Seminary Honors Rev. Sara Hertzog, Rev. John Dieterly

May 6, 2022

Awarded for Excellence in Ministry

Lancaster Theological Seminary honored two of its graduates with awards recognizing excellence in ministry during the graduate school’s annual Alumni Day event held on May 6, 2022.

“On behalf of the Lancaster Seminary Alumni Council, I am personally honored to bestow these prestigious awards to Rev. Sara Hertzog and Rev. John Dieterly,” said the Rev. Dr. Chris Rankin, Alumni Council president. “We are delighted to honor them for their faithful ministries.”

The Reverend Sara Hertzog, who earned a Master of Divinity degree in 2006 from Lancaster Seminary, is pastor of Maidencreek Church in Blanton, Pa. She received the 2022 Allan S. Meck Award for Excellence in Pastoral Ministry, which honors the memory of Allan S. Meck, Class of 1911, president of the Seminary from 1947-57.

The Reverend John Dieterly, who earned a Master of Theology degree in 1969 from Lancaster Seminary, received the 2021 Robert V. Moss Award for Excellence in Specialized Ministry, named for Robert V. Moss, Jr., Lancaster Theological Seminary Class of 1945, president of the Seminary from 1957-69.

2022 Meck Award recipient Rev. Sara Hertzog has pastored the Maidencreek Church (a federated UCC/ELCA church) for 16 years, and in that time doubled the size of the faith community in size and ministries, completed a $800,000 capital campaign, and completed a $250,000 ADA-compliant addition to the church. Read more.

2022 Moss Award recipient Rev. John Dieterly, now retired, has served ministries in Ghana and Belize, and while employed by  Heifer International, worked on projects in China, Haiti, Equador, the Dominican Republic, and in the Appalachia region of the U.S. Prior to retirement, he pastored churches in Manheim, Pa., and Greensboro, N.C. Read more.