Rev. Stephen Paul Merki, age 59, of Quailwood Parkway, La Plata, passed away on Monday, March 6, 2017, at home following a 7-year battle with ALS “Lou Gehrig’s disease”. Steve Merki was an extraordinary example of faith, service and love to all who knew him. He was born on September 13, 1957 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and went home with his parents to Nazareth, Pennsylvania (true story). He and his three younger siblings learned their passion for serving God, community and family from their parents, Paul and Mary Ellen Merki. His father was an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, to which he devoted his life’s work, serving as Pastor in churches from Alaska to Maryland, and Steve followed in his Dad’s footsteps. After receiving his Masters in Divinity from the Nazarene Theological Seminary, he accepted a position as Pastor of the Sunnyvale Church of the Nazarene, in Sunnyvale, California, where he served for ten years. In 1992 he moved with his wife Diane and four children to Waldorf, Maryland after accepting the position of Pastor at the St. Charles Church of the Nazarene – now Lifestream Church of the Nazarene. He did not limit his service to his […]
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