Pastor Eric Reimer
The most formative experiences of my childhood were at Bear Creek Camp, the Lutheran retreat center and summer camp located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I always looked forward to church retreats and the week of camp I would spend at Bear Creek each year. The ministry of Bear Creek Camp is the reason I am a Christian and an ordained minister. In addition to Bear Creek Camp, I was also active in two congregations, Grace Lutheran Church of Macungie, PA; and The Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit of Emmaus, PA. I was baptized into the congregation of Grace Lutheran, but when my parents divorced, my mother joined Holy Spirit which is where I was confirmed, and my father remained a member of Grace. I split my time between the two congregations each providing close friends and valuable mentors. These two congregations were a great gift during my childhood. After my junior year of high school I went to Bear Creek Camp as a Counselor in Training, beginning seven years on the camp’s staff.
I graduated from Emmaus High School in 2000, and returned to Bear Creek for my first summer as a counselor. During this summer, I began dating Courtney Kehm, a girl I met two years before when we were campers together. After this great summer, I left camp, and Courtney, to go to college at the University of Hartford. I spent one year at Hartford, studying engineering and learning that it was not the path for me. The most important thing that happened to me at Hartford was I finally began to pay attention to my calling to ministry. My mother came to visit me over Easter and we found a Lutheran church in West Hartford. That Easter was the first time I attended worship since the previous Christmas, and even though I had never been to that congregation before, I felt instantly at home. After this experience, my faith life became more important to me. I began to view my work at Bear Creek Camp as a ministry God called me to and discerning a call to ordained ministry. After one year at the University of Hartford, I transferred to Bloomsburg University.
I blossomed at Bloomsburg. I was excited and stimulated by my new academic life as a history major. I found a love of 19th century American social history, especially the changes in American religion in response to a new industrialized urban population. I made many good friends at Bloomsburg and found life in a small college town suited me better then in a city like Hartford. Living in Bloomsburg allowed me to see Courtney more often and be more involved in the outdoor ministry of Bear Creek Camp. I graduated from Bloomsburg in December of 2004 with a B.A. in History.
After graduation I found work at the Adventure Challenge Treatment Camp of the Youth Services Agency of Pennsylvania in Jim Thorpe, PA. This is a minimum security wilderness detention facility for adjudicated boys between the ages of 12 and 18. My role on the adventure staff was to take the boys on outdoor adventure trips, or facilitate outdoor programs that taught team work, conflict resolution, life skills, and most were a fun diversion from life at the camp. Working for Youth Services was very challenging and rewarding.
Courtney and I were married in May 2005, and I returned to Bear Creek for my seventh and final summer as the LIT Coordinator and still worked weekends at the Youth Service Agency, until we moved to Gettysburg to begin seminary. We lived in Gettysburg for two years where Courtney supported me through my studies working as a night auditor of a hotel. We also worked at Springfield Presbyterian Church of Sykesville, MD to enhance the youth ministry program of the congregation. We helped teach Sunday School, Confirmation, facilitated youth group programming, and began an inter-generational praise band. In addition to working in Youth ministry, I spent a summer working as Chaplin at York Hospital in York, PA
After two years living, working, and studying in Gettysburg, Courtney and I moved to Pottsville, PA where I served Trinity Lutheran Church as a seminary intern. Trinity is a large congregation of about 3500 members, a large staff, and many programs. Even though this congregation was very different from Rehoboth the experience exposed me to a variety of ministerial situations, and helped me learn to minister to people other then youth. After the internship year, we returned to Gettysburg to complete my final year at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in May before I was called to serve as the Pastor of Rehoboth Evangelical Lutheran Church on June 7th, 2009.
