We are a friendly group and our leaders provide our congregation with the inspiration and direction to keep it going and growing.
The Reverend Kevin Stout
Pastor [email protected]
The Rev. Kevin C. Stout (‘Pastor Kevin’) is a second career Pastor. He is married to Byambatseren and the father of five boys: Charles (who passed away this past May), Chase, Chad, CJ and Shinee. He enjoys walking with Byam, reading, running, disc golf and being with his boys. Pastor Kevin and Byam provide care for his mother, Jean Stout in their home in Lewisberry, PA
Pastor Kevin believes that the most important priority of our church is to continue Christ’s mission to make disciples who know Jesus and make Jesus known in this hurting world. He uses three words to sum up Jesus: Love, Grace, and Forgiveness.
From 2003 to 2015 he served with Compassion International in several leadership roles and traveled extensively to South America, Africa and Asia. Over his life, he lived in Bangladesh for 12 years with his wife and boys. At Compassion International he started out as the Country Director of Compassion Bangladesh and oversaw spiritual and corporate leadership of the country office. He also held the role of Church Partner Development Manager in their international program where he provided strategic direction, oversight, developed a partner resource guide and implemented a partnership assessment tool to empower the local church ministries to reach the next generation.
While at Compassion Int’l, Pastor Kevin also led the youth group at Mt. Zion Lutheran Church in Lewisberry from 2010-2015. In addition, Pastor Kevin worked for Mennonite Central Committee, World Concern, and Mennonite Economic Development Association for over 20 years serving internationally.
Pastor Kevin did his pastoral internship with Zion from 2014 – 2016. During this time, he also helped to provide pastor coverage for Trinity Lutheran church in York, PA. He graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, PA in 2016. He was ordained on 25 September 2016 and started at St. John Lutheran Church, Boiling Springs, on the 1st of October that year. He served St. John Church till 2023.
Earlier in his life, Pastor Kevin received a BS in Agronomy with a minor in Business Administration from Delaware Valley University. He has an MBA in Economic Development from Eastern University (1995) and a Master of Arts in Holistic Child Development from Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary (2010).
Denise Moyer
Parish Administrator
[email protected]
Denise joined the Zion staff in 2010 as the part-time bookkeeper and then transitioned into the Parish Administrator position. Denise has a business background, with a BS in Marketing from Bloomsburg University. She has worked in various computer businesses in her working career. Also at one time was a partner in a small computer business bringing with her a lot of experience in various areas of business.
Denise is also a wife and mother of 2, Ian and Kate. She enjoys reading, time with friends and family and traveling.
Curry Smith
Parish Administrator Assistant
[email protected]
As the Parish Administrator Assistant to Zion and all its members my responsibilities have a wide range. The “behind the scenes” activities are many to make the church operate as smoothly as possible, from answering the phone to printing the bulletins to overall office management.
Curry came to this position after a relatively short retirement from the educational field. After 31 years of teaching with the Southern York County School District he retired in July 2003. Curry taught fourth grade for 14 years and completed his last 17 years as a fifth grade teacher. After joining Zion Church in January of 2005 he began volunteering in the office a few days a month and found the work and people to be most enjoyable. When this position became available he was approached and asked to give it some consideration to apply. After nearly 3 years of retirement, he was not sure he wanted to return to the work force with as many hours as was offered with the position. Now he can say it was without a doubt one of the best decisions of his life. He very much enjoys the work atmosphere and the wonderful people with whom he works.
In addition to work Curry has many varied interests: reading, gardening, traveling, car enthusiast, dining out, and cooking. He also enjoys exercising and weight lifting a few times a week.
Chuck Bissell
Director for Family Faith Formation and Youth Ministry
[email protected]
Chuck joined the Zion staff in October of 2019. Chuck has a beautiful wife of 24 years, Michele and a daughter, Audrey that is a junior at Northern High School. We all live in Dillsburg and I have been there for 24 years.
Chuck first served in a part time role at his home church, St. Peter Mechanicsburg, for five years. During that time he attended two ELCA Youth Gatherings and several Lower Susquehanna Synod youth events and received a certificate in Youth Ministry from United Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg. After 27 years in the technology distribution sales field he felt called to full time youth ministry. His first full time call was at Friedens Lutheran Church in Myerstown, PA and spent two great years there building a youth ministry and a family faith formation program that has been left in good hands.
Chuck serves on the Synod’s Youth Ministry Visioning Team for the last four years. He also serves as the co-chair of the Saints (2nd year) track at the Harrisburg Area Confirmation Camp which is held yearly at Camp Nawakwa.
Laine Beachley Knaub
Director of Music
[email protected]
Initially, Laine was one of Zion’s substitute pianists/organists and director of Noiz before taking on the full-time role as Director of Music in October 2021.
Laine started piano lessons at age 8 in her hometown of Johnsville, Maryland. She has two Bachelor’s degrees in Music and Art from Hood College. Six years of graduate study (concentrated on piano pedagogy and performance) followed at Shenandoah Conservatory.
Laine moved to York in 2005 and since then has been very active as a piano instructor, church musician, accompanist, and occasional performer. Currently, she is on the faculty at York College, and is the music director at Hayshire United Church of Christ and continues to hold that position. Laine also loves sewing and crafting and you can find her sometimes at Snyder’s Sewing Center working part-time or sewing late into the night at home.
Laine’s family includes her husband, Ethan, her daughter and son, Elliette and Michael, along with two cats, Bella and Lovies.
Shawn Cummings
Digital Media Coordinator
[email protected]
Shawn has worked in many positions at Zion. She started with Joyful Noise Preschool as a substitute teacher. She then became a teacher’s assistant and also Acting Director for six months while the position was being filled. During this time, she also worked in the church nursery on the weekends and then moved on to the audio/visual desk. Shawn has recently accepted the position of Digital Media Coordinator and has taken over all of our digital media needs.
Shawn attended the University of Maryland for Paralegal Studies and worked for the Department of Defense for 19 years. Shawn has been married to her husband, Gene, for 28 years and they have two daughters, Ashleigh who is working on her master’s degree at PSU and Sophie, a junior at West York Area High School. They have a black lab named Nicole and in addition, the family has been raising Seeing Eye puppies and is awaiting their 7th puppy to raise.
Arieta Beamesderfer
Director of Joyful Noise Preschool
[email protected]
Arieta became a member of the preschool teaching staff in 2014 as the lead teacher in the Caterpillar classes. Originally from Lebanon, PA, she moved to the York area in 2003 with her husband, Michael. Arieta holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Logistics from Penn State University. After doing various jobs relating to that, she settled in with her most important job, being a mother to her three children: Ava, Claire and Coen—all alumni of Joyful Noise Preschool. Arieta began substitute teaching at JNP and found her true passion, working with children. She is very excited about her role as Director of Joyful Noise Preschool.
In her free time, Arieta enjoys spending time with her family, watching her children’s sports and activities, reading, and cuddling with her two pups.