John King, Preaching Pastor
John King grew up in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the College of William & Mary in Virginia. He began his seminary studies through Fuller Theological Seminary and received a Master's degree in Religion and a Master of Divinity from Eastern (now Palmer) Theological Seminary. During those years of study, he served with the ministry of Young Life and on the staff of several area churches. He was originally ordained as a minister of evangelism by the Evangelical Church Alliance in 1974.
For eighteen years, he served as an adjunct professor at Eastern College (now university) in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. In 1998, he was re-ordained in the PCUSA. After serving a church in Wilmington, Delaware, in 2006 he began serving churches as an interim pastor and has been active in that ministry through the present time, serving congregations of all sizes in various presbyteries in the Delaware Valley region.
He is married to Marlo, who retired from a career in nursing several years ago after 30 years in the Emergency Department at Crozer Chester Medical Center. In her retirement, she has been working as a substitute school nurse in the Garnet Valley School District, a very different experience than an urban ER! John and Marlo have three sons and seven grandchildren and can often be found at the games and activities of the younger ones who live in the area.
David Steel, Service Leader
Dave was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware and recently returned after spending 26 years in Northern New Jersey where he had worked in IT, travelling to Europe, Canada and throughout the United States and lecturing for a short while at NYU (his alma mater).
Moving back to Delaware in 2005 to take a position at Wilmington Trust Company, he brought his wife Raffaela known as Rae (now married 40 years) and son Fred (33 years old). Dave and his wife, who is Italian on both sides, now live in North Wilmington with their cats and an 89 year old baby grand piano.
Musically, Dave has played piano and organ since he was 6 and studied privately with two Wilmington based concert pianists. He has composed choral music, a series of preludes for piano and has written over 60 arrangements of songs from the American Songbook. He has studied composition and conducting and, although he plays jazz and ragtime, Billy Joel and Elton John, he leans towards the classics and his favorite composer remains Beethoven.
Having retired in 2017, he now sleeps in, takes long showers, practices his piano ‘til all hours and consumes all the Italian food his wife can make. Dave calls this 'a blessed life'.
Daniel "Dino" Firmani, Sexton
In addition to being Concord Liberty’s Sexton, Dino Firmani has been with FedEx for over 30 years and previously worked for US Airways for 24 years. He now enjoys helping the congregation handle all of its needs, diligently caring for the church property and its contents.
Dino attended West Catholic High School for Boys in Philadelphia but eventually moved to Delaware and has called Delaware his home for more than 30 years. He’s been married to his wife Nancy for more than 40 years and has two adult children, Cory and Nadine, and has a Great Pyrenees dog named Willie.
Dino is an avid runner who has completed 24 marathons. During his vacation and “down” times he likes going to his condo in North Wildwood, New Jersey.
Mary Ann Emely, Church Secretary
After a lifelong career in working with various types of non-profit organizations, Mary Ann transitioned from full-time work (mostly in the Washington, DC area) to part-time work in the Brandywine/Delaware Valley area in order to live closer to her children and grandchildren. Concord Liberty Presbyterian Church is the first religious non-profit for which she has worked. She also does administrative volunteer work for a large regional cat rescue organization in this area, Forgotten Cats. Mary Ann enjoys doing things that require writing, technical and graphic skills and looks forward to working on select projects with the CLPC Elder responsible for Communications, Carol Nickey.
Mary Ann’s writing skills are supported by a degree in English from the University of Connecticut (she was raised in Connecticut) while her creative skills have evolved around her natural abilities in that area, and have been supported by years of on-the-job training and continuing education to grow her knowledge and improve those abilities.
Mary Ann resides in Glen Mills with her husband Chuck and one senior long-haired cat, Pearl. When not working or volunteering, she enjoys opportunities to see her children and grandchildren who live in Cochranville, Pennsylvania and Street, Maryland. She also enjoys patio gardening, feeding the birds, going to occasional equestrian events to watch her granddaughter, Maddy, a rider in eventing, and exploring restaurants in the area.