People-Pastor Richard
Bio
The Rev. Richard Bierwas and his wife Carol came to the Community Church of Ho-Ho-Kus from The First Presbyterian Church of Liberty, NY. They and their three sons had previously spent three years at the Reformed Church of Shawangunk located a few miles outside of the hamlet of Wallkill, NY.
Carol is a public school teacher in Tenafly, N.J. where she teaches, English as a second language. Carol also has a master’s degree in religious education from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and has worked in youth, education and music, since 1982. Pastor Richard grew up in nearby Pompton Lakes. During his childhood his family spent 2 years living in the South Pacific in the United States territory of American Samoa, where his father had been hired to be a school principal. The Bierwas Family returned to Pompton Lakes in 1971.
After graduating from Rutgers University pastor Richard worked as a mortgage appraiser for Hudson City Saving Bank. At about this time, he began to prepare for missionary work through the Reformed Church in America. In the middle of his preparations he met, and after a whirlwind courtship, married his wife Carol.
Shortly after their wedding they went to Bahrain, a small island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. Pastor Richard served as the administrator of the Family Bookshops, while Carol taught English as a second language in the mission school.
They returned to the US in 1990 relocating to Holland, Michigan, where Carol worked in a local church while Richard attended Western Theological Seminary. He graduated in 1995 and the following year began work as the assistant pastor of Second Reformed Church in Wyckoff, NJ. In 1999 he became the pastor of the Reformed Church of Shawangunk. He came to Ho-Ho-Kus after completing his interim pastorate in Liberty, NY.to grow in the faith and knowledge of the Lord.
Monthly message
Pastor Richard writes a monthly message for the Carillon which you can read here.