Martin K. Erhardt, Pastor

Welcome to Messiah’s website! I came to Messiah as a seminary student in 2007 and was called to be pastor in 2011. The sermon text for my installation service was taken from Matthew 13:52 (ESV):

‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’

In that spirit, we at Messiah cherish God’s gift of liturgical tradition, embrace new things where we perceive God at work today (Isaiah 43:19), and proclaim in word and deed the reality of God’s present and coming kingdom among us (Philippians 4:5). We hope you’ll join us in this way of life. When you do, please introduce yourself – I look forward to meeting you!

In my spare moments, I enjoy hiking, canoeing and kayaking, driving oxen, singing and stomping to baroque music, and reading books by P. G. Wodehouse, James Herriot, and Patrick O’Brian, among others. I’m an avid fan of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, and the King James Bible – especially its accounts of Paul’s encounters with the burghers of Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens in Acts 17.

A former chemistry professor, I’m a graduate of Princeton Seminary (M. Div.), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Ph. D. in chemistry), and Valparaiso University (B. S. in chemistry and economics), and serve as the Lutheran chaplain at Princeton University.

Janice Hofreiter, Organist

Janice earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music at Westminster Choir College. Then she moved to the Pennington School where she was the Music Master for fifteen years, followed by Music Director of K – 12th grades at Mercer Christian Academy (’88 to ’96). Janice has served as choir director/organist of Willow Grove Baptist, Somerton Methodist, Northampton, and Oreland Presbyterian churches, all in Pennsylvania.

She was an adjunct teacher of organ and class piano at The Lawrenceville School until 2001, and taught K – 8th grade music classes and 6th -8th grade French at Hope Lutheran School in Bristol, PA from 2001 to 2008.

Currently, Janice is a piano instructor at Westminster Conservatory. She loves playing the organ, accompanying our church choir, reading and gardening.