Staff at Riverdale!

          Hey Riverdale! My name is Jason Clapper and I was born in Susquehanna County on April 3^rd 1984. Susquehanna is a small town in north eastern P.A (forty-five minutes north of Scranton.) My mom died when I was one, and I was raised by my grandmother. I was introduced to Christ at Creation Festival in 2001 by my pastor. Meeting Christ changed my life forever, and I began to realize that since God did so much for me the only thing I could do was give my life back to Him. I soon began leading Bible studies in High School and served the church in whatever capacities I could.
I graduated from Mansfield University in 2008 with a double major in Philosophy and Communication with a minor in Leadership Studies. I spent four years as a student leader at Mansfield University for Campus Crusade for Christ. Campus Crusade provided much opportunity and training for leadership in the Christian Church, and God used this time to mature my leadership skills and discipleship skills. I also learned to play guitar while at Mansfield, and have lead musical worship in several Churches over the last five years. I love to sing and lead people into the presence of God.

God gave me a very special gift while doing student ministry at Mansfield: my wife. In 2008 I married my best friend, Laurel Horstman (now Clapper). I met Laurie, a student from Gettysburg at the time, through a regional meeting of Campus Crusade student leadership. Laurie graduated from Gettysburg College in 2006 and went on staff with Campus Crusade for two years. God has done many great things in my life, but my wife is the greatest blessing God has ever given me. We not only share a love for Christ, but a love for the Gospel and Jesus’ great commandment: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Mt. 28:19). I spent the 2008/2009 year at Evangelical Theological Seminary in Myerstown PA. I am currently attending Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and am an Inquirer for Ordination in the PC (USA) (Lackawanna Presbytery).

I’m incredibly excited about the new Director of Discipleship position at Riverdale, because discipleship is so necessary in the Church and is so close to the heart of Jesus. God used my time working with Campus Crusade and going to seminary to confirm in my heart the necessity of discipleship in the Christian world. God loves us, and created us to know Him personally. Unfortunately, we sinned against Him and went our own way. Yet God, in his great love and mercy, sent His Son to die on a cross and forgive our sins! (John 3:16) Something incredible, however, is that God does not intend it to simply end there. My mentor, Sam Shellenberger, always used to share his favorite bible verse with us: 2 Timothy 2:2: “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” It’s such an incredible reflection of what Discipleship is! God loves us and invests in us, but we are not supposed to keep that to ourselves. God wants us to share everything he has given us with others, just as Paul tells us that God “comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Cor 1:4). God blesses us so that we can bless others, and he wants us to realize that this is not a burden or a hassle, but an opportunity to help others and grow in our relationship with Him. I pray that God will use my time at Riverdale to help us explore what this means in our lives, and give us the incredible opportunity to be continually transformed into the image of Christ.