Bill Hiestand, Pastor

My name is Bill Hiestand. I guess you could say I am a “Lancaster County Boy” since I lived here all my life—- the first 20 years were spent in the little town of Maytown, the last 20 years in Mt. Joy which is where I currently reside. I married my high school sweetheart Cindy (from Lancaster Christian School) in 1988—we were both 20. We were young, poor, and admittedly a little immature—but we were very much in love and very much committed to one another for life! Today, after 20 years of marriage, we have three great children—Lori, Michael, and Katherine.

I felt God’s call to go back to school to prepare for ministry when I was 30 years old. Up until this time I had—-hmmmmmm, let’s see—-managed restaurants (Kreider’s, Friendlys, Country Table), worked as a press guy at Donnelly printing (which nearly killed me!), sold snack food (Frito Lay), worked for a temp agency (holding the “Stop” “Slow” signs for construction crews) and worked as a Registered Locksmith in security. I could not find joy at work because I felt as though I was running from God.

Finally, I gave in to God’s call, and out of obedience went to Lancaster Bible College to work on my undergraduate degree in Bible. In December of 2005, after 6 years of studying, I graduated with my degree from LBC (as the valedictorian of my class no less—I mention this because I nearly flunked High School!). I loved my years of study & preparation at LBC and I am currently working on my Master of Divinty at Evangelical Theological Seminary in Myerstown.

Things I enjoy—-ice cream, playing games, the Phillies (torturous, but true!), the Oakland Raiders (even more torturous!), putting puzzles together (I am currently working on an 8,000 piece puzzle!), proclaiming the Word of God, reading a thought-provoking book and just hanging out and talking with people!