Hi, I’m Pastor Brad Haws. 

All the way back in the Junior High, growing up here in Lancaster County, I experienced a sense of call into ministry, at the same time I accepted a relationship with God the Father through the grace and love of Jesus Christ.  And I’ve been learning and teaching about that relationship and grace and love ever since.  I studied religion and Bible at Messiah College in Grantham, PA.   After graduating, I earned a Master’s Degree in Theology from Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, PA.  Upon graduation, I was ordained into the United Church of Christ denomination, in which I grew up, and began serving at St. John’s Center UCC.  That was back in 1989.  It has been a great joy to serve such a gracious and maturing congregation. 

Years ago, I believe God shared with me His own sense of purpose or mission for me:  “To call ‘churched’ people’s attention to the power of a vibrant relationship with God in Jesus Christ and to challenge them, through the gifts of preaching, teaching, exhorting, and serving, to live in and out of that relationship.”  I’d honestly say over the course of time, that purpose continues to be the same for me.

So you can imagine, I really feel attune to God’s presence in studying and teaching and preaching His Word.  That has been a source of much satisfaction as well as toil in my life. 

I am an avid reader, mainly of theological works and authors, though I enjoy a good novel from time to time (anything by Umberto Eco).  Those theologians/thinkers who have been of serious influence on my developing faith and relationship with God have been the likes of Jacques Ellul, John Howard Yoder, Stanley Hauerwas, Marva Dawn, Tony Campolo, Soren Kierkegaard, and Shane Claiborne.

I am also a music fan.  Musical inspiration comes to me from the likes of U2, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, and the Monkees  (yes, the “Hey, hey, we’re the . . . “ guys).

I’ve been married since 1987 to my wife, Becky, and am the father of two teenage sons, Caleb and Josiah, and a caretaker of a retired racing Greyhound, Max, an Italian Greyhound, Lilly, and two aging corn snakes, Rex and Rosy.

Above all else, I can honestly say I am a child of God and disciple of Jesus Christ who is always seeking to let God have more and more of me, and am a pastor who wants God to have more and more of those who He’s blessed with to shepherd.



CONTACT US

432 Reading Road
East Earl, PA  17519
PHONE NO:        (717)445-5622

EMAIL:  
        Pastor Brad Haws                 brad@stjohnscenterucc.org
       Secretary Sherri Mohler        sherri@stjohnscenterucc.org