First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua, 3005 S. Front St., Whitehall, has welcomed a new pastor — the Rev. Christian Creyer, of Allentown. Creyer was installed Aug. 24.

Part of what made that day special was having a large amount of his family there to support him — among them, his wife, Stephanie, and his stepdaughter, Courtney.

In 1995, Creyer graduated from what is now Delaware Valley University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. For the first 10 years of his career, he used that degree working as an accountant for a regional certified public accountant firm, PPL and C Core.

“Even when I was an accountant and a CPA, one of the things my clients have always told me they appreciated about me was that I didn’t just focus on the numbers. I didn’t always just focus on the ins and outs of their checkbook. It was more about them as an individual, their business as a living, breathing organization. I think that’s part of the reason why they appreciated me as an accountant.

“I always ministered to people, even when I was a child. My mom likes to tell the story that I was the unofficial mascot of the bell choir at the church I grew up in. She would always take me to practice with her because she played the bells, and if they couldn’t find me, they would look for me at the pulpit because I was always playing [there],” Creyer added.

Creyer also contributes his experience working as a chaplain, at places such as Phoebe, to being able to help his congregation. If he is at a church with older individuals, he can help those members navigate that process of care facilities.

“Those are all things and experiences I can bring into my life of ministry and to walk beside and journey with the folks here,” Creyer said. “I don’t see myself as much as a leader as I do someone who journeys beside folks in their own journeys of faith. I help them discover who they are in their own eyes, as well as in God’s eyes.”

It was worshiping at East Kishacoquillas Presbyterian Church in Reedsville that called him to ministry. The pastor of that church was a great mentor for him, Creyer said.

In 2011, he earned his divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary and was ordained in the United Church of Christ, which is the denomination in which he grew up.

“It makes it for a very ecumenical relationship between denominations — to be able to exchange pastors very easily amongst us,” Creyer said, “which is how I ended up here in First Pres Hokey.”

Before becoming the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua, he was the pastor of a United Church of Christ church in Coopersburg until 2021 when he became a chaplain for about three years. While he was a chaplain, First Presbyterian Church was trying to get Creyer to fill in while it searched for a full-time pastor.

“Our schedules (church’s and Creyer’s) never matched until February of this year,” Creyer said.

On Feb. 2, Creyer was finally able to serve at the pulpit, with every intention of not becoming its pastor. At first, Creyer filled in at the pulpit only a couple Sundays.

“But God had other intentions — clearly,” Creyer said with a laugh, “because now I am here. Almost instantaneously, from the moment I walked through the doors, there was a sense of calm, a sense of peace, a sense of ‘Wow, this is where I should be.’ I haven’t felt that strong of a connection to a family of faith since I was called to ministry in East Kish Presbyterian Church, which is the irony of this whole story in the fact that being born and raised in the UCC and being ordained into the UCC, I never expected to serve any other place than UCC; however, I was called to ministry at a Presbyterian church,” Creyer said.

One challenge of being a pastor, Creyer said, is society.

“There’s all kinds of things that tell us in society that we don’t need to believe or we don’t need to have faith, that it’s us alone. I see society moving more away from faith and belief in God, and that scares me. It also creates challenges for us as a community of faith to continue the conversation around faith and understanding, trusting and believing. I think a lot of people have lost a lot of faith and belief because society tells us it’s not the norm to have that,” Creyer conveyed.

Creyer wants to bring people back into the church, to let them know God and its people are there for them, to support them when times are hard.

“It’s really about the warmth and comfort of the people here and the welcome that everyone has to be part of the fellowship here. There is no exclusion for anyone whatsoever. I know a lot of churches say that, but I haven’t felt that from a community of faith until I got here. They are a welcoming family of faith. Everyone is welcome at the table here.

“In today’s world, we don’t have a lot of communities we can rely on when things are tough. Yes, we have friends, and yes, we have family, but sometimes, you need somebody outside of that, somebody that can sit back and listen and say, ‘Hey, I had that same experience. Here’s what I did in that situation, and it comes from my faith.’

“It’s having that connection to something greater than ourselves, to help us understand the world that’s around us,” Creyer added.