Staff and Leadership
The Rev. Barb Ballenger
Rector
Rev. Barb has worked in ministry settings in both the Catholic and Episcopal Church for more than 30 years, including youth and adult faith formation, campus ministry, global relief and development, domestic disaster response, performing arts ministry and parish pastoral ministry. She also has a long history in social justice and political advocacy, especially in areas of climate justice and racial repair and healing. Rev. Barb is currently the co-chair of the Diocesan Anti-Racism Commission. Rev. Barb plays the guitar and the banjo and is a singer and songwriter. You can find several of her songs, written in her performing arts ministry days, on SoundCloud. Her husband, Jess, is a professor of medical ethics at Drexel University. She has two adult children, Hannah, and Jesse. A dog and two cats also live with the family in their home in Mt. Airy. Rev. Barb loves to read, play cooperative board games, and ride through Pennsylvania with her husband on the couple’s tandem bicycle.
We welcome Sam Faust to the St. Peter's staff as our part-time music director, responsible for directing the choir and playing the organ. Sam has been an organist and choir director since 2000, with a Master's degree from the University of Cincinnati. They have a combined 20 years' experience in directing music in Lutheran and Episcopal churches.
Deacon Bob Smith
Deacon
Prior to his ordination and assignment to St. Peter’s, Deacon Bob was a member of St. Paul’s Chestnut Hill for a decade, where he led the Lector and Eucharistic Visitation Ministries and was a trained Stephen Ministry leader. A Drexel-trained chemical engineer and longtime business owner, he has lived in Lower Gwynedd for over 40 years with his wife Lynn and three sons, with whom he enjoys fishing, camping, and hiking.
Charlese Freeman-Benoit grew up in Philadelphia, where she met her husband, Winzy. Charlese graduated from East Stroudsburg University, where she received her Bachelor's in English; she received her Master's of Journalism from Temple University. Charlese and Winzy have an 18-month-old son, Clark. She worked for Check Your Fact in 2021 as a National Association of Black Journalists Fellow. Charlese has served as an usher and tech team member at Faith Fellowship Baptist Church. She currently helps lead the annual Health and Safety Fair and Hearts of Praise Dance Ministry. Charlese enjoys spending time with her family, writing, watching movies, and baking. She is also the host of Phone In a Friend Podcast. Charlese is available Monday-Friday from 8am-4pm. You can email her at stpeter654@gmail.com.
Kathleen Murphy Flaherty, Bell Choir Director, is in her 50th year of serving as a church musician. She is an experienced organist, pianist, choir director, choral singer, and handbell director for churches of varied denominations in the Philadelphia area. Mrs. Flaherty was Organist and Handbell Director at St. Philip-in-the-Fields for 31 years, prior to the merger with St. Peter’s Glenside. As an organist, Kathleen has performed on the great Philadelphia organs; Girard College, Irvine Auditorium and the Kimmel Center. She has also enjoyed accompanying for choir tours to Israel, Germany and Italy, encountering an assortment of very quirky instruments. Mrs. Flaherty holds a Bachelor of Music Education in keyboard from Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple University and a Master’s Equivalency with graduate studies at Westminster Choir College, University of the Arts and Villanova University. She received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teachers in 2014, prior to her retirement from Girard Academic Music Program and currently supervises Music Education student teachers for Temple University.
Tim Valera was born and raised in Glenside. He has worked exclusively for ATD American Co. in the IT department for 30 years. He joined the St. Peter’s community as our caretaker in the summer of 2012. As caretaker, Tim opens and closes all buildings, offers security on the property, and supports all parish, tenant and rental events. He also works on special property projects as needed.
Kristina Marchuk
Parish Nurse
Kristina graduated from Frankford Hospital School of Nursing in 2007 and earned her BSN from Penn State in 2016. She currently works in Labor and Delivery at Abington Hospital, where she is co-chair of the Perinatal Loss Support Team. She obtained her Faith Community Nurse certificate from Eastern Mennonite University in 2020. While serving as the chair of the Health Ministry for the diocese, she became certified as a Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor and has trained some of the diocese’s deacons. Her additional training and certifications include: Psychological First Aid (through her work as a Resilience in Stressful Events Team responder for staff at Abington experiencing stressful or distressing situations while at work); suicide prevention (through a program called QPR (Question. Persuade. Refer.)); and Perinatal Death and Resolve Through Sharing (RTS) Certified Bereavement Coordinator.
Lay Leadership
The Vestry is the elected leadership body of the parish, meeting monthly to oversee the business of the church, including personnel, finances, property management and maintenance, and liaise with parish ministries and committees. In January at the Parish Annual Meeting a new "class" is elected to serve a three-year term. The Vestry has up to 12 members, who serve staggered terms. If you would like to run for a Vestry seat in January please contact Rev. Barb. . See their liaison assignments, pictures and bios HERE.
To contact a vestry member, please email the church office:
stpeter654@gmail.com.
Other Key Leadership Positions
Bob Hartung, Finance Chair
Dave Kipphut, Property Chair