Staff Bios & Lay Leadership Roster

Ron and Judy began attending CMCL in September, 2023 after retiring as co-pastors at Laurel Street Mennonite Church. They are grateful to find a church home in this diverse, vibrant faith community in their backyard. They have enjoyed building friendships through MennoMen, MennoWomen and other small groups.  While they thoroughly enjoyed traveling and being with family during their first year of retirement, they are excited to commit to a deeper level of involvement at CMCL in this interim role. What makes their hearts sing is finding spaces where we all can be our real, true, authentic selves; valued and accepted as God’s beloved.

Ron and Judy live in community with two young adults and an international volunteer (MCC IVEPer).  They are the parents of 3 married adult children and 4 delightful grandchildren.  They enjoy reading, gardening, traveling, biking on rail trails, tent camping, hiking, Duolingo – learning languages and volunteering at the Fulton.  Judy also enjoys knitting, sewing, cooking foods from other cultures, playing piano and guitar, and recently picked up the ukulele. Ron loves nature, relaxing in a hammock, woodworking, watercolor, and creating anything new.  In all things, our goal is to be present and be where our feet are.

Susan Gascho-Cooke is honored to be a fellow seeker with the good folks of Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster. She once heard it said of CMCL, “Yeah, they’ll take anyone at that church.” Although it wasn’t meant as a compliment, it’s exactly the reputation she is proud to carry on, following in the tradition of a Christ who lived and taught scandalously for his time, cared tangibly, spoke of faith in mystery and parable, and who so often stood between people and the stones the world would throw. She also loves being a part of a community that explores faith and spirituality equally enthusiastically through hymns, sermons, communion, visual art, music, questions, answers and silence. Susan finds sermon-writing, worship planning, prayer-writing and pastoral care the most life-giving aspects of her work. She still marvels that getting together for coffee with folks to talk about the meaning of life actually counts as work! Susan came to CMCL in June 2010, after studying theology in one form or another as a student at Eastern Mennonite University and then Emory University (Candler School of Theology), and in the hospitals of downtown Atlanta as a chaplain. She also pastored for several years at Atlanta Mennonite Fellowship and served as a host for refugees and asylum seekers at AMF’s Hospitality House. She is also a once and future songwriter and bluegrass fiddler, quilter and reader of literature and poetry. The present, however, is full to overflowing with work and co-parenting the two sweetest little girls with her excellent husband, Teman.

(Written in first person by Amanda) Ever since my teenage years I have been drawn to youth ministry work. I love building relationships, teaching, leading events and making connections. It is both a privilege and an honor to be invited into the lives of young people and I love watching as they make discoveries about themselves and the world around them. A favorite song of mine says that children’s “laughter and loveliness could clear a cloudy day,” and I have absolutely found that to be true.

I have always been someone who has let my heart lead me, and it has led me to some incredible places and unique experiences. I have worked with struggling elementary school children in Appalachia, helped run an after school program in a Chicago public high school and immersed myself in the hipster metropolis of Portland, Oregon while running the Community Life Program at George Fox Seminary. Amidst all these travels, I was able to return to my alma matter, Lancaster Mennonite, where I spent two years living and working in the International Residence Hall and volunteering in the Drama department (my first love!). Though my heart has taken me far and wide, I always knew that one day I wanted to return to my roots and settle for good here in the County. The art, the food, the people and culture of Lancaster – it’s deep in my bones.

Community Mennonite has always been a place that I admired for their community connectedness, their warm and accepting nature and the fluidity with which they embrace life and all its challenges. I’m not sure there’s a word quite strong enough to express just how thrilled I am to be able to contribute to this congregation and its youth.