We are excited to introduce Commissioned Ruling Elder (CRE) Ken Killian! Ken was recently commissioned and is serving at the First Presbyterian Church of Johnstown. Take a moment to learn more about his background, interests, and how he decided to go into ministry. Tell us a little about yourself.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and raised in Boiling Springs. I was baptized at four years old in a small Methodist church, but my faith began to take shape in my early teens when I started riding the bus each Sunday to attend a Bethel Assemblies church on my own. I didn’t always understand what was happening, but I loved the experience of worship—especially being surrounded by other kids my age.
In high school, I joined a brass quintet with my sister and friends, and we played special music in churches across our area. Visiting so many denominations sparked a lifelong fascination with organized religion and the many ways Christian communities worship and serve.
I graduated from Boiling Springs High School and Gettysburg College with a B.S. in Sports Medicine, then earned an MBA in Marketing from the University of Phoenix. Before attending Union Presbyterian Seminary, I spent most of my career in sales and corporate training.
I met my wife, Jenny, at Gettysburg, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. We enjoy time at her family’s cottage on Lake George and traveling to see our children. Our daughter, Andrea, and her husband, Clay, live in Madison, Wisconsin; Andrea has a doctorate in Biochemistry and is moving to Maine this year to teach at Colby College. Our son, Tom, and his wife, Emily, are Second Lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force and are currently stationed in the Florida panhandle.
Will you share a little about your hobbies with us?
I love to read and can often be found on my back patio with a book in hand. I also enjoy playing golf—not for the score, but for the gift of being outdoors, taking in the peace of God’s creation. And I love community theater. I started doing shows with my daughter when she was nine, and I’ve kept performing ever since. There’s nothing quite like the exhilaration of the stage—and the joy of helping someone step out of their everyday life, even if only for a little while.
How did you decide to go into ministry?
My journey to ministry has been a long, slow burn—until it wasn’t. For most of my life, my work has centered on people: customer service, sales, training, and leadership. Looking back, it’s clear those roles were forming something in me—shaping how I listen, how I communicate, and how I see the needs and possibilities within a community. Along the way, volunteering became less of an “extra” and more of a natural extension of who I was becoming.
Other parts of my life helped, too. Training and acting strengthened my ability to present clearly, connect quickly, and relate to people with empathy and attention. In ways I didn’t fully recognize at the time, God was weaving all of it together.
In the church, I was invited into service again and again. I spent years serving as a deacon in a variety of roles, served on committees, and eventually felt called to become a ruling elder. That’s when the slow burn became a steady fire. I began to see—sometimes gently, sometimes with a nudge I couldn’t ignore—that God had been leading me toward ministry for a long time.
The service, the training, the performing, the worship—it all played a part in helping me accept that call. Ministry may be a second career for me, but it has always been my first vocation. I just finally decided to listen.
What are you looking forward to in your role at First Presbyterian Church of Johnstown?
Most importantly, I’m really looking forward to getting to know the folks at First Presbyterian Church in Johnstown and growing together in faith as we figure out how God is calling us to love and serve our community.
