Shetler, John C. (1920-2005)

John Cromley Shetler was born in Danville, PA. March 15, 1920, the son of John L. and Ethel M. (Cromley) Shetler. He married Catherine M . Dinkelberg August 4, 1945 at St. Luke's Church, Lancaster, PA. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1942. After graduating from Lancaster Theological Seminary he was ordained on March 18, 1945 in Shiloh Church, Danville by the Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Church. In 1948 he earned his Master of Theology degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. In 1965 he was given an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA. He served as pastor of Lower Saucon Charge in Hellertown from 1945 to 1950. The Charge consisted of: Christ Church, Lower Saucon; Trinity Church, Freemansburg; and St. Luke's Church, Williams Township. After that he served Christ Church, Temple, PA. from 1951 until 1964, when he was elected Assistant Conference Minister of Pennsylvania Southeast Conference, and in 1971 he became Conference Minister. He retired in 1985. Over the years, Shetler served in the denomination in the following roles: Vice President Reading Synod, 1961-1962; Moderator of Reading Association, 1963-1964; Secretary of the Committee for the Formation of the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference, 1961-1962; delegate to General Synod, 1956-1963; member of Commission on Worship, 1959-1969; member of the Board of Trustees of Lancaster Theological Seminary. He also served on numerous community and statewide church and community organizations and was President of the Greater Reading Council of Churches from 1960 to 1961. He was a founding member of the Order of Corpus Christi and a member of the ministerial fraternity Phi Alpha. Dr. Shetler died October 30, 2005 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in W. Norriton Township.