About Us

In July of 2022, Hope Church called Pastor Steve Brown to be their solo pastor.  Steve was born and raised in Lancaster, PA and along with his twin brother, found his roots in the south-central Pennsylvania area.  From the age of 6 years old, he and his family attended Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, so in a sense, coming to Shippensburg was a homecoming as he returned to serve in the same Presbytery where he grew up, the Susquehanna Valley Presbytery.  It was Westminster PCA where he learned to believe in the Lord and grew in his faith.

He earned his undergraduate degree at Grove City College and worked as an accountant for 3 years after which he felt a call to pastoral ministry.  He went to seminary and received his Master of Divinity at Westminster Theological Seminary.  He spent 10 years as the Associate Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Vienna, VA before answering the call to come to Hope Church.

Steve met his wife, Siobhan (BA in Nursing/Biology, Towson University – 2001; MA in Nursing, University of Maryland – 2003), at a young adult Bible study.  She is originally from North East, MD. They were married in 2007 and have been blessed with five children.  Siobhan worked as an Emergency Room nurse for over 10 years and now homeschools their 5 children.  Steve enjoys running, reading and playing board games.

Todd Johnson was born in Buffalo, NY and raised in Hamburg, NY.  He has a long history of working with children and youth through various organizations including summer camps,
ministries and churches.  He was the Program Director (overseeing children’s programs, a soup kitchen, and thrift shop) in Camden, NJ, worked as a youth pastor in
Shippensburg, and has worked with juvenile delinquents at Abraxas in South Mountain, PA.  He spent sixteen years as a Masters level Family Based Therapist in Cumberland,
Perry, Franklin, and Fulton Counties, and he is currently working for Laurel Life as the Team Lead Therapist overseeing two Elementary Classrooms for children with trauma
histories at Fairview Elementary School in Waynesboro, PA.

Todd met his wife, Wanda Coon, at Messiah College (BA in Family Studies, Messiah College – 1988; M.Ed. in Elementary Education, Grand Canyon University – 2015) and they were
married in 1989. Wanda currently teaches 4th Grade at Broadfording Christian Academy.  Todd and Wanda have two children and three grandchildren.

Tom Pasquarello grew up in suburban Philadelphia. He met his wife, Crystal Churchey (AD in Nursing, RN at HACC; BS in Nursing & BA in Bible at Messiah College; post grad studies for Certified School Nurse certification at Slippery Rock), while working at Harrisburg Hospital and they were married in 1979. They lived in Egypt and Jordan for four years in the 80’s where they were missionaries with Frontiers and Mission to the World (PCA).  Other ministry has included short term mission trips to Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Beirut/Lebanon, as well as a team from Hope Church to Fairmont, WV.  Tom retired in 2023 from 31 years of work as a Physician Assistant (PA-C) in family practice and pain management, but he continues to do some part time work conducting military medical/psych evaluations.  His wife, Crystal, is working part time as a substitute School Nurse/RN for the Greencastle-Antrim School District.  They have four adult children and six grandchildren.

Jonathan Gunnett was born and raised in Central Pennsylvania.  He has been employed in the agricultural industry for over 25 years and is a Senior Merchant specializing in risk management with Cargill Animal Nutrition, a global animal nutrition company.   

Jonathan met his wife, Ruth, at work and they were married in 2004.  They are the parents of two daughters.  Ruth is a homeschool high school graduate and is currently homeschooling their youngest child.  She is a certified Equine Assisted Learning professional, contracted to provide trainings and workshops to therapeutic equine professionals globally. She is also a volunteer and the community outreach coordinator for Reins of Rhythm, a local 501c3 non-profit providing therapeutic and adaptative programming for youth through horses. 

Denny Lebo grew up in Carlisle, PA. He met his wife, Joy Fickes, at a small church they both attended and together they opened the Communion Cup Book & Gift Shop in Carlisle in 1978, which they owned and operated for 19 ½ years. They were married in 1979. In his early years, Denny raced cars for 3 years and re-dedicated his life to Christ through a Lay Witness Mission at a United Methodist Church. Denny has been the elected Clerk of Court of Cumberland County since 1997. His wife, Joy (BA in Biology & Chemistry at Juniata College) has been a Domestic Engineer since their second child was born in 1985 and retired from home-schooling each of their eight children, five of whom are married, in 2020. They also are blessed to be expecting their 22nd grandchild in May.

Julie Peterson grew up in Greencastle, PA and met her husband, Neil Peterson (BA in Mathematics from Shippensburg University, 1987) in a computer programming class at Shippensburg University. Incidentally, they both shared the same last name so that no names needed to be changed when they were married in 1989! After college, Julie was a computer programmer for a small company in Chambersburg and later worked in Data Security for Sprint before becoming the Administrative Assistant for Hope Church in 1998. Having an entrepreneurial spirit, she has had several home based businesses and was a piano teacher for 20 years.  She has been a church pianist since she was 12 years old and played for Hope Church since 1995.  Neil retired after 33 years with the government, most recently as a Mathematical Computer Programmer for the Department of Defense.  They have a son who is married and lives in Shippensburg and one grandson.