Men-
nonite background who was working as a travel
agent in Harrisonburg and active in the Corner-
stone Church at Broadway.
For those who know Glenn well, it comes as
no surprise that he was barefoot as he walked out
of the sanctuary as a newlywed. But, Debbie was
barefoot, too. They incorporated feet-washing into
their wedding ceremony and didn’t bother to put
their shoes back on as the recessional played.
Washing each other’s feet “was a very important
statement for us as a couple,” he recalls.
2013 Shenandoah District Conference Moderator Glenn Bollinger, pastor of Beaver Creek Church of
the Brethren
Continued on next page
Then, another important decision – seminary.
Would it be Eastern Mennonite or Bethany?
They realized they would know no one in Oak
Brook, Ill., where Bethany was then located, but
they had each other, and
the pull of Glenn’s Breth-
ren heritage won out over
the familiarity of the Shen-
andoah Valley. And Debbie
was soon able to get a job
with a family-owned travel
agency near Bethany.
Even so, when time
came to look for a pastor-
ate, the ties to Virginia
were strong.
He recalls his interview
at Beaver Creek. Denise
Miller (now Shiflet) was the
young adult on the search
committee. She spoke up
as an equal member of the
group, stating clearly “what
we (Beaver Creek) want to
be.”
For Glenn, that clinched the deal. “It just felt
right” to accept the call from Beaver Creek. “That
was over 21 years ago, and it still feels right.”
Ministry “energizes me. I love people…There
is just a great sense of rightness to be with some-
one when a light kicks on – a light of faith and
spiritual journey, a new way of moving forward,”
he explains.
And he believes that he is blessed to experi-
ence some of the “holy moments” in life –
“cradling a newborn in my arms or holding the
hand of someone drawing a last breath.”
He also recognizes that he is adaptable. “I can
be quite young with children and youth, but I can
be as old as I need to be with the elderly. I’ve
learned that in times of crisis, I want to be there –
and I am wanted to be there.”
That pretty well dis-
proves his youthful belief
that “preachers do not
know what it means to
love life.”
These days, loving life
often revolves around his
and Debbie’s sons – An-
drew, 19, and Josh, 18,
both now students at
Bridgewater College. He
relishes the time spent
with their school friends –
a good opportunity to
minister without preach-
ing.
Pleased with their boys?
You better believe it. He
tears up telling about An-
drew winning the Rotary
Club of Harrisonburg’s Code of Ethics award. A
year later, he surprised Andrew by pulling out the
award, telling him how proud he was of him and
then announcing that he had just received a phone
call with the news that Josh would be receiving
one, too. “I think all four of us cried then,” he ad-
mits.
Now, as he looks ahead to his turn in the mod-
erator’s seat at District Conference, Glenn says
that he envisions the 102 congregations seeing
themselves “as many preaching points of one
body, employing their different gifts and strengths,
yet intricately connected. We need each other, and
I have great hope for what I see happening now.”
‘We need each other…’ Continued from preceding page
Glenn chose “Living the Gospel” as the theme for the 2013 District Conference.