Genesis -The Beginning

In August of 1993, with key in hand, I opened the door of Genesis Crisis Pregnancy Center in Phoenixville. A meeting was to be held in a few days with Board President, Jon James, to meet the volunteers and present to them some new ideas for ministry growth. We discussed how things had been previously done and presented a few new ideas. Gradually, new policies and procedures were implemented, and we continued to minister to young women who came to us seeking help.

In the spring of 1983, Diane Lawrence read a series of articles published by Moody Monthly on the reverence of human life. She already had an interest in the pro-life area since her work as a certified registered nurse anesthetist brought her into contact with doctors who were performing abortions.

Diane had already taken a personal stand that she would not assist with abortions, and God used these articles to further convict her heart.

In May 1983, Diane attended a meeting in Philadelphia sponsored by the Christian Action Council. They described their ministry of crisis pregnancy centers all over the country. Diane was challenged to begin a center in the Phoenixville area to take a stand against abortion and to offer alternatives to women in a crisis pregnancy. At this time, the seeds had been sown for the vision of Genesis Crisis Pregnancy Center.

John Marshall, of the Philadelphia Christian Action Council, came to Heritage Bible Church to speak in October of 1983.

This church was challenged to begin a crisis pregnancy ministry, so they began forming com­mittees and seeking other evangelical Christians who were interested in participating. Approximately seventy other Christians from fundamental churches in the Spring-Ford area were led of God to help launch this ministry. These included Faith Bible Fellowship Church of Spring City, Royers­ford Bible Fellowship, Heritage Bible Church, Evangelical Congregational Church of Royersford, Calvary Bible Church, and Schuylkill Valley Baptist.

In January 1984, a formal steer­ing committee was formed. They worked directly with Christian Action Council (soon to be called Care-Net) and began developing the ministry of Genesis. The first volunteer training session was conducted by trainers from the National Christian Action Council in August of 1984.

The original Board of Directors included Diane Lawrence (President), Rod Poskitt (Vice President), Evelyn Leonard (Secretary), Connie Corbin (Treasurer), and Sally Holubec (Church Representative Coor­dinator). In addition, Doug Wynne, Lynne Pannabaker, and Pastor Dennis Cahill, Asst. Pastor of Calvary Bible Church served on the board.

The seeds sown a year earlier had now begun to sprout and rise up to serve the women in the community. Located at 25 S. Main Street in Phoenixville, the doors of Genesis Crisis Pregnancy Center officially opened on October 1, 1984. Ellen Radcliffe, the first director, followed by Lynn Trefethen-Pannebaker, led the ministry through 1985. In addition, an Assistant Director, Barabara Goehring, was hired to oversee the new shepherding home program and train volunteers.

As the ministry began to grow, the location of Genesis was changed to 202 Gay Street, Phoenixville. In 1986, Sue Poskitt, RN became the new director and served in this capacity for about six years. During this time, she implemented a post-abortion counseling outreach, “God's Healthy Directions,” (a chastity program for youth), and the “Mother Care Program,” (a mentoring course to enhance parenting skills).

Following Sue Poskitt's years of ministry at Genesis, Diane Attenboro, RN served as Director of the pregnancy center for one year. Throughout Diane Attenboro's role as Director, she was able to see the growing impact that Genesis was having on the community. Nine years had passed and many changes had occurred with Genesis Crisis Pregnancy Center. New programs had been implemented and more lives blessed.

The seeds of Genesis were planted through the vision of Diane Lawrence CRNA, watered by other Christians who embraced her vision and continued to nurture it over the first several years of the ministry. During this time, through the use of volunteers and the support of surrounding churches, Genesis was able to branch out to many teens and young women faced with unplanned pregnancies. The ministry continued to blossom through abstinence instruction and a mentoring program for new mothers.

Having sown the seeds for a new pregnancy center in Reading, I was approached by the board of Genesis to consider a position as Director. I felt called to the ministry and began the role as Executive Director in 1993. After much prayer, discussion, and planning, Genesis was moved in 1994 to downtown Pottstown at 151 King Street. Since the move, the ministry of Genesis continued to blossom and several hundred additional young women were ministered to annually.

Our affiliation with both Care Net and Baptists for Life encouraged us to change our name from Genesis Crisis Pregnancy Center to Genesis Pregnancy Care Center. Women could not comprehend they were in a “crisis,” and the word “care” seemed more appealing to them according to surveys done by Care Net and others. Following the name change of the ministry, there was a significant increase in the amount of clients Genesis was able to impact.

Due to the growth of the ministry, more space was desperately needed. In October 1998, we moved to 888 E. High Street. Our board Chair at that time, Dr. Larry Kenney, had expressed his desire for us to eventually acquire our own building. We had originally rented the facility until, through the generosity of many donors, it was purchased in March of 2001.

Mara Kirschner had served as a volunteer client adviser for several years and was offered a position of Client Services Director/Abstinence Instructor. This was not a completely new role for Mara considering she had previous taught our “True Love Waits” abstinence program as a volunteer.

In addition, Mara assisted the Director in various capacities including our annual Christmas Baby Blessing Tree Project and helped with the material assistance for our clients.

A few years later, Melody Gardner, a volunteer client adviser, was hired as the Development Director. Under her leadership, she organized all fundraising efforts, including the Annual Fall Banquet, Baby Bottle Blast, and Walk for Life. In addition, she assisted with the opening of our Genesis Kid's Thrift Shop in 2006.

A ministry such as Genesis cannot merely flourish and grow through a few staff members. Rather, there is a need for strong individuals to cultivate, nourish, and promote the needs of the ministry both inside and outside of the walls of the center itself.

Through the years, the Genesis Board of Directors has fulfilled this capacity. The board has been comprised of men and women from many walks of life including accountants, pastors, counselors, psychologists, physicians, nurses, businessmen and women, educators, mothers and dads. Some that have served include: Harold Benfield, Larry Stevenson, David Hamerick, Daniel Flint, Dottie Manney, Jon James, Joe Amadee, Daniel Linehan, Diane Lawrence, Dr. Larry Kenney, Brenda Mogel, Debbie Kuntz, Dr. Lorraine Bruce, Pastor Ozzie Vater, Pastor Robin McKinley, Ron Stauffer, Carl Thompson, Robert Posenauer, Mike Rudolf, Bill Baird, Gregg Vermeesch, Gene Epps, Melody Gardner, Joshua Kulp, Diane Tyson, and Steve Breidigan. This is not a comprehensive list, but includes the majority of those that have served over the years.

With the assistance of Diane Tyson, Biblical Counselor and Board Chair, several changes were made a few years ago to insure that all materials being used were Biblically solid. Psychology has permeated virtually all pregnancy care centers, including Care Net, with whom we had been affiliated.

As a result of the pollution of their training manuals and conferences, we disaffiliated with Care Net. Many pro-life materials on the market, such as brochures, booklets, and books have doctrinal errors, and we have worked hard to eliminate these items from our stock. At this point, we were searching for a strong Biblical counseling affiliation which we found through Hope National and NIFLA (National Institute of Family & Life Advocates).

After receiving board training with Hope National, we have become even more convicted of the importance of godly leadership. Our current board members include Janet Swartzentruber (Chair), Bernice Clark (Vice-Chair), and Alana Meshey (Secretary).

Our desire is to continue to keep the ministry growing by recruiting and training volunteers with a strong biblical foundation that will adhere strictly to our doctrinal statement which was set in place 25 years ago. Over the years, many things have changed at Genesis, however, our original vision of helping young women with an unplanned pregnancy while still boldly proclaiming the Gospel, has not changed.

Consequently, we have been blessed to watch our ministry grow and prosper over these past 25 years. During this time we have gone from seeing approximately 50 clients per year to over 350-400 annually. This kind of growth has happened because of the support of indi­vidual Christians and churches in the tri­county area. However, we know that none of this growth would have happened if it weren't for the Lord blessing our ministry. Throughout our 25 year history, God has proven once again that indeed, “He is Faithful.” 

By: Dianne Pomon,
RN Executive Director/p>