Meet our Elders / 2012-2013


OFFICERS
Dennis Pfannenschmidt, Chair
Jim Krimmel, Vice Chair
Mark Blanchard, Secretary
Troy Boone, Treasurer

ELDERS
Dave Baechtle
Mitch Baum
Mark Blanchard
Troy Boone
Mark Copeland
Jim Krimmel
Barry Musser
John Nesbitt
Dennis Pfannenschmidt
Phil Thorne

 


 
Mark Blanchard, Secretary
 Mark has been attending West Shore since 1998 and has been serving as an elder since 2008. Mark is the principal of Gettysburg High School and has been involved as a teacher/leader for the Koinonia fellowship group. Mark and his wife, Renee, were married in 1996 and have four children: Matthew, Ellie, Taryn and Tyler.

 

Mitch Baum
Mitch and Sally have been married since 1994 and are parents to Nathan, Jonah, and Candice. The couple has attended West Shore their entire married life. Since 1997, Mitch has served as an elementary school counselor at Elmwood Elementary School, Mechanicsburg. Most of his spare time involves taking the kids to their sporting events and church activities, but Mitch also loves reading, hiking, biking and gardening.  Mitch also enjoys spending time with Children’s Ministry.

David Baechtle
Dave Baechtle and his wife Joy have been attending West Shore since 1991.  During that time Dave has served as a fellowship group leader and has also served on youth staff. Dave and Joy have been married since 1987 and have three children: Caleb, Sarah and Luke.  Dave is an engineering manager for Tyco Electronics, Harrisburg. Dave enjoys spending time outdoors and coaching youth soccer.

Troy Boone
Troy has attended West Shore since 1993.  He currently serves on the Men’s Council, the Stewardship Team and as an usher. He also was part our church building team and the search teams for various ministry-related staff positions. Troy and his wife Dawn have been married since 1990 and have four children: Lauren, Ethan, Graham and Gabriel.  He worked in education finance for more than a 16 years before joining VisiQuate, Inc. in 2011 as senior vice president of business development.  Troy also serves as the president of SEEGIL Partners Inc..  In his spare time, Troy enjoys coaching men’s golf at Messiah College.

Mark Copeland
Mark Copeland and his wife, Wendy, have been married since 1981 and have attended West Shore since 1999. This is Mark's fifth year as an elder. He participates in choir, Men’s Ministry, fellowship group and the Welcome Center.  both Mark and Wendy host and help teach the Connections class. Mark is also a board member for the EFCA Eastern District. Mark works for Rite Aid in promotional merchandising.
 
Jim Krimmel
Jim has attended WSEFC since 1988 having served as an elder for 15 of those years. He has participated in the Stewardship Committee and teaching including the pre-marital class. Jim and his wife, Jackie, have been married since 1985 and have three children: Megan, Lauren and Jack. Jim is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Messiah College and partner at Hamilton & Musser, P.C.
 

Barry Musser
Barry and his wife Becky have been married since 1980 and attending West Shore since 2006. They have been involved with fellowship groups, Alpha and regularly volunteer at Holy Spirit Hospital in the pastoral care department. They are parents of two adult children: Krista, who with her husband Sean (Cochran) also attend West Shore, and Joel, who is married to Mallory and living in Baton Rouge, LA. Barry is a partner at Hamilton & Musser, PC, CPAs. He enjoys reading, snowboarding and golf in his spare time.
 
John Nesbitt
As West Shore’s executive pastor, John leads and supports the ministerial staff, and oversees the implementation of our strategic plan. His greatest passions are encouraging spiritual health, supporting organizational systems that work well, and helping people find their God-designed place for ministry. He and his wife, Terry, are the parents of two adult children: Chris, who lives in Cincinnati with his
wife, Sarah, and stepdaughter Ali; and Ben, who lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Janina, and their daughter Maya.
Dennis Pfannenschmidt
Dennis has attended West Shore since 1992 having served as an elder for 10 of those years. He has served in the children’s, youth and missions’ ministries as well as being a small group leader and fellowship group teacher. He and his wife, Deborah, have been married since 1981 and have two adult daughters. Dennis is an attorney and litigation manager for the Federal Government.

 
 Layton Shoemaker
(In Memory, 9/2/1942 to 1/1/2013)
Layton and Garie, his wife of 40+ years, have been attending West Shore for almost 20 years.  They are the parents of two adult sons.  Layton is a retired soccer coach from Messiah College.  He has been involved in small groups, prayer ministry and fellowship groups in addition to serving as an elder for almost 10 years. 

Phil Thorne, Senior Pastor
Phil has served as West Shore's Senior Pastor since September 1992. He was called to the church after completing his Ph.D. in Theology at Cambridge University, and having served in ministries in Philadelphia and Denver. Although dedicated to serving the church, Phil's highest priority and deepest personal joy is his family: Cindi, his wife, to whom he's been married since 1978, and his two daughters, Rachel and Sarah.