Hamilton Park United Church of Christ (UCC)
Staff & Leaders

Libby Nocheck
Pastor

Pastor Elizabeth Nocheck “Pastor Libby” From a young age, it seemed as if Pastor Libby was very active in her church. At twelve years old, she began teaching Sunday School to toddlers and by fourteen years of age, she coordinated her church’s youth programs through her high school years. She graduated from Defiance College, a small United Church of Christ college located in Ohio, with a degree in teaching. Pastor Libby didn’t see teaching as just a job, but as a ministry. She found ways to reach the unreachable and unteachable by meeting her students where they were and bringing them along, in love, in their lessons and in their personal lives. Pastor Libby went on to raise three children with her husband Lee and during those years, she worked for several congregations in the area of Christian Education, Youth Ministry and Family Ministry. During this time, she obtained a certificate in Youth and Family Ministry. Many sensed her gifts and began to encourage her to discern, more fully, whether God was calling her into something more. It wasn’t until her children were nearly full grown that she began to recognize God’s gentle voice calling her to ordained ministry. After careful prayer and spiritual support, she and her family relocated to Lancaster, PA, so she could attend Lancaster Theological Seminary. After four years of full time education and one year of Clinical Pastoral Education at York Hospital, she felt ready to accept her first call to serve a church as their pastor. She often says that her “years of diverse experiences before pastoral ministry are woven together by God in order to more fully serve the church and reach out to those who may seem unreachable and are often looked at as unlovable.” She can relate to people from many walks of life because she has, in some way, experienced something similar. Just like teaching, with God’s help and the Spirit’s guidance, her past experiences open avenues for being able to meet others where they are and gently walk with them, sharing the love of Christ as they journey together. She came to Hamilton Park United Church of Christ in February, 2017 after serving for seven years at Salem United Church of Christ in Columbia, PA. Since coming to Hamilton Park UCC, she has been nurturing the congregation and empowering them, as disciples, to reach out into the community with the Light and Love of Christ. Her husband, Lee, teaches math at Reynold’s Middle School and is very active in various aspects of the church’s ministry. Their children have all graduated from McCaskey High School in the Lancaster City School District and have graduated from various colleges across the state. Lee and Libby welcomed their first grandchild into their family in 2014. Contact Pastor Libby: [email protected]