Prologue: The What Before The Here

There is an anecdote in my family that tells why I was baptized as a Presbyterian. Dad had been hired at Baylor Medical. He had finished his stint in the Navy and was leaving Norfolk for Houston with my Mother and brother, Bill. Apparently my folks had been attending an Episcopalian Church because they paid a visit to the priest before leaving, asking for a recommendation of a church in Texas. I think he must have known Dad was raised Episcopalian and Mom Presbyterian, because he quipped, “Well, I don’t know any Episcopalians out there, but I do know the Presbyterian guy, and he’s great.” My brother David and I were born in Houston and have, as they say, “worn the blue hose” all our lives.

With the exception of two years teaching public school followed by four years in graduate school, my work history has been as a Presbyterian Church educator laboring in the environs of the Presbytery of Charlotte in NC. I began, as many have, serving as a generalist educator in a medium-sized church. I did a stint as a church secretary, served another congregation as DCE, then was the Administrative Director of a non-profit organization for seniors. Then came a span of time when I taught Continuing Education courses in area Community Colleges and did some supply preaching. It has become clear that God has created in me that rare animal known as an interim educator. I have done separate tours at the presbytery office as assistant to the AP for Church Development and Mission & Justice as well as in the area of Bookkeeping & Data. I completed an 18-month interim for Children at a large-membership church. I’m back at the Presbytery, as the Interim Coordinator for Communication. It helps that I am terminally curious and love to learn new things. I go where there is need and jump right in. A fellow educator refers to me as a “relief worker”: someone who knows all the jobs on the assembly line and can step up to relieve another for a break.

I will reflect on the wider implications of being a PC (USA) educator in the 21st Century in future entries.