“Two years ago, Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Trachsville, invited Bill Metzger to a meeting in hopes of fixing a broken church. Jerusalem was shattered into pieces from poor leadership, lack of communication, hatred and mistrust, financial decline and worst of all, loss of support in spirit, direction, and actual membership. “Pastor Bill” agreed to take on our challenging situation.
Pastor Bill approached our church and its people with clear and precise direction. He had the foresight to see our problems in a very neutral way that we were too blind to see ourselves, and did this without taking sides and pointing fingers as to who was at fault. A Leadership Planning Team was put into place and for the first time we could take a good look at ourselves and where the real problems started. An incredible amount of hurt existed within so many people, at times I personally thought was so deep, it could never be healed. Slowly, ever so slowly, the hurt did start to heal. It was not an easy task.
Sometimes I think we took one step forward and then two more back. True and strong leadership took command of situations, we were made accountable for our actions, and we took a deliberate stand on “we don't do that here at Trachsville anymore”. Unfortunately, some people did leave our church and will never return, however, the lesson we learned in this was not to constantly look back and berate ourselves on what we did wrong. We now look ahead to how we can build and grow strong and healthy in spirit and in numbers and look forward to all things we are now going to do right.
During Pastor Bill's two-year interim ministry with us, he prepared us for a new beginning. As Consistory President during this time, I always felt he went above and beyond the call of his duties as our pastor. Bill truly was the most faith filled pastor I ever had the pleasure to work with. He always treated us with the utmost respect and compassion, and he was always fair and honest in dealing with any situation. Bill had the most marvelous ability to be one step ahead of us in knowing when we were ready to be pushed up the next step on the ladder, and at times that ladder seemed to be very high. The behavior, attitude and atmosphere was turned completely around in our congregation when we learned how to love and care for one another with Bill's help and guidance.
I cannot end this appraisal of Bill Metzger without mentioning his Sunday preaching abilities. Bill's sermons on a Sunday morning were always profound. His love and passion for God shines through like a beacon of light. I was moved to tears many times in the explosive way he built a sermon, and how his message stayed with me for weeks. I will always think of the crucifixion of Jesus with deep emotion on every Good Friday, the joy of resurrection in Easter, the miracle of the birth of Jesus at Christmas time, the love and pride in the baptism of my first grandchild, and the simple way he brought ancient scriptures to life in our everyday times. I might add there was always an on-going joke in our congregation that his sermons were always too long, but quite the opposite was true, they were too short because Bill always held your interest with excitement and lots of humor.
I have personally thanked God everyday for having Pastor Bill serve our congregation at Trachsville. I think the paths you take in life are predestined. Many times the journeys we take in life are not what we expect; we at Jerusalem never expected the hard times that fell into our laps, but I now realize how these hard times made us a much stronger congregation and with all the help, prayers and support Pastor Bill sacrificed for us, our journey will continue in faith.”

Wendy K. Hoppel
Consistory President, Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Trachsville

“I worked with Pastor Bill Metzger for the last two years on the Leadership Planning Team and as a member of the Consistory of Jerusalem UCC, Trachsville, PA. He has helped our church, which was in a state of crisis, weather the storm. He is very knowledgeable concerning church affairs and his leadership ability is excellent. I would highly recommend his services. I personally enjoyed my relationship with Pastor Bill as my pastor and spiritual guidance in my life.”

Don Kupillas
Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Trachsville

“Pastor Bill Metzger came to our church at a time when we needed leadership and guidance. With his strong organizational skills, work ethic, motivation, kindness, and sense of humor, he showed us the way to move into the future.
We think that Pastor Bill is a 'top notch' United Church of Christ pastor. His sermons are always interesting and presented at a level all can understand and relate to. He has knowledge of the Bible which he conveys in all he does and says.
'People skills' are one of Bill Metzger's strong points. He learns everyone's name and has a keen understanding of people of all ages.”

Barry and Donna Mackes
Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Trachsville

“Serving on the Leadership Development and Intentional Interim Process for Jerusalem UCC Trachsville, PA was an interesting and learning experience. The leadership conducted by Rev. A. William Metzger was very beneficial.
'Results' achieved are the people and consistory members are more friendly and more supportive, building a better relationship within the congregation. The church is experiencing an increase in attendance and hopefully will show a steady increase in new membership. In that respect, the consulting services show a big plus for Jerusalem UCC. With a new full time pastor coming on board, I trust the church is going in the right direction.”

Leonard L. Borger
Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Trachsville

“I believe our church family has reconnected and grown in a positive way with Pastor Bill's guidance. Pastor Bill has a no-nonsense, wise approach to leadership. The continual use of the Fruits of the Spirit in sermons and discussions had a special meaning to me. Overall I personally benefitted from Pastor Bill's time at Jerusalem as did my family, and our church family most definitely experienced a renewed sense of purpose and hope for the future.”

Andrea Lazicki
Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Trachsville

“Pastor Bill truly showed me what Christian love is all about. Even after leaving Jerusalem, I always considered it to be 'my church'. Once Pastor Bill arrived and talked us back into coming back, I felt like a new person. Now, more than ever, I do things more Christian-like. I believe Pastor Bill made me a stronger Christian by how helpful and generous he was.”

Megan Lazicki
Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Trachsville

“I think Pastor Bill was exactly what our church needed. He brought a positive atmosphere back to our church. He was a very professional, but fun, pastor. He brought our church back together as one again. He dedicated so much of his time to our church family. He is a great pastor and he will be missed very much.”

Kelsey Lazicki
Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Trachsville

“Jerusalem UCC has had the privilege of working with Rev. Metzger on two occasions. The first was in 2001 as the UCC representative for the dissolution of the Union Church and again in 2007 when he was hired as Intentional Interim Minister.
As part of our Dissolution Team, Pastor Bill brought his vast knowledge and wisdom to the table in helping secure a peaceful and just split with the Lutheran congregation. He was again called into service as Intentional Interim Minister to bring the congregation together after our pastor left for another church. Pastor Bill not only led us in worship, but led us to an understanding of what happened and how to forgive and grow from this experience.
Pastor Bill is not only a faith-filled pastor, but also a caring, fun-loving person.”

Terry Goodhile
Jerusalem United Church of Christ, Trachsville

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