Pine Grove Christian Fellowship

Introducing… Pastor Steve Sorensen  Steve grew up in Warren County, and has hundreds of friends around here. After graduating from Warren High School he left for college and spent 5 years in the Boston area. Then, he married Barbara and they drove a rental truck loaded with all their stuff (it wasn’t much – the truck also contained the stuff two other couples owned) and drove halfway across the country towing a 1970 Plymouth Duster. They stopped in Kansas City where Steve enrolled in seminary and earned his master of divinity degree.

After that, Steve and Barbara lived in North Carolina and Washington D.C. before moving back to Warren, PA. In Warren Steve worked for 24 years as a direct mail copywriter. Now, although it was totally unexpected, Steve is the pastor of this small but committed congregation known as PGCF.

If Steve looks familiar to you, you probably didn’t see his picture in the Post Office. More likely, you saw it in a newspaper somewhere. He is an award-winning outdoor columnist and author of “The Everyday Hunter.”

And others…

Barbara Sorensen was joined to Steve in holy matrimony on May 31, 1975 in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their children, Jill and Doug, went through Warren County schools, and have both finished college. Steve and Barbara have two children. Jill (born in North Carolina) is a student at Chicago Medical School and is married to Brent Motl, an accountant. Doug is a member of PGCF and currently lives locally, but is planning a trip to South Korea where he will teach English as a second language. Barbara is employed in the surgical unit at Warren General Hospital.

Marcia Harrington is the President of the PGCF church council and director of our Sunday school program. She teaches second grade at Sugar Grove Elementary School. She is married to Chuck, who volunteers his time in countless ways. They are both graduates of Grove City College, and are the parents of Andrew (recently married to Darbee) and Scott.  

Bill McFarland chairs our church elder group, which functions as a "board of oversight." He teaches psychology and sociology at Frewsburg High School. He also coaches cross country and track. Bill received his bachelor's degree from Lehigh University and a master's degree in education from Harvard University, equipping him to be a competent teacher. Bill lives in his childhood home on Fox Hill in wedded bliss with Mary, who works at WCA Hospital in Jamestown. They follow their son Ian (who just completed his freshman year at Frewsburg) to basketball games and to movies.

Joanne Sorensen leads our worship. She is the Director of Nursing at Warren General Hospital and is one of our busiest bodies, serving on the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing and pursuing a PhD in nursing administration at Waynesburg University. When you can't find her at home in Russell, maybe you can break through on her cell phone. Joanne is Steve's sister-in-law, thanks to the happy circumstance of her marriage to Steve's brother Dan, who serves as our electronics, computer and software guru. He knows more than a little, but you can get it out of him only a little at a time.

These are a few of the most visible people, but they're not lone rangers. They're just a small part of this young congregation that is full of leaders, each emerging from time to time in significant ways as they walk the walk that the Lord Jesus calls them to. We definitely have room for you!

EFCA: strength, growth, diversity, clarity

The EFCA logo visually captures and communicates our mission statement, to glorify God by multiplying healthy churches among all people. It says -- even without words -– what we are about: a growing and visionary organization. The use of the tree with many colored leaves represents our strength, growth, diversity and clarity.

• The bold cross is the focal point of the logo, as the cross is the source of all spiritual life.
• The base of the cross represents both Calvary and our world, which Christ died to save.
• The leaves springing from the cross signify multiplication, and their varying sizes indicate the differing sizes of our churches.
• The vibrancy of the leaves’ colors indicates health.
• The types of leaves represent diversity within our movement.
• Incorporating colors that are key to global and ethnic palettes, the color palette focuses on the future of our movement.