Alumni New Book Celebration – Mark Ennis (Class of 1983) and Beth Scibienski (Class of 2005)

Beth Scibienski is the pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church, a vibrant congregation in central New Jersey that loves, learns, and laughs together. She started working at Grace one month before her late husband was diagnosed with Secondary Progessive Multiple Sclerosis. In Who is God When We Hurt, Beth, a newly-ordained pastor at the time of her husband Pete’s diagnosis, tells stories of loss and grief, faith and doubt, from our own life and from life as the pastor of a dynamic, loving community of faith. So often people question, “where is God when we hurt?” Her experience has shown her that God was readily present in the people who surrounded her, and her parishioners, when they were hurting. Rather than “where is God,” a better question might be, “who is God when we hurt?”

Beth has blogged extensively on grief and loss. Her lectionary reflections are featured on Textweek and have been published in the Abington Preaching Annual 2016. She is the co-host of the Two Pastors’ Podcast and a Reiki Master. ​She has two adult sons, Dan and Joe, a daughter-in-law, Faith, and two grandchildren. The Scibienski clan is smart and kind. They keep Beth’s theology fresh and honest. Together, they have navigated life together with resilience and grace. In her free time, she enjoys playing the guitar, singing, and cooking local vegetables from local farms.

Mark Ennis and his wife, Pam, are graduates of Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and NBTS. Mark, who pastors Clinton Avenue Reformed Church in Bergenfield, New Jersey, has had extensive training since seminary in counseling, chaplaincy, and mentorship, and most recently completed training as a Crisis Counselor and a Disaster Victim Chaplain for Bergen County and the State of New Jersey. He was one of the chaplains deployed at the opening of the National 911 Memorial Museum in New York City, where he ministered to survivors, first responders, and their families. Active as the vice-chair of the Englewood Hospital Chaplaincy Committee and the secretary-treasurer of the board of directors of the Bergen County Council of Churches, he was recently honored with the President’s Award from the council of churches on November 5, 2018. His hobbies include woodworking, reading and writing, and motorcycle riding. He currently has two adult daughters and seven grand-cats, and is awaiting the birth of his first grandchild.

Mark’s book, The Circle of Seven: When His Servants are Weak, is a short novel based on real-life traumas through which Mark has counseled pastors. When a traumatized minister has nothing left to give and is on the brink of despair, how can he find the strength to go on? Along the path to hope and healing, the Reverend William de Plore learns that true ministry is universally challenging, pastoral care is intense, and no one is immune to human limitations.