Rev. Tim Schwartz started his ministry at Hepburn Baptist Church in October of 2023. He moved into this area with his wife and three kids from Scranton, PA.
Pastor Tim was ordained in 2002 and started with his first congregation soon after the ordination. Tim led that congregation on numerous mission trips to the gulf coast after Hurricane Katrina in 2004. Those mission trips shifted Tim and his wife Jenn's heart toward people who had been affected by natural disasters. In 2008, after Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Gulf Coast, Tim and Jenn resigned from their positions and moved to Galveston, Texas to volunteer in disaster recovery. Over the course of the next two years, they helped 30-40 families return to their homes after the storm. Tim also was hired during that time as the interim minister at a bilingual Hispanic church on Galveston Island.
After returning to PA, Pastor Tim served as a missionary to the city of Scranton. He volunteered as the president of his children's school's PTA for seven year. He also volunteered to be the president of the local homeowners association. Rev. Schwartz provided pulpit supply for many churches in and around Scranton during this time. He also worked as an interim minister for two years in a local congregation. During his time in Scranton, Tim was also hired by local non-profits to run city-wide programs for the improvement of the city.
Rev. Schwartz is an almost 15-year cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with brain cancer in February of 2010. Since the diagnosis, Tim has endured surgery to remove part of the tumor, two years of chemotherapy and and one course of proton radiation therapy. Tim and his family are grateful to God for their survivorship story. God has been gracious to them - the brain tumor is stable and the symptoms of the cancer are no longer prevalent in his life.
Tim and his wife Jenn have been married for 18 years. Jenn is a physical therapist and she has been teaching in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Graduate Program at the University of Scranton for the last 10 years. They met through a mutual friend (Rev. Dr. Jeff Johnson) while Tim was pastoring the church in the Philadelphia suburbs and Jenn was finishing her physical therapy degree in Scranton, PA. Their marriage has taken them to the suburbs of Philly, Galveston, TX, Scranton, PA and now to the greater Williamsport area. Tim and Jenn have three incredible kids - Emma, Nathan and Gabe. Emma is in high school, Nathan is in middle school and Gabe is in elementary school.
