Meet Our Pastor: Theresa M. Heiser
As 1 Peter 4:10 (NRSV) says “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” “We all have amazing gifts! One of my goals in serving the churches of the Penns Valley Charge is to prayerfully assist each person to discover the gifts God has given them and to encourage sharing those gifts for God’s glory.” – Pastor Theresa
Pastor Theresa was born and raised in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. She married Brian Heiser at their church in Centre Hall in 1991. They are very proud parents of Penns Valley alums; Evan and Marisa. They welcomed Kayla to the family when she and Evan married in the fall of 2024. In addition to her own kitty, Sophie Ophie, she enjoys “fur grands” that include Marisa’s feline, Indi, and Evan’s and Kayla’s canines, Piper and Leo.
Pastor Theresa didn’t grow up in the church yet always understood there was something greater than what we can see. The earliest church experience was vacation Bible school and friends who were deeply committed to their faith. Like the unchurched folks around her, she had a lot more questions than answers.
Pastor Theresa has worn many hats. She was a radio personality, music director, and creative copy writer/producer for local radio stations. Adding graphic designer and content manager titles when the station acquired a tv information channel best known as Channel 4. When the world wide web launched, webmaster was added to the list of gifts. Graphic design, writing and then web design became her passion. She left radio in 1999 to open her own website design/graphic design company, adding studio to provide voice acting and audio production in 2002.
The call to ministry became very strong in the mid 2010’s. In 2016 Pastor Theresa completed licensing school and began her first appointment July 1, 2016 with the Penns Valley Charge.
“Each of us has a unique set of skills and interests to bring to ministry and I will use every gifting God provides to make disciples wherever and whenever possible. I’m excited to see what comes next as part of this blessed charge of Jesus-centered churches!” – Pastor Theresa Heiser
In addition to serving the charge, Pastor Theresa is the Penns Valley Cluster leader and serves the Susquehanna Annual Conference as chair for the Nominations Committee. Learn more about Conference Committees at Nominations – Susquehanna Conference