Christ Our Focus

We declare that Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God as revealed in the Bible, the written Word of God, is the only Savior and Lord. He is the center of our shared experience of true biblical unity. This leads to our mission, which is

to make fully-developing disciples of Jesus Christ, who ...

...passionately pursue Christ,

...desire life change,

...serve others effectively, and

...seek those who need Christ.

Fellowship of Churches

Maranatha Brethren Church is a part of a movement of churches begun under great persecution in 1708. In the United States we are called the Charis Fellowship. Internationally we are part of the Charis Alliance.

This is our commitment to Biblical truth, Biblical relationships, and Biblical mission. 

Staff

Get to know some of the leadership at Maranatha.

  • Dan Thornton

    dethornton@outlook.comDan joined Maranatha as Executive Pastor in 2010. He comes to Hagerstown from Soldotna, Alaska, where he served at the Peninsula Grace Brethren Church for twenty years. In addition to preaching and teaching, Dan enjoys Bible study, playing trombone, and directing music groups. He has been married to Susan since 1980 and they have four adult children and six grandchildren. In his spare time, Dan is section-hiking the Appalachian Trail. You can contact Dan by email or check out his Facebook page.

  • Ron Shank

    Ron began his ministry at Maranatha in 1985 as the full-time Youth Pastor, later serving as Associate Pastor.  He served in the church full-time for 23 years before he became the Director of Pastoral Care at Brook Lane Health Services in Hagerstown in 2008.  Ron took a new role ministering on the Preaching Team for fourteen years until 2022 when he again came on staff, part-time, as Worship Pastor. His current role is to lead the ministry teams that together create an atmosphere of meaningful worship each Sunday, and to plan special events.  

    Ron and his wife Nancy have been married since 1982 and have two grown children Matthew and Bethany.  In his spare time, he enjoys singing, gardening, and snow!  He currently serves on the Board of Momentum, which is one of the national ministries of the Charis Fellowship.

  • Cheryl Leisinger

    Cheryl became Church Secretary in 2017. She worked as a public school teacher a few years before leaving the profession to be a stay-at-home mom. For seventeen years she cared for her family and educated their children, while serving Christ at Maranatha and in the community.
    Her primary ministries have been in children's and youth ministries. She taught several classes at Heritage Academy in 2022. Cheryl and her husband Tim have been married since 1990 and have four children: Megan, Jacob, Jesse and Jason. 

  • Elders

    The following men generously give of their time to serve Maranatha as elders: Eric Barger, Jeff Reed, Russ Robinson, and Dan Thornton.