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Our Pastor
Dr. Calvin W.
Todd
Calvin Todd has served as pastor of our
congregation since 1988. A life -
long Associate Reformed Presbyterian, Pastor Todd graduated from Erskine College
in 1969, Reformed Theological Seminary in 1972, and received the Doctor of
Ministry degree from Erskine Theological Seminary in 1985. He has served as pastor of ARP churches in
both Tennessee and South Carolina.
His desire and goal in ministry is to see God's people built up in
the faith through the preaching and teaching of His Word so that they themselves
can do works of service for God's glory and praise. His passion is to proclaim the
"unsearchable riches of Christ" through the expository preaching of God's
Word. Pastor Todd and his wife, Lisa, have two children and five grandchildren.
Church Secretary & Youth
Director
Gail
Fowler
Gail Fowler has served this congregation as Youth Director since May of 1999. Gail graduated from Phillips Junior College in
May of 1990 with an Associates Degree in Travel and Tourism. She served as
a youth volunteer for 5 years at the First Presbyterian
Church, Pascagoula, Mississippi. In 1993 she became the Interim Youth Director and served
in that capacity until moving to Fayetteville, Tn. in November
of 1996. She worked for a travel agency in Huntsville, AL. for 2 years before
receiving the call to Fayetteville ARP Church. In November of 2005 she
took on additional duties as church secretary.
Gail's desire in ministry is
to see each young person realize and accept their need for a personal Lord
and Savior and encourage them to develop a growing and maturing relationship
with Him through Bible studies and retreats. She also encourages them to share
their faith with others through mission trips and in their daily
lives.
Director Of Music
Ministries
Joe
Stephenson
Joe Stephenson has been the Director of Music Ministries at our church for the past
ten years. He feels the purpose of music ministry in the church is to
help each person gain a closer relationship with our Lord
through the inspiration of beautiful music. Joe grew up in a
music program. His grandfather was a singer and traveled all
over the southeast singing for revival meetings. He also
sang for thousands of weddings and funerals. Joe's father
was the Director of Music Ministries at First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida for over 40 years and his
mom was the organist there. Joe grew up in a full time music program. After
graduation from Stetson University on a violin scholarship with a Bachelor of
Arts degree, Joe attended Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where he
studied with Joseph Flummerfeldt, one of the world's leading authorities in
choral conducting. Joe was also a featured soloist in the Westminster Choir in
concert and on recordings. After leaving Westminster, Joe lived for awhile in
Southampton, New York, where he was the Director of Music Ministries at First
Presbyterian Church. Joe has also served First United Methodist in Pulaski,Tn.
and First Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Al. before
coming to our church. One of Joe's greatest joys in music is teaching youth and
children to find their own voice and love of music. There is not one
person, who with care and patience, cannot learn to sing to the
Lord.
Church
Organist
Christopher-Joel Carter,
IV
Christopher-Joel Carter IV, hails originally from the city of Albertville, Alabama. As a child, Christopher was exposed to the music of his area (Sand Mountain), and to the music that his parents played nonstop (everything from Southern Gospel to Funk). He is known for his mastery and easy adaptations of myriad genres of music,
which
he attributes to his musically broad childhood, and classical
training.
At the age of four, Christopher began his piano training, yet it wasn't until
he was fourteen years old did he receive truly formal training. Prior to
classical training, Christopher was schooled in Southern Gospel, jazz, and
Liberace styles. At fourteen, he auditioned with Dr. Margery McDuffie Whatley at
the University of Alabama at Huntsville, and became her student for over nine
years. During his high school years, Christopher was the principal accompanist
for his high school's choral program. Since he "does not sing" - he was invited
to be part of the chorus/s and would receive his final grade on dependence of
his piano accompanying. This event is what "set the ball rolling" in his
technique evolution and his deftness at sight-reading almost any score without
fault - an "A" was always the grade.
Christopher was nominated numerous times as the Alabama
All-State Pianist, and landed him his first "real job" as an accompanist to the
former Gerhart Children's Chamber Chorus in which he composed his "Sanctus" for
children's chorus and string quartet. At college, he also became an organ
performance major and has been also a professional organist for over nine
years.
After studies began with Dr, Whatley in 1996, Christopher
performed in master classes with Olga Kern (Van Cliburn Gold Medalist), Cameron
Carpenter (Organ Virtuoso), Yakov Kasman (Van Cliburn Silver Medalist), Martin
Katz, Frederica von Stade, as well as many others.
As a composer, Mr. Carter has had his music performed at the Bass Performance Hall
in Fort Worth, Texas, and Carnegie Hall in New York, and the British Islands.
Most recently he collaborated with a new high school
production of "Cinderella" and composed
the complete score. The score featured innovative techniques in the musical
ensemble such as extended piano technique (playing music on the strings, and inside
parts of the piano) and musical patterns based in color-timbre
relations.
© 2012
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