Reverend Taylor Young is a 34 years old pastor of St. Luke Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Madison, Tennessee. He is a first generation Cumberland Presbyterian and graduate of Memphis Theological Seminary. Taylor and his wife are expecting their first child soon and can't wait for that new journey. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Rian Puckett serves as the minister of the Faith Hopewell and New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian churches in the Batesville, Arkansas area. Additionally, he is the boys' basketball coach at Salem High School. Rian met his wife, Michelle, while students at Bethel College and they have two children, Colby and Brooklyn. Rian has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from Bethel and an Master of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary.    Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Audrey Adams, a 25 year-old life-long Cumberland Presbyterian and recent Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS) graduate, joins us today to talk about her faith journey. Audrey comes to us having graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM) in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a minor in Communications. While at UTM, Audrey balanced part-time work at a local law practice and participated and served in various organizations, including SGA and the Writing Center, as well as volunteered as the youth leader at Cool Springs Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Trimble, Tennessee, where her mother is the current pastor and where she was able to serve in various leadership roles at Cumberland Presbyterian youth functions. Through the English program, Audrey also had the opportunity to participate in two travel studies abroad during her time at UTM. After feeling called to further her education at Memphis Theological Seminary following her time at UTM, Audrey began studying at MTS in the Fall of 2021, and recently graduated in May of this year with a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry (MACM) with a specialization in social justice. Audrey is presently serving as the Store Manager at her family’s new business venture, For The Record, in downtown Union City, Tennessee.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Dennis Croslin writes, "I've been married to Melinda for almost 22 years. We have 8 children. I have been the pastor at Union Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church for 11 years and have been ordained since 2017. I'm a PAS graduate and a licensed funeral director and embalmer, which leads to various ministry opportunities. The church that I pastor is the church I grew up in along with my mother, my grandparents, and great-grandparents."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Blake Stephens is a life long Cumberland Presbyterian. He was raised in the First Cumberland Presbyterian church in Winchester, Tennessee. It was a long road to ministry for Blake but after many twists and turns he surrendered to the call. He serves the Owens Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian church in Winchester and just celebrated his 10th year there. Blake is a volunteer with his local search and rescue organization and serves as land search captain specializing in tracking and as the group chaplain. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Larry Blakeburn was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, but grew up in a mobile environment as his father prepared for and participated in full-time ministry. He has lived in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee. He graduated from Greeneville High School, Bethel University, and later earned a Master of Divinity degree at Memphis Theological Seminary. Additionally, he was the first recipient of a Doctor of Ministry degree from MTS. Larry joined the United States Marine Corps in 1968 and served in Vietnam in 1969, where he was awarded the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Larry was ordained on February 18, 1979. He has served five Cumberland Presbyterian churches: Bolivar CP Church, Bolivar, Tennessee, St. Luke CP Church, Ft. Worth, Texas, West Nashville CP Church, Nashville, Tennessee, Dyersburg First CP Church, Dyersburg, Tennessee, and First CP Church of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Dr. Blakeburn was President of Memphis Theological Seminary from 1997-2001.  He has served as commissioner to General Assembly several times. Larry was on the Board of Trustees of Memphis Theological Seminary from 1985-1991. He served nine years on the Board of Trustees of Bethel University. Larry was on the General Assembly Organizational Task Force in 2006 and 2007 to evaluate how our denominational organization and structure work together, and on the General Assembly Evaluation Committee for Memphis Theological Seminary and the Historical Foundation which reported to the 189th meeting of General Assembly. He has been moderator of five different presbyteries and served on the Board of Missions and the Committee on the Ministry in those presbyteries. His philosophy of ministry revolves around trying to be a pastor for every member of his congregation and not just those who agree with him theologically, politically, and socially. “Every congregation that I have served has been made up of people from a variety of religious traditions and people who are politically and socially diverse. We accept absolutely everybody, but that does not mean that we agree with everybody or that we approve of everything they do. We are all in the process of being saved and we are trying our best to be like Christ. Adapted from the Cumberland Presbyterian magazine, May 2024.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Nick Chambers was born and raised in Camden, Arkansas. He is the grandson of the late Rev. Leo Smith, who pastored for 50 years in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (CPC). His mother, former Women’s Ministry President, Martha Chambers, father, and father-in-law are ordained elders in the CP Church. His brother and aunt are also CP Ministers. But serving in the church was never the dream for Nick.  Nick and Andrea have six children who are all homeschooled. His two oldest kids help lead worship every Sunday. Nick has served as moderator of Arkansas and Grace Presbyteries, numerous presbyterial committees, and the Communications Ministry Team. He is currently the pastor of the Camden CP Church, and, via video stream, the Walkerville CP Church.  Adapted from the Cumberland Presbyterian magazine, May 2024.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Lucas Garcia is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Lucas writes, "I have been happily married for ten years to my beautiful wife Jennifer and we have a three year old son named Santiago. I have served the El Redil Cumberland Presbyterian Church for the past six years as its pastor. It has been a wonderful and fulfilling journey. I love playing the guitar and laughing."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Benjamin Diaz Villa is an ordained elder and pianist at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Houston, chair of Trinity Presbytery Board of Christian Education, and is currently a PhD aerospace engineering student at the University of Texas at Austin. His research is currently on hypersonic aeroelasticity, and he enjoys composing music in his free time.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Danny Willis is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister in Owensboro, Kentucky. He and his wife Jessica, join me in this faith journey on Cumberland Road. Danny writes, “my story is one of ‘I am lost and now I am found’ and being pulled from certain death, by God’s hand.  My church, wife, and children have all been a huge part of my journey; a journey that has just begun.”Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Matthew H. Gore is a British journalist, historian, popular culturist, archivist, and educator residing in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the immediate past-president of the Society of Tennessee Archivists and is best known for his book The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988 (2000). He has also published on a variety of topics as diverse as The Origin of Marvelman (a British superhero of the 1950s and 1960s), the relative scarcity of East German philatelics, and the biography of British pulp artist, Denis McLoughlin. He is employed by the Ministry Council of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at the Cumberland Presbyterian Center in Memphis, Tennessee, as editor of the Cumberland Presbyterian Magazine and as publications manager. He has been associated with both Western Kentucky University, which honored him with their James H. Poteet Award, and the University of Kentucky. He also serves as editor for all Boardman Books (Memphis, Tennessee) publications.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

LeighAnn Morgan is serving as the Congregational Life Director at Winchester Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Tennessee. She was raised in the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination and says she has "loved every second of it". She answered the call into ministry while in high school and graduated from Bethel University in Mckenzie, Tennessee with a major in Human Services. LeighAnn is now attending Memphis Theological Seminary.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Carissa Welch lives in Oklahoma. She and her husband have three children, 7, 5, and 2. She is a seminary student and attends Covenant Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Donna Frost is a traveling troubadour with decades of performing and touring experience. Expertly weaving folk, blues and pop, she creates memorable concerts that champion the human spirit. She logs thousands of miles each year, performing across the U.S., solo and with her band. With over 300 songs in her catalog and seven albums, her music has received airplay, charted and garnered awards worldwide. Recently, Donna won the Mississippi Music Foundation Best Americana Artist award in April 2023. She has performed a tribute to the late Skeeter Davis at Kentucky Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony; and has performed live on Chicago WGN TV. Giving back to the community, she is an active performer with Music for Seniors, “Musicians on Call” and “Songs of Love.” She is endorsed by Kamoa Ukuleles and Luna Guitars; and is an ambassador for True Joy Acoustics which donates ukuleles to pediatric hospitals for music therapy programs across the country. Her latest album The Beautiful Unseen is a collaboration with her longtime friend Jack Howell, and recorded in Joshua Tree, CA. (Adapted from https://donnafrost.com/press-kit/).Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Mitzi Minor joined the Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS) faculty in the summer of 1993. From the beginning of her vocation as a teacher/scholar, first as a grad student, through three years of teaching undergrads, and during all her time at MTS, the primary focus of her work has been (and continues to be) the intersection of the New Testament with our own spiritual journeys. She believes deeply that critical biblical study is a significant aid along the journey and seeks to demonstrate that belief in the classroom, in the church, and when she writes.Dr. Minor was reared in Southern Baptist Churches and continues to be grateful to those good folks in that setting who taught her to love the Bible. She left the turmoil of that denomination in 1990 and was ordained by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1991. Cumberland Presbyterians and their seminary (MTS) have provided a challenging and nurturing environment for Dr. Minor to grow as a person of faith and as a teacher/scholar. She teaches courses at MTS in the Gospels, Romans, the Corinthian letters, Revelation, NT Greek, and feminist NT studies. The Gospel of Mark was her first love as a grad student, and it inspires her still. She’s written two books and numerous articles on Mark and has lectured on the Second Gospel twice. In addition, she’s written a commentary on 2 Corinthians and given lectures inspired by that writing. She’s also lectured on Revelation.Beyond her work at MTS, Dr. Minor also spends significant time teaching in church and retreat settings, which brings her much joy. Lay Christians benefit from critical biblical study every bit as much as seminarians! While some people insist that critical study “won’t work” in church, Dr. Minor delights in proving them wrong. She delights even more in lay Christians’ eagerness to understand their Bibles.If possible, Dr. Minor would spend every moment outside of work hiking somewhere and taking her camera along. But since that’s not possible, she also fills her non-working hours with good friends, mystery novels and poetry, bicycle rides, being an Auburn sports fan, and attending to her large and close extended family.  - Bio from the faculty page of Memphis Theological Seminary https://memphisseminary.edu/dr-mitzi-l-minor/Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Justin Richter recently became the Director of Global Missions of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  He lives in Albuquerque and served there as a pastor at Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church for over fourteen years.  He had a multicultural upbringing with multi-ethnic parents and overseas living due to his father’s military career.  He has a passion for cross-cultural ministry and hopes to continue our denominations efforts to be global in its vision.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Merlyn Alexander celebrates 71 years of ministry in this faith conversation.  Ordained December 30, 1952, Merlyn has served Cumberland Presbyterian congregations in multiple presbyteries and states, as vice moderator of the General Assembly in 1992 and as moderator of the General Assembly in 1996.  He lives in Jackson, Tennessee.  Thanks to his daughter, Dewana Latimer, for making this faith conversation happen.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Emrie Smith Rogers is currently serving as minister of Tusculum Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. She grew up in Westborough, Massachusetts with a passion for missions and fluency in the Spanish language. Emrie came to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church by God’s leading through many unforeseen circumstances including her thwarted attempts to run away from God’s call. In the Cumberland Presbyterian Church she has found purpose, mentors, and opportunities to serve God. Emrie and her husband, Matt, met during COVID and now live in the South Nashville area with their adorable collie and trouble-making cat.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Rocky Johnson has been in the ministry for over 40 years. He has served Cumberland Presbyterian congregations in Greeneville and Morristown Tennessee and soon will start his 10th year as pastor at Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Clarksville Tennessee. He has been married to his wife Janet for 31 years and they have a 13 year old granddaughter, Mikeyaka, who lives with them. Rocky says, "We all try to contribute to the ministry and make it a family affair."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Rev. Dr. Robert S. (Stan) Wood is pastor of the Mt. Tabor Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America in Jackson, Tennessee since 2011.  He was Vice President of Academic Affairs/Academic Dean, Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program, Clara Scott Professor of Ministry at Memphis Theological Seminary retiring in 2017. He earned degrees from Bethel College, Memphis Theological Seminary, and Vanderbilt Divinity School. He is an ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America.  Prior to his appointment at Memphis Theological Seminary, Dr. Wood was employed by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America as General Secretary/Stated Clerk (1979-1997) and as Director of Christian Education (1973-1979), working at the church headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama. He and his wife, Patricia, live in Cordova, Tennessee.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Kevin Brantley writes, "I was born Dec. 25, 1971, in Ada, OK, the son of Wes Jr. and Susan Brantley. Dana and I were married May 26, 2007, and have 2 children: daughter Kristi (21) and son Wesley (13). I graduated from Ada High School in 1990, Bethel College in 1994 with a B.S. degree in Mathematics with an emphasis in Business and from Memphis Theological Seminary in 1998 with a M. Div. degree. I became a Christian in 1981 and joined the Latta Cumberland Presbyterian Church (now Covenant Cumberland Presbyterian Church) in Ada, OK, where I had attended all my life. I came under the care of Red River Presbytery in Spring 1994, was licensed in Spring 1996 and ordained by Red River Presbytery on June 7, 1998. I’ve been a member of Red River, West Tennessee and Cumberland presbyteries."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Earl Goodwin is a Birmingham, Alabama native. He has a background in education as well as his theological endeavors. In his little down time, he enjoys singing and working in live theater. In addition to his responsibilities serving the Stevenson, Alabama church, he is also a full time floral designer as well as Stated Clerk for Robert Donnell Presbytery. Earl is a graduate of The University of Montevallo and Memphis Theological Seminary.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Gina writes: "Hello, my name is Gina Wood, and I live in Knoxville, Tennessee. I am a third-generation Cumberland Presbyterian.  My parents are Reverend Leonard and Mary Jo Turner (C.P. royalty, according to me), and they have been at Union Cumberland Presbyterian Church for 51 years. I have two incredible daughters (Taylor & Anna) and a fantastic son-in-law (Matthew). My sister, brother-in-law, and two nephews (Tabitha, Dave, Guy, & Brodie Roberts) also live here in Knoxville, and we are all Cumberland Presbyterians attending Union together. I got called into the ministry in 2018 and have been working toward ordination ever since. I work at Ted Russell Ford Lincoln in Knoxville and recently became their chaplain. I am praying for revival in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, for Knoxville, Tennessee, and the country! Please pray with me for revival in our church and nation."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Jill Davis Carr is a Staff Chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. She is a Board of Trustee member of Memphis Theological Seminary and a board member for Missouri Presbytery of both Christian Education and Camp Cumberland. Jill holds an Master of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary and an MBA from Missouri State University. She has served in leadership roles with young people for over 30 years, especially at CPYC and Camp Cumberland. Jill has one daughter, Allison, who is also actively participating and serving in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Joy Warren grew up in South Carolina and was ordained by Nashville Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  She served nine years as Associate Pastor at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Murfreesboro Presbytery.  Now, she works for NFP as a Design and Consulting Specialist, modeling funding of non-qualified plans for bank executives.  Joy continues her ministry in the Murfreesboro, Tennessee area and beyond.  She serves as Treasurer of the National Farm Workers Ministry and has been on their board since 2014.  She was also instrumental on the Unified Task Force between two denominations from its inception in 2012 until dissolved in 2021. Joy is married, has two young adult children, and three dogs.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Edward H. Adair, a 1985 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law, is a former Federal Law Clerk and Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Department of the Interior.  He is currently a Licentiate under the care of the Presbytery of East Tennessee and works for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a Privacy and Regulatory Specialist.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Daniel Barkley is in his twelfth year as the minister at the Gadsden Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Gadsden, Alabama. He is married to Jamie, his high school sweetheart for 27 years, father of three sons (youngest is a senior in college), two daughter-in-laws, one grandson and a granddaughter who will be making her appearance by the end of August 2023. He was born and raised in Paducah, Kentucky and is a graduate of Bethel University and Memphis Theological Seminary.  He is the assistant volleyball coach at Glencoe High School, a substitute teacher, a member of board of trustees of Memphis Theological Seminary, a member of the Glencoe Ministerial Association, and a board member of Glencoe Athletic Foundation.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Anne Hames is the Senior Chaplain of Bethel University. Dr. Hames graduated from Bethel in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion. She earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctorate of Ministry degree from the Memphis Theological Seminary. Dr. Hames also teaches religion classes on campus.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Ellen Hudson Clark is currently a chaplain resident with Ascension St. Thomas in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband and partner in ministry Rev. Dr. Tommy Clark.  They have two dogs, Beatrice and Jameson and a cat named Nina. She is a graduate of Bethel University with her Bachelor in Science in Biology and Memphis Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity. She serves on the Board of Christian Education for Columbia Presbytery and has a particular passion for creating safe spaces for open, honest conversations. Ellen is also a “theatre kid” and enjoys her season tickets at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Heather Hennessee is a life long member of Bates Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Warren County, Tennessee where she serves as worship leader, bulletin creator, Sunday school teacher, and Women’s Group President.  Heather writes:I am married to Douglas Hennessee for 6 years and have a beautiful stepdaughter Bella. We complete our family with Hank Tater Bug Hennessee the Cow Dog. Yes, that is his name.I work full time for the 31st Judicial District Public Defenders office. I am mainly in General Sessions Court and have been deemed the rehab guru. I do my best to help those who find themselves in the ugly cycle of addiction. My husband and I also have a residential and commercial trash business that services 3 counties. To say the least we are very busy. We recently were able to rent a spot on Woods Reservoir for some down time and can’t wait to get away and enjoy it as much as we can."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Steve writes: "Reverend Steve Delashmit and Faye Delashmit have five children, twelve grandchildren, three great grandchildren and share a love for music, travel, and the Lord.  I was born a Cumberland Presbyterian and have served churches in Kentucky and Tennessee for 44 years. I am currently serving the New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Lebanon, Tennessee and look forward to many years of ministry to come."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Tyler Lindsey writes, "I was born on August 1st, 1994 to David and Ashley Lindsey. I am a life-long Cumberland Presbyterian and the grandson of Rev. Cordell Smith. I am the oldest of 3 siblings, and I am celebrating 7 years of marriage with my lovely wife, Heather (Hamblin) Lindsey. I spent most of my childhood in Bowling Green, Kentucky and attended the Bowling Green Cumberland Presbyterian Church. I was ordained in Cumberland Presbytery on June 13th, 2021."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Savannah writes, "My name is Savannah Lamb. I have been a Cumberland Presbyterian my whole life. I am a member of the St. Luke Cumberland Presbyterian church in Nashville, Tennessee. I am in college at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, majoring in Kinesiology to become a Physical Therapist. While at school, I worship with the Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian congregation. I currently serve on the CPWM Executive Committee in a new role as a Young Woman Ambassador."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hailing from Rogersville, Alabama, Darren Kennemer attended the University of North Alabama and Bethel University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology, minoring in Religion and Philosophy.  He also holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Memphis Theological Seminary and was ordained by West Tennessee Presbytery in 2003.  He is currently a member of Robert Donnell Presbytery.He completed his clinical residency and a fellowship in mental health chaplaincy at the VA Medical Center in Memphis.  Since 2006 Chaplain Kennemer has worked as a clinical chaplain with the Birmingham VA Health Care System, where he has been the Chief of Chaplain Service since 2011.  He is currently pursuing a doctorate from Vanderbilt University and expects to graduate in May 2025. The Reverend Kennemer has also served as a parish minister in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. He and his wife have two teenage children.  He enjoys anything outdoors and spending time with family and friends.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Judy Madden is minister of Pastor of Care at Pathway Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Burleson, Texas.  As Pastor of Care, Judy oversees pastoral counseling, funerals/memorials, hospital visits, support groups and is the primary contact for those in crisis or death.  Judy has been endorsed by Red River Presbytery for election as Moderator of the 192nd General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination.   Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Lynndon (Lynn) Thomas is currently the Director of Global Missions for the Missions Ministry Team of the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. Lynn's introduction to the mission field took place in his teenage years. He later attended Bethel and then Memphis Theological Seminary. After seminary, he married Nona Young Thomas, and they moved to Colombia, South America as missionaries. They returned in 1998 to the USA after eleven years on the mission field, where Lynn assumed the position of Director of Cross-Culture Missions USA. He facilitated planting churches in the USA among immigrant populations. He then took the position of Director of Global Missions and worked with Cumberland Presbyterian missionaries and mission fields outside the USA for twelve years. Lynn will leave his position at the end of June, 2023 and assume a new role as the Director of Program Development for OptIN, the trade school for Christian formation (Scottsboro Cumberland Presbyterian Church).Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Veronica Ent writes;"I reside in the small town of Hardinsburg, Kentucky.  I attend church at Garfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church were I am active in Cumberland Presbyterian Women's Convention (CPWM) and serve as Children’s Church teacher.    I have served as CPWM President on both the local and regional level, and presently serves as Convention President. Born into a Christian family who were sharecroppers, I have always been a part of a church family. I asked Jesus to come in to her heart at an early age and have lived most of my life in church.  I have spent most of my work life in education in one role or another.  From kindergarten aide to college educator (not professor) I have been a student of human behavior.  I worked as kindergarten aide in Hancock County under a wonderful mentor.  Then I worked at Owensboro Community College( 1987- 1997)  as I obtained my  Associates, Bachelors, and Master degrees in Psychology & Counseling." Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Daniel Ignacio Headley was born in Mexico but raised in the United States of America. Daniel is a mechanical engineer and a Cumberland Presbyterian minister.  God is showing him how to live pastorally in the workplace.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Daniel Ignacio Headley was born in Mexico but raised in the United States of America. Daniel is a mechanical engineer and a Cumberland Presbyterian minister.  God is showing him how to live pastorally in the workplace.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Lisa Oliver is the pastor of Mt. Tabor Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in Murfreesboro Presbytery. Lisa serves as Vice President of the Historical Foundation Board of Trustees, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Cumberland Presbyterian Women's Ministry, on the Still Waters Family Ministry Board in Murfreesboro Presbytery, and volunteers for Sacred Sparks in the Loads of Love Ministry. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, crocheting, going to plays presented by Parfait Studios and being mom to her cat fur baby named Sister.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. James Byrd is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister and serves the New Providence Presbyterian Church in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.  He is a graduate of Bethel College (University) and Memphis Theological Seminary.  He has served congregations in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky.  James writes: "I have been in the ministry for 53 years.  Mall call to the ministry came sometime before I responded. While in high school, I felt God working in my life.  Through it all, I have learned to trust God moving."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Debbie Shanks writes: "I have been married for over 50 years to Roy: we have three children by birth, three children by marriage, and twelve grandchildren. Roy is from Casey Illinois and I am from Louisville Kentucky.  We met and married in Louisville and spent the next eighteen months in southern Italy (Air Force), spent one year in Indiana, and then seven years in Tennessee before moving to Illinois 40 years ago.    I have been a church musician since I was twelve years old.  I started out as the pianist for First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Louisville Kentucky, then was the pianist/organist for both the Protestant and Catholic chapels on San Vito Air Force Base in San Vito, Italy, and then was the pianist for Goodlettsville Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Tennessee.  I have been the pianist for New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Yale Illinois for the last 40 years.  I spend a whole lot of time with 'dead people'.  I manage eight cemeteries and I am the historian for both of our families, as well as for several social and religious groups.  I spend countless hours researching ancestral connections, military histories, local histories, and census records in order to preserve the history and bring the 'dead back to life' for future researchers.   I am a Township Supervisor – the 'mayor' of 48 square miles of farm country.  I am a member of New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church, where I serve as an elder, Sunday school teacher, treasurer, musician, and a member of the Program Committee.  I am the Treasurer of North Central Presbytery and North Central Presbytery Cumberland Presbyterian Women's Ministry. I have served as the presbytery Moderator, a member of the Board of Finance and Trustees, and I am on the staff of the North Central Presbytery’s Sr. High/College camps and retreats.  I am the Stated Clerk/Treasurer of the Synod of the Midwest, and am the Secretary of the denominational Board of Stewardship, Foundation, and Benefits   I have more hobbies than I have time to list.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jodi Rush writes: I grew up in the McKenzie Cumberland Presbyterian Church but began life attending a Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Chicago, Illinois from the time I was born until we moved to McKenzie, Tennessee when I was five. I was very active in leadership at the McKenzie Church serving as a Sunday school teacher, VBS director, and as an ordained elder while in high school.  I attended Bethel College where I met my husband Kip and graduated from Bethel with Christian Education degree.  I worked at the Marshall Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Texas while Kip served at Elmira Chapel.  We lived in Rydal, Georgia for a few years and next was Beersheba Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Mississippi.  While there, I served as the Ecumenical Ministries Director on the campus of Mississippi University for Women. At the Brenthaven Church, I served at Director of Christian Education until beginning my work with the Discipleship Ministry Team as Director of Children and Family Ministry.  We have two adult daughters – Madison and Devin and two dogs – Oscar and Felix.  I love flower gardening, listening to live music, Broadway plays, and exploring and going new places. I have a cancer diagnosis since April of 2021.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

John Pyon is a part of the "GJH Ministry" new church development located in Duluth, Georgia and is currently working at the Air Force ROTC department at University of Georgia as an Instructor and serves in the United States Air Force as a Captain. He is also attending Memphis Theological Seminary to pursue a Master's Degree in Divinity and praying to become a chaplain following graduation. John loves to golf and exercise and is happily married to Hyeji and they have one dog: Daisy, and one cat: Songtan. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dusty Taylor writes:My name is Dustin, my family and camp friends call me Dusty. I am a have Associate in Applied Science in Land Surveying and that is what I do for a living. I grew up in the Walnut Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church in the middle of nowhere Arkansas. My mother’s brother was our preacher, and my dad’s family has been attending since the start of the church in the 1930s. Also, my dad’s cousins are elders and the session clerk of the church. We moved to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Booneville when I graduated high school after my uncle had retired from preaching. My parents both have been elders at the Booneville Church. My dad’s cousin is Cathi Littlefield who was the interim for the Women's Ministry for the denomination and a previous guest on this podcast. I moved my membership to the 1st Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Russellville in October 2022 because it is 30 minutes from my house and I had been driving 1.5 hours to church for the last 14 years. Rev. Jim Fisk is the pastor and Melinda Reams is a member of church and serves on the Ministry Council.  Both have been on your podcast. From 2010-2012, I served on the first Young Adult Ministry Council (YAMC). YAMC started my love for ship cruises. I have attended church camp from 2006 and now serve on the camp board as the current chair.  I love the outdoors, traveling, maps, and history. I have a 2-year-old adopted hound/blue heeler dog named Bleu. I have been working on locating old churches in Arkansas Presbytery and marking them on the map.  You can find them and additional information at www.arpcpc.org. I serve as Arkansas Presbytery's IT and Communications Director that includes website, historical research and recording, virtual meetings, local church tech support, and social media.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Peggy Jean “PJ” Craig serves as Senior Pastor at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Germantown (CPCG) in Germantown, Tennessee. Before coming to CPCG, Peggy Jean was the Assistant Director for K12 Partnerships at Rutgers University-Camden, New Jersey. She oversaw the university’s civic engagement strategic priority, while also leading Rutgers-Ignite, a STEM-based after school program; Rutgers Future Scholars, a pre-college scholarship program for first generation college students, the Hill Center for College Access, and the Camden College Access Network serving over 1,000 youth a year. Before Rutgers, Peggy Jean served as the Executive Director of the Advocate Center for Culture and Education at the historic Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Center provided programming deeply rooted in social justice, rigorous study, and community empowerment. Peggy Jean also worked at the international relief and development agency, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and served as a missionary and youth director in Laos, Alabama, and Atlanta. In Washington, she worked for the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church in advocacy and awareness raising around the continuing effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Peggy Jean received her PhD in Community Development-Public Affairs, and her M.S. in Public Affairs from Rutgers University-Camden, her M.Div. from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and her B.A. from Fordham University in communications. Peggy Jean currently serves on the boards of Volunteer Odyssey, Memphis’s one-stop shop for meaningful volunteer experiences, Metropolitan Inter-faith Association (MIFA), an organization supporting independence of vulnerable seniors and families, and Room in the Inn, an organization that shelters those experiencing homelessness in a safe environment of hospitality. She is an ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Peggy Jean is passionate about justice, diversity, equity, and all thingsfood-related. She lives in Memphis with her twin girls, Joji and Luca, and her husband, Matt McCaffrey.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Courtney Krueger is fortunate in that he grew up in a family that helped him experience Jesus’ love in many and various ways. He was born in South Carolina to a Roman Catholic father and a Baptist mother. He was raised in the Baptist church and went to a Baptist college (Furman University). He then went to a Methodist seminary for his master’s degree (Duke Divinity School) and a Presbyterian Seminary for his doctoral degree (Columbia Theological Seminary). He served as a pastor in two Baptist churches over a 24 year “career” before accepting the call to First Cumberland Presbyterian in 2015. All of these experiences have helped him develop a tremendous appreciation for the church universal as well as the powerful specifics of the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. Courtney is described by his coworkers and friends as a lifelong learner, an approachable mentor and counselor, enthusiastic and supportive coworker and friend, as well as a spiritual guide and caregiver to people of all ages.Courtney is married to his college sweetheart Lea. They have two grown children, David who is a phlebotomist in Chattanooga, TN and Sarah who is in graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.In his free time, Courtney can often be found competing in the odd equestrian sport of Ride and Tie (in which he is a seven time National Points Champion), receiving priceless gems of wisdom from his wife, riding his beloved horses or hosting groups, church members and strangers who become friends at their small horse farm in Cleveland, TN.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Ron McMillan states: "I was raised on a farm in west-central Missouri and graduated from Centerview Elementary School in 1960 and the former College High School of Warrensburg, Missouri, in 1965. After high school, I graduated with a B.S. in History from Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee. Also, I have a Masters of Arts from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, a Masters in Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary of Memphis, Tennessee, and a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.  I married the former Nita Edwards of Lebanon, Missouri, in 1969 and have three children and ten grandchildren. I served pastorates in Arkansas and Tennessee, and my last pastorate was as Senior Pastor of the Holly Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Memphis. I am presently the instructor of Church History for the Program of Alternate Studies of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and recently retired as an adjunct instructor of Bible for Belhaven University.I retired from the full time ministry ten years ago after fifty years of service. I continue to fill pulpits and serve in my presbytery. My hobby is writing and I have published several short stories. My first two novels should be published this year and I am working on my third."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Emily Trapp Young is a pastor in the Cumberland Presbyterian Denomination. She serves at Allsboro Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Cherokee, Alabama with her husband of four years, Ryan Young. Emily also works for Room in the Inn-Shoals which is a non-profit that provides emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness. She has a passion for ministry with youth, children, and those society views as marginalized. She loves to watch movies, eat sushi with her friends, and go on walks with her puppy Bucky. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sherry Poteet is a retired and working music educator having spent 29 years as middle school band director in Texas. After retirement, she continues to serve area schools as a mentor, consultant, and band adjudicator as well as supervising student teachers for Stephen F. Austin State University. She is an Elder at Elmira Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Longview serving on the session and is the session clerk. She has taught Sunday school, served on the Fellowship and Mission committees and sings in the choir. Sherry is passionate about mission work having served on trips to Kentucky, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil, and Belize. Among her passions are Women’s Ministry where she has served as Interim Convention Coordinator, Trinity North Region President, and Secretary as well as serving at the denomination level on the Missions Ministry Team for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Sherry is an active person enjoying running, cycling, yoga, and hiking with friends. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Mark Craven is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, biologist and the Dive Safety Officer at the Tennessee Aquarium. He is a graduate of Moody Theological Seminary in Chicago and is the pastor of the Jasper Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Jasper, Tennessee. He and his wife, Katrina, live in Chattanooga and have two children.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Greg Tucker is the minister at the Faith Fellowship Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Knoxville, Tennessee.  He is a native from Milan, Tennessee and he and his wife, Rhonda, have two children and three grandchildren.  He is a graduate from North Greenville University and Beeson Divinity School.  He has served congregations in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama.   Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Wes Johnson is Tennessean by birth but Texan by choice, having moved to Texas in 1982. Born and reared in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Wes accepted God’s gift of salvation during a Fifth Sunday Youth Rally at Richard City Cumberland Presbyterian Church at age 13. Nurtured in the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in his hometown, Wes was influenced by many ministries and mentors, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru), Kay Arthur of Reach Out Ranch (now Precept Ministries), youth leaders from his home church, his parents, and his grandfather, Dr. J. Fred Johnson. Wes graduated from Bryan College and received a master’s degree from Memphis Theological Seminary. As an ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination since 1982, Wes has served as a pastor or transition pastor to five churches in Red River Presbytery. Professionally, Wes is senior consultant for Transition Consulting, Inc.– a human resource consulting firm that provides search support, professional outplacement, organizational development, and executive consulting services to a wide variety of businesses worldwide. With more than 25 years' experience as a leader in the development and management of purpose- driven, people-oriented businesses, churches, and ministries, he is consistently called alongside individuals and organizations in transition to serve as a catalyst for growth and positive change. Wes is a former collegiate basketball player and served in the sport for 18 years as an NCAA and high school referee. Today, Wes remains involved as a game reviewer for NCAA Division 1 conferences. He and his wife, Nancy, reside in the Dallas, Texas area, have two adult children and six outstanding grandchildren. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dale Irby is an attorney, substitute teacher, and elder at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Olive Branch, Mississippi.  In this faith conversation he shares the ethics of law coupled with faith, discerning new career paths, and overcoming a difficult period in his life.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Joe Butler is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister who came under the care of Leitchfield Presbytery in 1970.  He serve as stated supply beginning in 1971 and was ordained in 1975.  Joe is a graduate from Bethel University and Memphis Theological Seminary with M.Div and D.Min.  He has taught at Bethel for 12 years and at the Program of Alternate Studies 13 years.  He has also served as president of the Board of Trustees for Memphis Theological Seminary.  He has served as moderator of Kentucky Synod, several presbyteries and has served as stated clerk for three presbyteries.In June of 2022, Joe retired from full-time pastorate in June, 2022.  Later that month, he was elected vice-moderator of General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is married to Laura and lives in Winchester, Tennessee.  Together they have three children and seven grandchildren.  Joe enjoys woodworking and refinishing furniture. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jessica Neas is a new mother and a newly ordained elder at the Mohawk Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Tennessee.  Jessica shares how her faith, life, and motherhood have shaped her over the last several months.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Carla Bellis is a member of Orange Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Missouri. She is involved in all levels of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church having served as Convention President of the Cumberland Presbyterian Women’s Ministry, chair of the Nominating Committee for the General Assembly, a volunteer at three Presbyterian Youth Trienniums, and as a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Youth Conference Planning Committee. Currently she is serving on the Ministry Council of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. She has served three terms on the Missouri Presbytery Board of Christian Education and as a staff member and director of youth camps at Camp Cumberland for most of her adult life. She serves on the worship team at her local church playing keyboard and managing the presentation technology. Carla served as a teacher and school counselor over 35 years. Carla has been married to Jim Bellis for 44 years and together they have three children and four grandchildren. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Jenny Muraya is a Chaplain at Regional One Health Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.  She is graduate of Nairobi University and Memphis Theological Seminary.  She has two sons and one granddaughter.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Tami Terpstra, MDiv, BCC is an interfaith staff chaplain at a public safety net and Level I Trauma hospital in Denver, CO. Her special passion is in providing care to behavioral health patients experiencing severe spiritual and psychiatric crises. After a decade of seminary and three more years of chaplaincy training, her long-suffering spouse and only child (who practically overnight became an amazing young man) manage to keep a sense of humor and continue to cheer her on in this peculiarly wonderful work.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Anna Brockman serves as an Associate Pastor at the Winchester Cumberland Presbyterian Church. She is a graduate of Bethel University and Memphis Theological Seminary. She lives in Winchester, Tennessee with her husband Wesley, their daughter Rachel, and their one-eyed pug Pepper. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Karen Schmidt is a native of Nebraska, living in the Denver Colorado area for the last 31 years. She is married to her college sweetheart, Pete for the last 33 years. They have three children in their 20’s. A writer, Karen is a graduate of Denver Seminary with an Master of Divinity in Leadership. She is currently employed as a chaplain for Christian Living Communities. She has been an ordained Cumberland Presbyterian pastor since 2021. She is a member of 316 Denver, a Celtic Cumberland Presbyterian congregation in Denver.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Bowman Vowell is the stated supply at the Clinton Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma for the past two and a half years. He is preparing to be ordained as a minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination.  He is married to Natalie and they have two dogs: Bailey the Beagle and Coco the Pitbull. They also have been foster parents for almost a year and currently are caring for a young boy that just turned one year old. Bowman enjoys playing computer games, watching movies with Natalie, and woodworking.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Bobby Spurling is from East Tennessee currently living in Western Kentucky where he serves the Hopkinsville Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He has a wife who is a lifelong Cumberland Presbyterian and two boys: 11 and 14.  He is a member of Covenant Presbytery and serves on the Board of Christian Education. He enjoys coaching youth sports and spending time with family.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Jennifer Hayes is a decent wife, a goofy mom, and the Director of Spiritual Care at Cook Children’s in Fort Worth, Texas.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Tiffany Hall McClung often says that she was conceived Cumberland Presbyterian. It is true. Being a part of this denomination does not feel like a choice. She is okay with that. She has served the Cumberland Presbyterian Church her whole life, officially since being ordained on February 5, 2000 - as close as she could get to the birthday of the church. In her 22nd year of ordained ministry, she is serving the Brunswick Cumberland Presbyterian Church as well as Peace Lutheran Church ELCA. She loves to laugh and make other people laugh. She is mom to two sons, Ian and Max, who are practically grown now. She and Andy, her husband, have been married for 31 years. Tiffany figures out what she thinks while she talks and says what comes to her mind. Her mind changes a lot.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Byron Forester is the minister at both the Roellen and Newbern Cumberland Presbyterian congregations in West Tennessee Presbytery.  He is married to Michelle Brown and has three adult children:  Rachel, Elizabeth, and Eleanor.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sandra Shepherd and her husband Scott live in Nashville, Tennessee with their cats Boots and Socks. She loves singing, creating clergy stoles, and trying new crafts. She has served as Associate Pastor at the Brenthaven Church for 8 years.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sandra Shepherd and her husband Scott live in Nashville, Tennessee with their cats Boots and Socks. She loves singing, creating clergy stoles, and trying new crafts. She has served as Associate Pastor at the Brenthaven Church for 8 years.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Andy Eppard is the Pastor of Cedar Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Greeneville, Tennessee.  He has been in pastoral ministry since 1998 and has served churches is both Missouri Presbytery and the Presbytery of East Tennessee.  Born and raised in Indiana, Andy attended Indiana University where he earned a Bachelor in Arts in Psychology.  He went on to earn his Master in Arts in Theological Studies from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, in Springfield, Missouri, and then his Master of Divinity from Luther Rice College and Seminary, in Lithonia, Georgia.  His hobbies include old school fitness, reading, cooking, hiking, and golf.  Andy and his wife LeAnn have three grown children and live in Greeneville. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Huiling Pritchett, born and raised in mainland China, came to United States of America in her late 20’s and soon encountered and embraced her Christian faith. Huiling has 2 children of Chinese descent from her first marriage. She remarried to Craig Pritchett and has a blended family now with 6 children. Currently, Huiling is practicing as a licensed professional counselor in Colorado. She is also ordained to the counseling ministry by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Huiling desires to hold the space in counseling sessions for individuals and couples, where they feel safe to open up, let go, and transform by God’s love and light.  To learn more about Huiling's counseling practice visit her website at: https://integratedccc.com/Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Huiling Pritchett, born and raised in mainland China, came to United States of America in her late 20’s and soon encountered and embraced her Christian faith. Huiling has 2 children of Chinese descent from her first marriage. She remarried to Craig Pritchett and has a blended family now with 6 children. Currently, Huiling is practicing as a licensed professional counselor in Colorado. She is also ordained to the counseling ministry by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Huiling desires to hold the space in counseling sessions for individuals and couples, where they feel safe to open up, let go, and transform by God’s love and light.  To learn more about Huiling's counseling practice visit her website at: https://integratedccc.com/Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Paul Tucker is the minister at the Brush Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee.  In our conversation, Paul talks about the strong sense of wanting to serve an intergenerational congregation, Henri Nouwen, and the Church at its best is one of humility.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Melinda Reams is a 4th generation Cumberland Presbyterian who attends the Russellville Cumberland Presbyterian Church where she has been a Sunday School teacher, Director of Children's Ministry, and CP Women's Ministry President.  She has also been active at the presbyterial level serving at Camp Peniel in many capacities including Director of Junior Camp and speaking at 3rd Age Retreat and is currently on the Arkansas Presbytery Board of Missions.  Melinda has served on the Missions Ministry Team of the CP Church and is a member of the Ministry Council of the denomination.  Melinda is a retired pharmacist specializing in compounding and her passion ...holistic health helping people live their lives to the fullest.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Fleming is the Adult Ministry Coordinator for the Ministry Council of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He lives in Paducah, Kentucky. He attends the New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is married to Amy Fleming and has 3 adult children: Alex, Marcus, and Hannah. YouTube Encounter Channel: Cumberland Presbyterian Encounter Study - YouTubeWeekly Encounter Newsletter sign-up: encounterhelps – Ministry Council of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (cpcmc.org)Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Denise Adams is a candidate for the ministry under the care of Arkansas Presbytery. She is pursuing a Master of Divinity at Memphis Theological Seminary. She is a church secretary, a church camp volunteer, and an elder. She is the proud mother of Rev. Joshua Murray. Denise enjoys thrift stores, yard sales and hunting Native American artifacts. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Mike Wilkinson has been the pastor of Knoxville First Cumberland Presbyterian Church since 2013.  He is also currently serving on our denominational Ministry Council.  Mike has been married to his gracious wife, Joanna, for almost forty years.  They have three wonderful daughters, one of which is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, and five awesome grandchildren.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Rebecca Prenshaw is honored to be an interviewee on the Cumberland Road podcast hosted by Rev. T.J. Malinoski.  A native of Greeneville, Tennessee, she graduated from East Tennessee State University with a BBA in accounting.  While working as a CPA in Chattanooga, she met her future husband, Rick, and they recently celebrated their 40th anniversary. They have three grown sons and visit them and their families as often as they can enjoying their four  grandchildren with another on the way!  For many years, Rebecca shared her musical and teaching gifts in the church through both volunteer and staff roles, but sensed God’s call to attend seminary and pursue ordained ministry as a “later in life” student.  She graduated with her Master of Divinity from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in 2010 and became an ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian church in 2014.  She has served two CP churches in the area, served on the Board of Christian Education, and as Moderator of the Presbytery of East Tennessee.  Many people believed in Rebecca and her giftings before she ever did, and she is most grateful to God, and to them for their support and love . . . with a specific shout out to her husband and sons.  She loves music (her instrument of choice is the piano), reading, playing with grandchildren anywhere, and especially while boating on Douglas Lake. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Pat Pickett is an ordained Cumberland Presbyterian minister currently serving worshiping communities in experimental ways and bringing diverse persons together. She writes, "God and I have been playing hide and seek since I was a child. Glimpses of God came in unexpected places. It was not in church, school, or any other institution where God welcomed me as God has through loving relationships and even failed ones. All the letters after my name might have been a help but where God is most real to me is in tears, laughter, vulnerability of those who trust enough to share their story. These people are my children, teachers, students, friends, those whose friendship I have lost. Most striking was finding God in persons who could not speak at all. Those are the persons I was privileged to serve at Clover Bottom Developmental Center as chaplain, a state institution for persons with intellectual disability. Through art and music we learned to communicate. Through hugs, tantrums, loss and abundance we learned to trust one another. Through the Program of Alternate Studies I am able to share not only academic learning as an instructor but wisdom from years of practical experience as a pastor, wife and mother. Yes, I have degrees and awards for work well done. I have loss where I have failed. Some of those degrees include D.Min., M.Div. (Colgate Rochester Divinity School) M.R.E. (University of San Diego), C.P.E (University of Rochester). Degrees in art gave me entrée to God-speak in theology and awards for Communication from Mayor Bill Purcell (Nashville) and the Trost Memorial Prize for excellence in Ministry(Colgate). I am still a learner and seeker. With COVID God and I am playing hide and seek, once again." Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Pat Pickett is an ordained Cumberland Presbyterian minister currently serving worshiping communities in experimental ways and bringing diverse persons together. She writes, "God and I have been playing hide and seek since I was a child. Glimpses of God came in unexpected places. It was not in church, school, or any other institution where God welcomed me as God has through loving relationships and even failed ones. All the letters after my name might have been a help but where God is most real to me is in tears, laughter, vulnerability of those who trust enough to share their story. These people are my children, teachers, students, friends, those whose friendship I have lost. Most striking was finding God in persons who could not speak at all. Those are the persons I was privileged to serve at Clover Bottom Developmental Center as chaplain, a state institution for persons with intellectual disability. Through art and music we learned to communicate. Through hugs, tantrums, loss and abundance we learned to trust one another. Through the Program of Alternate Studies I am able to share not only academic learning as an instructor but wisdom from years of practical experience as a pastor, wife and mother. Yes, I have degrees and awards for work well done. I have loss where I have failed. Some of those degrees include D.Min., M.Div. (Colgate Rochester Divinity School) M.R.E. (University of San Diego), C.P.E (University of Rochester). Degrees in art gave me entrée to God-speak in theology and awards for Communication from Mayor Bill Purcell (Nashville) and the Trost Memorial Prize for excellence in Ministry(Colgate). I am still a learner and seeker. With COVID God and I am playing hide and seek, once again." Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Mark Davis writes, "I'm a fifth-generation Cumberland Presbyterian, originally from Memphis, Tennessee, though I don't count generational heritage as a quality setting one Cumberland Presbyterian apart from any other Cumberland Presbyterian. My parents, Rev. Dr. Harold Davis (deceased) and Willene Davis, were very active in the denomination, and fortunately, saw to it that I was too. My faith's formative years were spent in the Park Avenue and Whitehaven Churches in Memphis under the guidance of pastors such as Arleigh Matlock and Tom Campbell. My father served the denomination as Director of Youth Work, and later as the Executive Secretary of the Board of Christian Education, while my mother was active in CPW, Church Women United, and other similar service-related organizations. I am an ordained Elder out of West Tennessee Presbytery, and served on the Board of Trustees at Memphis Theological Seminary before taking a position with the Ministry Council as Team Leader for the Communications Ministry Team. I worship remotely with and support the ministries of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Germantown.My years in higher education were spent at what was then Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), and Vanderbilt University. I'm married to Susan, and we have three children of our own (Jesse, Philip, and Sarah) and one by marriage (Ashley, Jesse's spouse). Stella, a lovable Staffordshire terrier who never met a human she wouldn't go home with in a heartbeat, depends on Susan and me for belly-scratches and leisurely strolls in the mountain forests where we live.Upon retirement from the Ministry Council in 2018, we built a home on a mountain about 30 miles south of Asheville, North Carolina, just outside Brevard, and within sight of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and moved here in 2019. Pretty well settled in now, I work regularly with Habitat for Humanity of Transylvania County. I also work with Pisgah Legal Services, providing support services for underserved communities (e.g., victims of spousal abuse, undocumented immigrants, and low-income renters) in Western North Carolina. In my spare time, I enjoy bicycling, writing, hiking, reading, playing my fiddle, and woodworking--though not necessarily in that order. I also dabble in web development through a new website: https://undoitall.org. I've not been very good at keeping it up, but look for that to change over the coming months."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Gwen and her husband Mac live in Knoxville, Tennessee, where they are members of the Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church. She has served the denomination on the General Assembly Council, the Ministry Council, and is currently on the Our United Outreach (OUO) committee.  In the Presbytery of East Tennessee, she serves on the Committee on the Ministry.  At Beaver Creek, she teaches Sunday School in the children’s department, plays in the Chancel Handbell Choir, and is an active elder and clerk of the session.  She has been a Coach for Weight Watchers for 40 years.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Revs. Alfredo (Freddy) and Lyvia Rincón are the church planters and co-pastors for Agape Cumberland Presbyterian Church in El Paso, Texas. Agape is a bi-lingual congregation that was recently organized on February 20, 2022. They are both members of Presbytery del Cristo where Lyvia serves on the Committee on Preparation for Ministry, and Freddy serves as Presbytery Moderator and on the Congregational Care Committee. Freddy and Lyvia have three boys, a beautiful two year old daughter, and a yorkie puppy. Freddy commented, "We are more than happy to share our story with you. May the Lord strengthen your journey with Christ as you seek His will, and answer to His call." Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Kathy Lofton serves as Associate Minister and Worship Leader at Covenant Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Ada, Oklahoma. She and her husband Travis Lynn Lofton have been married 39 years and live on a farm with their Mini-Schnauzer Pia. Kathy and Travis love playing pickleball and hiking. They have a daughter, son, and daughter-in-law who make the world a better place. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Jason Chambers is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister and a graduate of Bethel University and Memphis Theological Seminary.  He has served in the United States Navy as a Chaplain, a Treatment Advisor in the Arkansas Community Corrections, and currently is a Resident Chaplain in the University of Arkansas for Medical Services in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Jason has two young children and his wife, Cheyann, is preparing for ministry in the United Methodist Church.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Kim Moore was born in Missouri but grew up in rural middle Tennessee. She became a nurse - living in Ohio, New Mexico, and now in Tennessee - and after 33 years still enjoys a few days each month spent in that calling. Her real job (and passion) is pastoring Mt. Sharon Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Springfield Tennessee. She has two grown daughters who are very artistic (must have skipped a generation says Kim). She lives with Moto her lab/shepherd pup and loves feeding people from her huge community garden. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Matthew Ingram has three children ages 14, 11, and 10.  He is married to Lindsey Ingram.  Matthew received his Master of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary and serves the First Presbyterian Church of Alabaster in Alabama. Matthew writes, "I don't live far from where I grew up and have been Cumberland Presbyterian my whole life, as have my parents and theirs before them for several generations."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Kristi Lounsbury felt the call to ordained ministry while serving as the Youth Moderator of North Central Presbytery her first year at Bethel (College) University. Although Kristi had always been involved in her home church, Shinar CPC, in New London, Iowa, the call was not easy to discern in the late 1980’s when women were not accepted much in local churches.She graduated from Bethel in 1989 and was awarded the CPWM Scholarship in 1988. She attended Memphis Theological Seminary and graduated in 1992. While in Seminary, Kristi served as SGA president and received the Virginia H. Ingram CP History Award. May 2022 will mark 30 years Kristi has served as an ordained minister in the CP Church.She has served in Falkner, (MS), Greeneville, (TN), McMinnville, (TN), and Denton, (TX) as Pastor of Denton CPC and Chaplain at the Cumberland Presbyterian Children's Home. She has served with the Missions Ministry Team of the Ministry Council since January 2019 as the Director of Congregational Ministries.In May, Kristi will graduate with a second master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy with a certificate in Strategic Fundraising from Bay Path University (Long Meadow, MA).  This summer she will be busy helping with Convention, ENGAGE and a mission trip to Belize.She, and her son, Will, live near Krum, Texas. When she has time, she enjoys gardening, photography, and traveling. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Mitchell M. Walker, Sr.’s home of origin is Dyersburg, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Dyersburg High School (1970), Bethel College/University (B.A., 1974), Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (M.Div., 1977), Columbia Theological Seminary (D.Min., 1996), and Memphis Theological Seminary (Certificate in Addiction Counseling). He is married to Mary Elaine Friend Walker and is also father and grandfather. Since September 1st, 2000, he has served as Pastor of the Church Street Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America. Prior to that, he served as Pastor for 23 years of St. James Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America, Cleveland, Tennessee. He love family, friends, and enjoys fishing.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Leslie A Johnson is minister of Eastlake Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City where he has pastored for the last sixteen years.  Leslie has served churches in Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma and is a graduate of the Program of Alternate Studies.  He has served at camps, various boards and agencies and as moderator of Mission Synod where he fell in love with the Choctaw and Colombian people.  He is currently chair of Red River Presbyteries Board of Missions.  He enjoys working with his hands, working with people, and serving in the Great Mission of the Church.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Michael Qualls has been an ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church for almost 44 years.  He is currently serving as Director of the Program of Alternate Studies, a vital alternative preparation for ministry administered through Memphis Theological Seminary.  He is also Director of the Cumberland Presbyterian House of Studies, an entity within the seminary community which gives specific attention to the formation of students for ministry within the Cumberland Presbyterian heritage.  Michael has accumulated a lifetime of positive relationships which translate into stories. He has a positive affection for his church and for theological education, and happily maintains rapport with persons across diverse theological perspectives.  He lives with his loving wife Rhonda at “Still Waters” the name they have for their peaceful home in Horn Lake, Mississippi.  He loved parenting and, now, grandparenting.  He continues to serve regularly in pastoral ministry and pulpit supply.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Christian Smith is the senior pastor of First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Cookeville, Tennessee where he has served for the last 7 and a half years.. He and his wife, Jodi, have been married for 22 years and have one child, 13 year old Maggie. When he is not at the church, you can typically find him at a concert or trying to catch a fish.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Harry Chapman is the founding pastor of Westside Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  Westside is celebrating its 25th year shepherding the first Cumberland Presbyterian congregation in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. It is part of Presbytery del Cristo and a church plant of Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church.Harry has a Master of Divinity from Denver Seminary. His wife, Sally, is an LPCC and also graduate of Denver Seminary.  She is on staff with Formation Counseling Services at Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church. She also is a camp director of the family run business, Hummingbird Music Camp for children nestled in the Jemez Mountains. Together, they have four children and nine grandchildren, ages 22-2 months. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jonathan Calheiros writes, "It all begins in Israel in 2005 when Jonathan and Carolina meet for the first time in the Holy Land. Two young people from different cultures and languages, but with the same call to serve God.  After their marriage in 2007, Jonathan and Carolina Calheiros began their ministry in praise and worship, their goal being to exalt the name of Christ and guide people to encounter God through worship. In 2012, the couple began a ministry called "Jonykaro". Since then, they have recorded two albums, Solo Tu Eres Santo (Only You are Holy) in 2012, and Sedientos (Thirsty) in 2018. After living in Colombia for six years, Jonathan and Carolina returned to the United States with their three children in 2019. The Calheiros family are members of Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Bartlett, Tennessee where they all serve in the worship team. Jonathan and Carolina are both enrolled in Memphis Theological Seminary and they look forward to beginning an intercultural ministry in the region."  Check out their Youtube page at https://www.youtube.com/c/Jonykaro and website at http://jonykaro.com/.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Abby Prevost says, "I have had the gift of serving at the Welti Cumberland Presbyterian Church as the Associate Pastor of Christian Education since 2016. My nieces and nephews are my favorite part of life; the rest of my family is pretty great, too. I was born and raised in Columbus, Mississippi where First Cumberland Presbyterian Church is the family of faith that helped raise me and shape my faith.  I received a Bachelors in Human Services and Sociology from Bethel University, a certificate in Youth Ministry from the Center for Youth Ministry Training Center, and a Masters of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary.Working with young people is, by far, my favorite part of my calling. It is a true gift to have the privilege of journeying  with them and getting to see them experiencing and growing in their knowledge, faith, service, grace, and love for God."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Jason Mikel is a second career pastor at Jenkins Cumberland Presbyterian Church, founder of the Nashville Burrito Ministry, and current PhD student at the University of Memphis in Communication and Rhetoric. He's married to wife Suzanne, has a blended family of four boys, and two grandsons, and holds ties in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church that go back generations. Please contact Jason at [email protected] with donations for the Burrito Ministry or inquiries about his ministry.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Tammy Greene is the minister at the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Greeneville, Tennessee. She grew up Cumberland Presbyterian and other than a 10 year stint with the Presbyterian USA Church and a dalliance with the Southern Baptists as a high schooler has remained Cumberland Presbyterian. Her 16 year career as a banker was interrupted by God at age 40 to follow the call to seminary then to full-time ministry.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Gloria Villa Diaz has been the bilingual pastor for inmates residing in county jails, state prisons, federal institutions, and detention centers, through New Day in Christ Ministries, for the last 11 years, (newdayinchrist.org). As some inmates leave prison to experience extreme poverty, she became member of the board of Crossroads at Park Place to serve those in severe need in SE Houston, Texas (crossroadsatparkplace.org). In addition, she is the moderator of The Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Freeport, Texas, and is the chair of the Committee on Probationers at Trinity Presbytery. At the denominational level, Gloria serves on the Board of Trustees of Memphis Theological Seminary (memphisseminary.edu).Gloria perceives God at work in the life of each person she encounters. Each time she hears fresh ideas, and people developing all kind of projects, she blesses God. Also, each time she sees her plants at home just growing and being fruitful, she infers that the nature is alive, and that God is sustaining the creation. Gloria seeks continually the voice of God through the Bible and the church, and through the voice of the elderly and the children, the men and the women, the married and the single.Gloria lives in Houston with her husband Rev. Dr. Fredy Diaz. Both have been married for 30 years and have a grown son, Benjamin, who plays the piano at church. Gloria has joined Fredy to explore delivering the Sunday sermon as a conversation. If you want to join Fredy, Gloria, and Benjamin for worship service in Spanish (with subtitles in English), go to YouTube channel, Iglesia Presbiteriana Cumberland de Houston. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

William "Rusty" Rustenhaven III is a life-long Cumberland Presbyterian and a CP minister since 1983.   He is the son of a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, Dr. William "Bill" Rustenhaven, Jr. and life-long CP, Dolores Jones Rustenhaven.   Rusty graduated from Bethel College and Memphis Theological Seminary.   He has served the Savannah, TN, Clarksville, TN, and the Marshall, TX Cumberland Presbyterian Churches.   Rusty has served as a Youth Director, Director of Christian Education, Associate Pastor for 17 years, and a Senior Pastor in Marshall for 20 years.  He has served on numerous denominational and presbyterial boards.  He is married to Druann Renick Rustenhaven and has two children, Ben and Hope.  He has a daughter-in-law, Sarah, and grandson, Russell.   Rusty recently became semi-retired and is finding ways to continue serving God through the Cumberland Presbyterian Churches and Trinity Presbytery.   Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dave Tucker has been a minister for over thirty years. Dave earned his Master of Divinity at Brite Divinity School, with certificates in "Pastoral Care" and "Theology, Ethics & Church History." Dave is trained in Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) and is a Spiritual Director. Dave also specializes in marriage counseling, and consults with those dealing with grief and loss. Currently Dave serves as Pastor at St. Timothy Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Bedford Texas and is a Chaplain for the Bedford Police Department.Dave married his high-school sweetheart, Lucresia. They have two children. Geoffrey attends Texas Tech. Genevieve lives with her husband, Micah, and Baby Aria in the Dallas area.  You can find Dave on Facebook at @davethepastor, the church website at [email protected], and on the podcast Spiritual Living in a Chaotic World at: https://anchor.fm/spiritualitypodcast.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Cathy Littlefield, the Cumberland Presbyterian Women's Ministry Interim, states: "I’m Cathy Littlefield, someone today told me I am of jack of all trades! I replied, but a master of none!  I love doing work in the church, for the church and outside of the church.  I tend to “overload” my plate!  I’m married to Buddy Littlefield, we both are elders in the Booneville Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  We have a dog 'Auggy' who is our sidekick.  I love doing whatever needs to be done.  Big or small does not matter to me.  Give me a project or problem and I’m ready to getter done!  I feel blessed by God and live to serve Him in whatever capacity He directs me in!!  Thank you for the opportunity to share in this podcast!"Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Alfred Roundtree was born and raised in Lauderdale County, Tennessee.  He is the minister at the Walton Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America in Henry, Tennessee.  Alfred works full time with individuals with intellectual disabilities and also is a financial couch educating people on the importance of financial literacy. Alfred is married with two boys; 28 and 13 years old. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Kevin Jenkins is a 2000 Graduate of Ole Miss (B.A. History) and 2018 Graduate of Memphis Theological Seminary (M. Div).  He is currently working toward Doctor of Ministry at Trinity Seminary.  He was ordained December 2018 and is the full-time pastor at New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church in North Central Presbytery.  He serves as chair for the presbytery's Pastoral and Congregational Care and a board member of Program of Alternate Studies Advisory Council, Community Spiritual Director of the Elohim Great Banquet Community and is a member of the Casey (IL) Ministerial Association (CMA).  He served as an elder at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Olive Branch 2013-2016 and is a Retired Army Captain (Arkansas Army National Guard – 2013).  His family includes wife – Samantha, children – Keifer (Ashley), Bailey (Sarah), Chloe (getting married 10/30), Noah, grandchildren – Summer (7) and Abbey (1), and pet – Bear (Australian Shepherd).Interesting tid-bits: Kevin is a musician, retired military, and loves to travel. Music for this episode is provided by Mind (Kevin's band) from the album Structure.  The song is titled Mind's I and used with permission.  

Chris Warren is an ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and serves the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee together with his wife, Rev. Joy Warren. They have two awesome children, one a sophomore at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and the other a senior in high school. Chris loves dogs, woodworking, and making music.  His blog can found at https://pastorwhereistand.blogspot.com/.The song Like A Mother is from the album where i am and used by permission of Chris Warren.  

Reverend Cliff Hudson has served the Richard City, Chattanooga 1st, Cleveland congregations, and is currently serving the Silverdale Cumberland Presbyterian church. He has been the Director of Development for Our United Outreach (OUO) since 2013. He has served on Historical Foundation board and the Program of Alternate Studies (PAS) advisory council. Cliff has served the denomination in various roles including Stated Clerk for Synod of Southeast and as General Assembly Vice Moderator under Sam Suddarth. Cliff is married to Jill, with three children and eight grandchildren.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Lee Hollingshed  is Chaplain of Hickory Log Personal Care Home and was ordained by Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on May 28, 2017. The Hickory Log residents, all men, work with her in planning their worship services, Bible Studies, and other activities.  Her favorite part of her ministry is pastoral care, in home or in hospital settings.  She and her wonderfully supportive husband and ministry partner, Glen, live on a farm in NW Georgia, enjoying God's creation, family and friends, and really good food.  For more information about Hickory Log visit hickorylog.org.  Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Chris Smith is from San Antonio, Texas and a graduate from the University of Memphis.   He is the Director of Information Technology at Memphis Theological Seminary and has been working there since 2014.  Chris is a member of the Brunswick Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Tennessee.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Johan Daza was born and raised in Colombia South America. He is the third child, out of four, of two ordained Cumberland Presbyterian ministers. He is a son, husband, father, brother, minister, student, and denominational staff. He is married to Erin and they have three children, Alana, Elías and Felipe. He is a member of Emaús Presbytery in Colombia and he serves with the Missions Ministry Team through the Intercultural Ministries USA Program.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Chris Anderson.  Pastor Mount Olive Cumberland Presbyterian (5.6 years) and Pineville Cumberland Presbyterian (2 years).   Arkansas Presbytery – Vice Chair, Board of Missions.  6th generation Cumberland Presbyterian.  Born and reared in Batesville, Arkansas.  Home church is Faith-Hopewell Cumberland Presbyterian.  Grandparents Vaughn and Avis Anderson were the primary planters of the Faith congregation over 55 years ago.  Profession of faith was in May of 1990 and was baptized by Rev. Wayne Wood.    Education:  Master of Divinity – 2017, Memphis Theological Seminary, B.S. Social Sciences – 1996, Bethel College, High school – 1991, Batesville high school.  Spouse:  Dr. Mary Anderson.  Family Physician.  Children:  Madison – University of Arkansas, Pre-med, Chemistry, & Spanish, Jake – Williams Baptist College, Education & basketball team, Caleb – Arkansas State University, Computer Science, & basketball team, Zachary – University of Arkansas, Pre-med and Chemistry.  Pets:  Charlie – Border collie and Hades – A very cool black Tom Cat.  Hobbies: Writing and recording music.  Own a home recording studio. Instruments played: guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard.   Season ticket holder Arkansas Razorback football.   Love all things Razorback, but I have a kid that’s an ASU Red Wolf so that’s a challenge sometimes.  Enjoy hunting, fishing, and playing golf.  Whatever my wife tells me to do.  Permission to use the song Josie Brown for this podcast courtesy of Chris Anderson.  

Rev. Victor Hassell is the pastor of the Sturgis Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Covenant Presbytery) in Sturgis, Kentucky. He and his wife, Rev Samantha Hassell, and their three children (Victoria, Mallory, and John) have been serving at Sturgis CPC for almost fourteen years. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jamie Berkley writes:   I am a 5th generation Cumberland Presbyterian; I have attended the Newbern Cumberland Presbyterian Church all of my life. I am also an attorney, and I am lucky to serve as an Assistant Public Defender in the 28th Judicial District, defending people who cannot afford an attorney. I am in a book club; I love to read. I have three dogs. I love a good road trip, and I have a special talent for finding really good restaurants and fun events. I also really really really love live music. Current and Past Offices and Positions Held:Local CPW President, Newbern Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1999 – presentRegional CPW President, Forked Deer Region, 2011; Secretary 2016 – present Convention CPW Officer – President Elect, 2015 – 2016; President, 2016 8– 2017; Past President 2017 – 2018Elder, Newbern Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 2007 – present Session Clerk, Newbern Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 2007 – presentWest Tennessee Presbytery Moderator, 2018 – 2019                                                    West Tennessee Presbytery Board of Trustees, co-Chair, 2019 – present Assistant Public Defender for the 28th Judicial District; 2008 – present Team member for Milan Recovery Court and Crockett County Recovery CourtMusic is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Alfonso Marquez writes:  "I was born in Juarez, Mexico on December 27, 1961. I grew up there until the age of 17 when I received a scholarship to go to study at a Normal School (School to prepare Teachers). I finished and practice for only 6 months in Mexico City. I returned to Juárez on December 1979. In January 1980 I decided to get across the border to work in Las Cruces New Mexico and at the same time studied at Las Cruces High School. I tried to enroll with the US Navy, but because of my status (undocumented) I was not able to serve. I travel around the US looking for opportunities to experience the American Dream. In March 23, 1983 I met my now beautiful wife Martha in Juárez. I used to go back to Juárez every Christmas. Martha and I decided to live together in the US Elizabeth was only 3. In September of 1983 we come to live in the Rio Grande Valley in a little town name Weslaco from there we travel to west Texas, to south Colorado and back to the Valley of Texas following the seasonal work harvesting crops. Our daughter Martha born in Hereford, Texas in July 1984. In 1988 we moved to Laredo Texas I received an offer to have a steady job and Martha was tired of moving from place to another, she wanted stability. Alfonso Jr born in December 1988. In 1992 after been working and managing a business for someone else, I decided to start my own business. In August 18, 1994 I got saved and our lives really turn 180 degrees. Abraham born in 1996 in a Christian home. In 1997 we received Christian and Claudia two kids from Martha’s sister who got very sick and could not care for them we decided to help and latter we adopted them legally. In 1998 I started driving for CFI out of Joplin MO. In May of 1999 Alfonso Jr and I met Rev. Leonard Turner at the Petro Truck Stop on exit 369 on I-40. He invited me to start a Hispanic ministry because God put in his heart to outreach the Hispanic community, after talking with the NCD director Lynn Thomas he was told that he can not start a Hispanic ministry so he needed to pray for a Hispanic leader, and here we go again. After we met Leonard at the truck stop Leonard invited us to worship at Union Cumberland Presbyterian Church, after the service Leonard took us around the community and to a Mexican restaurant in Kingston Pike named Monterey. We ordered good authentic Mexican food and talked to the restaurant personal. When Pastor Leonard took us back to the truck stop, he noticed my nickname was “Preacher “ Leonard asked why I had that nickname. I told him that i thought God was calling me to the ministry but I didn’t have a place. Leonard told me you might have a place here in East TN. I told him that I didn’t have theological preparation I only have the desire to serve. Leonard told me we may send you to school, he was talking about PAS. We left to delivered our load to Ohio and return home to Laredo. Two weeks later I received a letter from Pastor Leonard inviting me to be interview by East TN presbytery Board of Missions (BOM), then I took it seriously and shared that with my home church Pastor in Laredo we were and still members of ICM Iglesia Cristiana Misericordia of Laredo Texas an Assemblies of God a 3000 church members congregation (Pentecostal). I talked to my pastor about the possibility to moved to East TN and start a Hispanic ministry but I didn’t know anything about Presbyterianism, neither Cumberland Presbyterians. My Pastor asked if I had shared that call with Martha and my 6 children because the ministry covers the whole family even our dog. I was concern about the liberal way of Presbyterians and as Pentecostals we were very conservative. I remember my preacher’s wife saying “go and do it like Paul, be Greek with Greeks, Roman with Romans and Jew with Jews, and don’t forget the gentiles. In September 1999 we receive a letter with a couple of plane tickets on a weekend because the Presbytery BOM wanted to interview us. We came and experienced great things and later on about in November we received an approved letters from East TN Presbytery’s Task Force  form by session members of Union and BOM to start our ministry immediately after 2YK. We left Laredo on January 19, 2000 and arrived  to East TN on January 21st. I attended Program of Alternate Studies (PAS) from 2000-2004 got ordained on April 2004. After that I translated for new Hispanic PAS students from 2005-2006. Under the leadership of Dr Thomas Campbell asked me if I was willing to coordinate the Hispanic PAS and called me Hispanic PAS coordinator from 2007-2012 I taught several courses and help Dr. Robert Rush ask me to translate our Confession of Faith to Spanish we did it with the help of other Colombian brothers and sisters.  I served as consultant for the BOM of our denomination to start and register our Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Mexico from 2007-2012.I had the blessing of watching many of my Hispanic brothers and sisters in Christ graduating from PAS. I served as board member of the Children’s Home three times 9 years. I resigned in 2012. I been serving our community for 21 years now. I teach ESL, GED, help with Immigration documents, IRS, Social Security and many, many other things, just to stay busy."Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Tim Smith is pastor of the Fayetteville Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, Tennessee. His father is Rev. Kirk Smith who is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. As a native of the Fayetteville area he has been blessed to serve the Fayetteville Church for the past 17 years and the Boonshill Church for four years prior to this. Currently, he serves in numerous leadership positions throughout the church including: the Ministry Council, Engrossing Clerk and Chair of the Pastoral Care Committee; both in Columbia Presbytery. He is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and Memphis Theological Seminary. He is very active in the community and was recently nominated by the local school system for the Tennessee School Board Association Volunteer of the Year Award. In his spare time he loves watching and attending high school and Middle Tennessee State football games and loves spending time in the mountains and the wilderness. Tim is an avid hiker and this summer he completed the goal of summiting Mt. Whitney which is the highest mountain the 48 states. His wife Shana is a 2nd grade school teacher and they have one daughter 6 year old daughter Skylar.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Leanne Kerner is a native of Paducah, Kentucky. She is a graduate of Bethel University with a Bachelors of Science and a graduate of Memphis Theological Seminary with a Masters of Divinity. She was ordained by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in May of 2017. Leanne has served Cumberland Presbyterian congregations  in Kentucky and Tennessee before moving to Dallas, Texas in March of 2020. Leanne now serves the Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas as the Director of Youth and Children’s Ministries. In her spare time, Leanne enjoys long walks with Dolly the Dog, spending time with friends, reading, True Crime Podcasts, and reality television.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Elinor Brown is an ordained Cumberland Presbyterian minister and member of West Tennessee Presbytery. She is the Discipleship Ministry Team Leader and works at the Cumberland Presbyterian Center in Cordova, Tennessee. She and her husband, new grandparents to Evelyn, live in Memphis as does their daughter Sydney and son in law Brian. Elinor loves to make clergy stoles, swim and play with Evelyn in her leisure time. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Brent Wills - Education:  Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Middle Tennessee State University, Masters of Education degree from Middle Tennessee State University, and Master of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary.Vocation Experience:  Served 11 years as a high school geometry teacher before going to seminary.Current Ministry and Vocations:  Pastor of Jerusalem Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Murfreesboro Presbytery   serving this congregation for 13 years and will be starting my 14th year with them in November 2021.  School Bus driver for Wilson County Schools with this school year being my 25th year driving a school bus.  Campground Director for Crystal Springs Camp, the church campground of Tennessee Synod with this being my 11th year as director for Crystal Springs Camp.  Seasonal worker for Cedars of Lebanon Tennessee State Park served as a swimming pool lifeguard, operated the campground store, assisted the park rangers with interpretive and educational programs, as well as "other duties as assigned".  I have been on staff with the state park for 8 years.  Family:  Wife - Robin Wills, a school psychologist for Metro Nashville Public Schools and very active in the Cumberland Presbyterian Women's Ministry(CPWM) and Our United Outreach (OUO) of our denomination.  Son - Benjamin Wills, who is 8 years old and in the 3rd grade.  At this point, I am just simply known as Benjamin's dad.Pets:  We currently have 10 cats - Peyton, Casey, Smokey, Buddy Dobbs, Rosie, Daphne Thelma, Gidget, Zoey, Lizzie, and Cape.Publications:  I have written one quarter of the Encounter for the Discipleship Ministry Team.Things unique to me:  Pretty much everything listed above.  I'm a huge Tennessee Vols fan.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Kip Rush, the first full time pastor of the new Brenthaven Church, has been a life long Cumberland Presbyterian. Raised in Austin, Texas, he grew up in the St. Paul Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He answered the call to the ministry in 1983 and after a year at the University of Texas, he moved to McKenzie, Tennessee to attend Bethel College. While at Bethel, he met and married his wife, Jodi.Kip graduated from Bethel in 1986 and later from Memphis Theological Seminary (1990), where he served as president of the Student Government Association, received the award for Cumberland Presbyterian History and graduated with honors.He was ordained at the Colonial Cumberland Presbyterian Church by Trinity Presbytery and has served churches in Texas, Georgia and Mississippi before coming to Brenthaven. Kip serves on the Board of Christian Education in Nashville Presbytery, the Board of Trustees for Memphis Theological Seminary and the board of UKirk Nashville, a Presbyterian college ministry serving Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities.Kip and Jodi have two daughters, Madison, who is a sixth grade teacher and Devin, who works for a healthcare non-profit.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. George Estes has been on the Cumberland Road all his life. As a Cumberland Presbyterian minister for more than fifty years, he has served pastorates in Tennessee, Indiana, Arkansas and Texas. In 2014 he retired after twenty years with the denomination’s mission agency. He remains involved as interim and supply pastor and occasional writer for Cumberland publications. He and his wife Janie reside in Germantown, Tennessee, with their dog Jesse. They have four adult children.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Jim Fisk is the minister at the 1st Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Russellville, Arkansas.  He is married to Linda Fisk and the father of candidate for the ministry Matt Fisk.  Jim has been a minister since 1983 with Cumberland Presbyterian congregations in Walkerville, Harrison, Dover, Hector and Monticello, Arkansas and Burns Flat, Oklahoma. He is a member of the WRBC and hobbies include photography and golfing.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Christopher Martin is a 35-year-old child of God. He accepted Jesus Christ at a young age and accepted the call to preach in 2010. While taking classes through the Hiwassee Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America (CPCA), he was introduced to his wife Stephanie through her dad, Rev. Edmund Cox, who was finishing classes at the time. Chris has been very active since his ordination in 2012. Chris is currently serving as: the senior minister of Robinson Chapel CPCA, the co-youth minister and vice moderator for the Hiwassee Presbytery and the stated clerk for the Tennessee Synod. Chris and Stephanie are both ordained ministers that live in Sweetwater, Tennessee. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Jimmy Byrd is the minister of the Clarksville Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Clarksville, Tennessee. He has been serving there since January 1, 2021. He is married to Jennifer and has two sons, Daniel and Matthew. He grew up the son of a preacher man - the Rev. James Byrd - and has spent his whole life in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  He enjoys traveling, music and movies (especially from the '80s). He also enjoys watching his boys play soccer and baseball. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Paul Earheart-Brown is the minister of First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Olive Branch, Mississippi. He is originally from Memphis, Tennessee and is a third-generation Cumberland Presbyterian minister. Paul graduated from Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee in 2015 and from Memphis Theological Seminary in 2018. Paul loves attending church camps and retreats and working with youth and children. Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Derek Jacks is the pastor of Homewood Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama and the director of graceCONVO, the youth winter gathering of Cumberland Presbyterians in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. He is married to his wonderful wife Cindy and they have three children, Ava, Braden, and Drew as well as the Legendary Jonas the Cat. Derek enjoys listening to music, reading theology, and baseball. He actively coaches his sons and their baseball teams each spring and fall.Music is provided by Pierce Murphy, Caldera Blue. Source:  https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pierce_Murphy/through-the-olive-branches/caldera-blueComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Additional comments:  modifications made to shorten and loop song for introduction and closing of podcast.Copyright Attribution and License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Alan Meinzer is the minister at the Barron Fork Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Mount Pleasant, Arkansas and teaches at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville.  He has been serving Barron Fork for eight years.  Alan says, "I am blessed to be partnered in life and ministry with my wife Beverly.  I am also blessed by my daughter Natalie and her husband Wyatt."Music is provided by Jason Shaw, Words.<a href="https://audionautix.com/">Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com</a>Comments:  URL:  https://audionautix.com/Music/Words.mp3Additional Comments:  https://audionautix.com/Copyright Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

George C. Ladd:1) Brief BiographyI was born April 14, 1958 and raised on a farm near Santa Fe, Tennessee, near Columbia. I was educated in the public schools of Columbia. In college I studied accounting and computer science.Realizing that I was not going to pass the Differential Equations course required for a Computer Science degree, I saw that I could leverage the courses I had taken in Religious Studies to obtain a Degree and graduate quickly. In the late 1970’s at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, you could avoid the requirement of 2 years of a foreign language by studying the culture instead of the language. I was doing that with “Ancient Mediterranean Culture,” an alternative to Greek or Latin, and had taken several courses in Christian and Jewish history. I reasoned I could get a job with a minor in Computer Science, so I changed my major to Religious Studies to graduate as quickly as I could, and stop wasting my parents’ money. I reasoned Religious Studies would teach me the collective wisdom of the world. In this, I believe I was correct. I think it did so more effectively and succinctly than Philosophy would have.I learned the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. I learned the admonition in the Bhagavad Gita to perform what needs to be done, what you are tasked or called to do—your duty, to the best of your ability without attachment to the results. I learned the Eastern concept that suffering is caused by desire, attachment, and craving—an excess of which causes life to be experienced as unsatisfactory. I learned the history of Israel and Christianity from Ivy League professors.A major influence in my life was my studies with Dr. David Dungan, a graduate of  Harvard Divinity School and author of A History of the Synoptic Problem. In his Images of Jesus course, we studied how the portrayal of Jesus in literature and art changes with changes in culture in society. Jesus changes from ruler King in the late Roman Empire to suffering martyr as Christianity moves to Middle Age England and Germany to the ordered machine universe of the Enlightenment to the Jesus that wants you to get rich in the American “Prosperity Gospel.” We studied how the World Wars brought a decline in religiosity in Europe. We saw Jesus portrayed as a black man by African American artists.Another course under Dr. Dungan studied the increase in population since the Black Death and the imminent resource shortages projected by The Global 2000 Report produced by the Carter Administration. For various reasons, mainly technology changes, those debilitating shortages such as “peak oil” didn’t happen yet. But these studies and this awareness invested my life with a Malthusian pessimism that infinite growth on a finite planet will one day soon lead to a global train wreck. I thank the Lord that this has been delayed—possibly until after my death. In this context, we studied a Newsweek article from the late 1970’s that asked whether America would be an island of plenty in a global sea of want. I recently read a New York Times article stating that many of the migrants currently at our southern border are fleeing a Central American drought. I am acutely aware of Climate Change. As long as the weather fits what the climate models predict, I will be concerned.Also, while at UT, I learned “Transcendental Meditation,” which I did off and on all my life, and still do in lieu of a good nap, but now I use a Jewish mantra. I find it an effective means of calming down and refocusing.My plan to get a job as a computer programmer was frustrated by the 1982 recession. I paid an employment agency who found me a job at the J. C. Bradford and Co. regional brokerage firm. Two and half years later I landed a position as an information systems analyst with the State of Tennessee, and retired after 30 years of service, 26 of those with the Treasury Department. My two main bosses there were devout Christians, active in their churches. It was a wonderful place to work. I was honored the year before I retired with the State (Government) of Tennessee Information Technology Management Association’s Outstanding Information Technology Career Achievement Award for 2013.In 1982 I met the love of my life, Sherry Whitaker, in a Unity house church in Nashville. We have progressed, spiritually, together.2) My Spiritual JourneyI believe I am what Dr. Tara Isabella Burton in her book, Strange Rites, calls a “religious hybrid.”  I have explored and partaken of many spiritual paths and communities through the years, progressing from my United Methodist upbringing to Unity, Native American spirituality, the Sufi Order of the West, the Episcopal Church, Religious Science, and Zen Buddhism. For eight years, from 1993 until 2002, I did the basic Tibetan Buddhist practices, and was active in a Nashville Tibetan Buddhist group. The Science of Mind by Dr. Ernest Holmes has been influential on me. Sherry and I took part in a Religious Science (now the Center for Spiritual Living) study group in Nashville in the late 1980’s studying this book. Its core scripture is Matthew 8:13. What you believe is important and, I believe, has an effect upon what you experience. Prayer with faith is important. This notion is sometime abused these days (you got sick because of poor thinking), but I am convinced that faith and belief are existentially important. I pray regularly, and believe I experience abundant blessings as a result. What I pray about tends to work out well. I feel it is most important to pray about that which is worrying or bothering you the most—whatever is keeping you from peace.In 2000 I joined my local Masonic Lodge, and my life changed. Motivated to study and deepen my understanding of the Biblical underpinnings of Masonry, I began attending the Santa Fe C. P. Church where Sherry had attended for several years, and where my Grandmother was a member. After two months regular attendance, I joined that Church and discovered, to my surprise, that my wife was called to the ministry. I realized my call to support her call.Buddhism and the spiritual classics of India contain wisdom. In my view, Ecclesiastes could be a Buddhist text. I realized that Buddhism misses prayer and an active relationship with the Creator via the Holy Spirit. Thus, I “arrived at my destination” and have been an active Cumberland Presbyterian since 2001, doing whatever God has put before me. I discovered the Cumberland Presbyterian Confession of Faith, the most eloquent and elegant statement of Christian belief I have seen. Rev. Keith Johnson taught me the importance of the basic practice: “Read the Bible, study the Bible, and pray.”I enjoyed traveling to various places in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama as Sherry filled pulpits while she was in Seminary. I really enjoyed the Swan C. P. Church in Hickman County the first time we filled in for Robert Heflin. I thought the drive there was so scenic. Robert Heflin took a job with the Denomination and recommended Sherry fill the pulpit at his Churches. Thus, I found my home at Swan Church, where I am now Clerk and Song Leader. Out in the country, it is not close to anywhere but Heaven. I love my churches—I say churches, Sherry leads worship at Swan and Santa Fe (which happens to be Spanish for “Holy faith”) every Sunday. I, no doubt, learn a lot vicariously by being a Pastor’s spouse. Sherry’s sermons are eloquent and well written and researched. Sherry is a voracious reader. I benefit a great deal by being married to such a scholar.Sherry has a gifted intuition—I usually regret it when I go against any intuitive feeling she has about a situation3) My CallingIn the 1990’s I read Your Money or Your Life, which asserted that most people are “making a dying instead of making a living.” It advocated living frugally and retiring early so that you could then do work, including or primarily unpaid, volunteer work, that is fulfilling for one’s self. This I have striven to do.I believe we are called to use our gifts and talents in the service of God’s Kingdom. I am called to support my wife’s ministry, to support my Churches, to perform the duties of Stated Clerk of Columbia Presbytery, and to support the Masonic bodies of which I am a member.I was honored in 2019 to be “coroneted” a 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason. Contrary to popular opinion, this does not make me above any other Mason, but it does admonish me to use my skills and talents, and my connection to God that we all possess, to be a leader.In 2014 I was nominated and elected Moderator of Columbia Presbytery. Aware of what had been done in McMinnville, in my report to Presbytery I recommended we start a Hispanic ministry in our Presbytery. When we researched it, we discovered that the Hispanic community was being pretty well served by other denominations in our area, but that there was potential for new church starts in the growing areas of Spring Hill and Williamson County. Our Presbytery created its New Church Development Task Force, and with the help of the Missions Ministry Team, we attempted to start Bible Studies that would eventually grow into Churches in those areas. We discovered just how hard new church development is in 21st Century America.We pray the pandemic ends soon so that we may return to the evangelism called for by The Great Commission. I have hopes for the Worshipping Community concept.As I frequently pray, “Dear Lord, help us to discern Your will, and do it aright.”Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Duawn Mearns is a native of Hector, Arkansas.  He graduated from Bethel College with a degree in Sociology in 1999.  He graduated from Memphis Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity in 2003 and was ordained by the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination in 2003.  Duawn served the Hopewell and Mt. Zion Cumberland Presbyterian congregations while in seminary and after graduation he served the Burns Flat Church in Oklahoma for 4 years.  He then accepted a call to the Lake Hamilton Church in Arkansas where he was the pastor for 10 years.  Since 2017 he has been the Senior Pastor at the Covenant Church in Ada, Oklahoma.  Duawn currently serves his presbytery as a member of the Board of Missions and serves the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination as an elected member of the Pastoral Development Team.  He has been married to his wife Honey for 18 years and they have 3 daughters.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Iwao Satoh is the minister at Louisville Japanese Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.  Iwao can be translated as "Peter" and "Solid Rock" derived from Matthew 16:18.  Iwao was ordained by Japan Presbytery in 2001 and ministered at Sagamino Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He moved to Louisville, Kentucky to start a Japanese-speaking congregation in 2010.  Since 2010, he has driven to Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama to organize Japanese faith communities. These communities are currently gathering regularly in the "Koinonia Japanese Online Worship" since the pandemic.  Iwao is married to Tsuruko and they are the parents of a daughter, Fumika and a son, Tabito.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

David Kurtz writes: I was born in Memphis, Tennessee and grew up in the Faith Lutheran Church where I was baptized and confirmed.  After graduating from Frayser High School I went to Savannah College of Art and Design.  After doing quite poorly due to SCAD's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, my father called me home to get a job and grow up.  I came home and soon married my camp sweetheart, Bevin who also grew up Lutheran.  We met at Camp Clark Williamson (CCW), a Cumberland Presbyterian camp, counseling Lutheran children's camp.  Bevin's family joined the Cumberland Presbyterian Church while she was in high school.  I, of course, followed her and joined First Cumberland Presbyterian Church Memphis in 1992, just before our wedding.  We quickly became involved with the congregation; especially with the youth group.  It was at First Church where I began to listen to God's call.  Bevin and I then moved to McKenzie, Tennessee in 1997 (I think) and we graduated in 2000.I earned my Master of Divinity at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth TX in 2005 and I was ordained in the Chico Cumberland Presbyterian Church that year and was soon called to Elmira CPC in Longview, Texas.  I was the Associate Pastor/Youth Director under Rev. Jimmy Cantey until 2008 when I moved back to Fort Worth to Pastor the St. Luke Church.  I left St. Luke in 2017 and began filling the pulpit in Concord later that year.  I fell in love with these people and this community.  God placed me here and if I'm lucky this will be a long and fruitful relationship!Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dusty Luthy is currently serving as the pastor of Denton First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Denton, Texas. Previously, she was the associate minister at New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Paducah, Kentucky where she began as the youth director in 2013. During this time, she also worked as a clerk at the McCracken County Public Library. Dusty finished her Master of Divinity degree from Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS) in December 2019 and was ordained in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in January 2020. She received the Mary Elliot Miller award at MTS and was also named the 2020 Vanderhaar Symposium Student Peace Laureate through Christian Brothers University. Dusty has an undergraduate degree in journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, and spent six years working as a sports writer at a local newspaper covering Division I college athletics, winning more than a dozen awards for writing, design, and photography. She is a fifth-generation Cumberland Presbyterian, and grew up at the White Oak Pond CP Church in Lebanon, Missouri. In Denton, she lives with her two cats, Baxter von Triptrap and Beatrix, loves riding her bike, traveling, and is an avid Star Wars fan. Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Pam Phillips-Burk has served the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination for the past 18 years. In July 2018, she became the Team Leader for the Pastoral Development Ministry Team. Prior to that time, she served on the Missions Ministry Team in the areas of Women’s Ministry, Leadership Referral Services and Congregational Ministries. Pam earned her Master of Divinity degree from Memphis Theological Seminary in 1994 and was ordained by Hope Presbytery.  She continued her studies at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago where she earned her Doctor of Ministry degree with a specialization in Religious Education in 2001. Pam served as Associate Pastor in the Dyersburg Cumberland Presbyterian in Dyersburg, Tennessee for 8 years prior to going to work with the denomination. She has also served as a bi-vocational pastor of Christ Church in Huntsville, Alabama from 2009-2013. Pam is married to David and they have one child, Caroline who is 19 years old and has spent her first year as a choral music education major at the University of Memphis in her bedroom taking online classes. You haven’t witnessed technology at use until you see someone take a piano class and voice lesson via Zoom! They have two rescue furbabies that complete their family - a cat named Bella and a sweet puppy named Zoe.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Thomas Dishman Campbell was born in 1939 in Decatur, Texas.  He attended primary and secondary school in McKenzie, Tennessee and graduated from Bethel College (now Bethel University) with a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Divinity from Cumberland Presbyterian Theological Seminary (now Memphis Theological Seminary, and a Master of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry from Brite Divinity School of Texas Christian University.  He has served congregations in Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi,Texas, Tennessee, with three of those being new church developments and one redevelopment.  He was the Director of the Program of Alternate Studies at Memphis Theological Seminary for sixteen years.  He has served as the moderator of General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination, moderator of Texas Synod and moderator of three different presbyteries.  His writings include Brothers of the Faith, One Family Under God, The Bible and the Calendar and Campbell's Collection.  He was also a contributing writer for the book Beautiful Feet and is a writer for the devotional book These Days.  Dr. Campbell is married to Linda and they have three daughters Kelly, Kimberly and Kristen and three grandchildren.  Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Abby Cole Keller is a minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and is currently serving at Scattered Seeds, an online worshiping community.  She received her Masters of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga in 2006.  Before attending Seminary, she received her BA in Family and Community Services from Berry College in Rome, GA (2002).  Both she and her husband Josh are local Greenevillians.  They are the proud parents of two lovely daughters, Katy (12) and Claire (10) and the most precious cat Xander.  To find out more about the Worshiping Community Scattered Seeds visit: www.scatteredseedsworship.org.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Andy Kettle is a lifelong member of the Clarksville Cumberland Presbyterian Church, where he is an ordained elder, Sunday school teacher, and a youth leader. He serves on several church ministry teams, and is in the regular rotation to lead liturgy and men’s breakfast devotionals.  Andy is a graduate of Austin Peay State University with a Business Administration degree, and is employed at 84 Lumber Company as an Outside Sales Coordinator. Andy is an avid woodworker and furniture maker. Several years ago he started a family-friendly YouTube channel called The Tennessee Tinkerer where he showcases his projects, usually with a bit of humor. You can watch his videos at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLNJiDlKtKwU6LJu9leDJ3Q/videos. He and his wife Ashley have been married for twenty-one years, and have a five year old Yorkshire Terrier named Mattie. Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Dr. Cory D. Williams is the senior minister at the Dyersburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Dyersburg, Tennessee. He is originally from Middleton, Tennessee and graduated from Bethel University and Memphis Theological Seminary.  He spent ten years in the corporate world in marketing and sales.  He served the Brunswick Cumberland Presbyterian Church for eleven years while also working at Memphis Theological Seminary as the chief information officer.  Cory loves Jesus and enjoys Fly fishing, hunting, guitar, banjo, magic (think illusions not sacrifices), woodworking, reading, and taking on new hobbies. He and his wife Peggy have two children: Luke and Ben, two dogs: Minnie and Joy, two goats: Wanda and Lacey, and eleven unnamed chickens. They live on Tater Hill where they are blessed beyond measure by the grace of God. You can contact Cory anytime at [email protected] is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Mary Kathryn Kirkpatrick states:I was born in Bryan, Texas, during one of my father’s final exam weeks at Texas A&M University.  One professor allowed him to miss his exam in order to be at the hospital while my mother delivered me.  That professor said, “If the baby is a boy, you’ll get an A.  If it’s a girl, I’ll give you a B.”  I supposed my father was fortunate to get a B!  That’s an example of the world that I was born into. We moved about seven times before I was two years old.  I attended public schools in four states – Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Indiana.  Moving frequently helped me learn to make new friends easily.  I have two younger siblings – a sister and a brother. I chose to attend Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.  My Bachelor of Science degree was in General Management.  A sorority sister set me up on a blind date with her brother during my sophomore year.  Scott and I were married the summer after our junior year.  Forty-one years later, we’re still married! We were unable to have children.  Instead, we have had several dogs.  Right now, our “child” is a Standard Poodle named Zephyr.  We pretty much dote on him.  He’s a great dog! My career with Merrill Lynch began in 1985 when we moved to Dallas, Texas.  I worked for Merrill Lynch for twenty years, serving mostly as an Administrative Manager and a Financial Advisor.  In 2005, I changed firms.   In 2004, while attending Triennium at Purdue, I clearly heard God call me.  In 2006, I began working in ministry.  In 2008, at the age of 50, I began seminary at MTS, graduating in May 2011.  I am a project away from the Doctor of Ministry degree!  Please pray for me. My ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament was on June 26, 2011.  My first call was as Associate Pastor for Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Marshall, Texas.  I served there for eight years.  I’ve been the solo Pastor at Jefferson Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Jefferson, Texas for a little over a year.  The tenth anniversary of my ordination will be this June.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Jen Newell is serving as senior minister at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Tennessee.  She has been serving there for over 14 years: first as a part time children/family director, then as the associate minister following ordination and as senior minister since 2013.  Jen graduated from UT-Chattanooga with a degree in economics and minors in political science and music.  Jen is a Program of Alternate Studies (PAS) graduate and an occasional PAS instructor.  She worked for 21 years at McKay's Used Books.  Prior to ordination to the Word and Sacraments, she was ordained as a deacon and then elder at the Chattanooga First Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  She has served on the Board of Trustees for Memphis Theological Seminary as both vice moderator and moderator.  She is a contributing writer to the Encounter curriculum.  Jen is married to Chuck, is mother to three adult children and the reluctant owner of 2 cats: Daniel Striped Tiger and King Friday the 13th.  Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

B. J. Mathis states: My full name is Bobby Lynn Mathis Jr but most know me as B.J. I was born in New London, Connecticut but have spent the rest of my time in Tennessee. My favorite place on earth is Crystal Springs Camp in Kelso, Tennessee. I love animals and I currently have three fur babies, Lady, Sheldon and Snickers. I am a fourth generation Cumberland Presbyterian on my mother's side, growing up and professing faith in the Bates Hill congregation in McMinnville, Tennessee. I earned a Bachelor in Arts in Psychology/Religion from Bethel College (University). I am a seminary drop out. As an adult, I have been serving in youth and young adult ministry circles since 2002. I have been serving full time at the Winchester Cumberland Presbyterian Church for 16 years primarily as their youth pastor. I have been to 5 of the 7 continents and 44 of the U.S. states with many of those travels were service/mission trips. I love Jesus, youth ministry, chicken tenders, trampolines, concerts, traveling, the lion king, puppies, basketball, hiking and talking about things that matter! Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Garrett Burns is the Associate Chaplain of Bethel University, serves as the Director of Community Engagement & the Whosoever Will Ministry Bridge, at Fulton Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and is a Chaplain in the U.S. Navy Reserve.  He graduated from Bethel in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Christian Ministry and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Memphis Theological Seminary. Rev. Burns is married to Jessica Olten Burns who directs a home school community in Paris, Tennessee.  They are blessed with four children: Caleb, Katheryn, Carolyn-Jene, and Kolten.  Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Terra Sisco shares:  I was born and raised in Pope County, Illinois in the southern part along the Ohio River.  It is a county that is large in geography with a large population of deer, fish and wildlife but small population of people. It is a beautiful place to live however it doesn’t have much for people.After graduating Pope County High School in Spring, 1997, I attended Bethel University which was then known as Bethel College in the fall of 1997.  I graduated from Bethel in the Spring 2001 earning a Bachelor of Arts.  I then attended Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS) in the fall of 2001 and graduated from MTS in the Fall of 2004 earning a Master of Divinity. I am a first-generation Cumberland Presbyterian who has a unique story to tell in how I became a "C.P.".  I served five years in youth ministry and I am now in my 16th year of ministry. I have served 7 years in Illinois, 5 years in Tennessee, 4 years in Kentucky, and now 5 years in Oklahoma.   Music has always been therapeutic for me.  It has helped me get through some hard times in my life as well as enhanced my prayer life.  I decided to learn how to play the guitar when I was 19 and I do not regret that decision! It has blessed me tremendously! I have two cats named Albert after the former first baseman of the St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols and Kallie, because she is a calico. I really like to go to the beach, and dream of having a small beach house one day. I love God’s creation, and I really enjoy all the things about the ocean. I really like to cook and bake, when I have time, and play games with my church members like Mexican Train Dominoes. I really enjoy visiting people on porches and patios. And I absolutely love the gifts of joy and laughter!  If you hang out with me at all you are going to see those two gifts of God in me!Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Jeff McMicheal was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky on July 29, 1961 into a wonderful family as the youngest of three kids. He is a life-long Cumberland Presbyterian and his father was an elder in the Harrodsburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  His mother, a Sunday School teacher and part-time pianist.  Jeff attended his first Vacation Bible School when I was two-weeks old.  Any time the church doors were open, he was in attendance with his family.  Jeff accepted Jesus Christ in 1970 when he was 9 years old and was baptized by Rev. Roy Moore.  Some of Jeff's fondest memories were of church camps and presbyterial 5th Sunday Youth Rallies.   After graduation from high school, Jeff attended the University of Kentucky.  While in college, Jeff said that he wandered away from my faith.  It was not until I met his wife and began to have children did he return to the church.   He has been married to his wife Tammie, a pediatric registered nurse, for almost 38 years and they have 3 grown children.  The oldest son, Jonathan, lives in Dallas, Texas. He works and teaches at SMU. His wife is neo-natal physician at Dallas Children’s Hospital.  Ashley is the second eldest and lives in her grandparent's old home in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.  She is in social work for an insurance company.  Her husband is a firefighter.  They have two children, Charli Grace (13) and Quin (8 months). The youngest of the three children is Brandon who lives in Owensboro, Kentucky.  He is a civil engineer for a pipeline company.  His wife works in a real-estate title office.  They have three children, Sophia (4),  Blake (3), and Stella (1).  Jeff is presently the full-time pastor of Freedom Cumberland Presbyterian in Breckinridge County, Kentucky and has been serving this congregation for 9 years. Prior to this full-time pastorate, He was a bi-vocational minister serving at Ephesus, Short Creek and Mt. Pleasant Cumberland Presbyterian churches.  His other vocation was being a pharmacy district manager for pharmacy chain for over 20 years. Jeff also serves as a Regional Representative for Our United Outreach (OUO) for the Synod of the Midwest.  This area includes Covenant, Cumberland, and North-Central Presbyteries.  Jeff also serves as a part-time staff as the Mission's Coordinator for Cumberland Presbytery.  Jeff is also the Co-Chair for Cumberland presbytery’s General Assembly Planning Committee which will host the next General Assembly scheduled at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. His hobbies include reading and playing with his dogs.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Rev. Dr. Perryn Rice is the Senior Pastor of the Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church in Dallas, TX where he, his wife, Terri, their son, Jonathan Perryn, and their daughter, Lauren Endia, reside.  Perryn has served as the Moderator of the Brazos River Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America (C.P.C.A.), and as the Stated Clerk (Executive Secretary) of the General Assembly of the C.P.C.A.  He has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Bethel University in McKenzie, TN.  He is currently the Moderator of the Red River Presbytery (C.P.C).  He is also a member of the Unification Task Force of the Cumberland Presbyterian Churches whose purpose is to create a plan to bring these two denominations together as one.  He teaches the Principles of Preaching course with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church’s Program of Alternate Studies (P.A.S.) for ministers seeking ordination.  The PAS program is connected to Memphis Theological Seminary.  Perryn holds dual membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America, and is a member of the Grace Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A (PCUSA).Perryn has served as an Associate Minister of the Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas; the Pastor of the East Waco Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America in Waco, Texas; the Pastor of the Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America in Dallas, Texas; and the Associate Pastor of Plans and Programs of the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Cookeville, TN.  A product of the public school system, he received a B.A in English (writing) from Bethel College of McKenzie, TN.  He received his Master of Divinity from Brite Divinity School of the Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, TX and his Doctor of Ministry degree from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas.  Homiletics (preaching) was his basic concentration for both of these degrees and he has future hopes of teaching Homiletics later in life.  Earlier in his life, Perryn spent some years as a stand-up comedian and R&B singer.  He dropped those aspirations to follow God’s call for his life.  Although at times you may still catch him singing and telling jokes.  He believes in keeping gifts fresh and usable.  Perryn considers his wife “his second reason for living.”  He believes that God has shown him love by giving Jesus Christ to die sacrificially in his place.  But Perryn also believes that God has shown him love by blessing him with such a wonderful woman in his wife, Terri.  “I become a better preacher, pastor, and person each second I’m with her.”  For nearly ten years, they shared an email weekly devotional called, “The Weekly Word!”  It began as an email to twenty people that has swelled to over 150 recipients.    Perryn knows that his son and daughter are gifts from God.  "No matter how rough my life can be, Jonathan's smile and love makes everything worthwhile."  His daughter is the spark that keeps them motivated.  “Whenever I see her and then the world she will grow up in, I know I have more sermons to preach!”  Perryn loves being a “family man.”Perryn Rice is the son of the Rev. Joel and Mrs. Ann Rice (natives of Providence, KY and Detroit, MI respectively) of Dallas, TX and has a younger brother, Xavier, who is also a preacher and lives in Waxahachie, TX with his wife, Vickey.   He has authored one book, Sixty-six Devotions from Sixty-six Great Books, and is currently working on other book projects.  As of November 2020, he holds a black belt in Taekwondo. He is the recipient of many awards and tributes, but he treasures preaching. He loves to preach and does so with a power and passion that comes from God.  Early in his ministerial life, the Rev. Henry Ewing, Jr. of Alabama told him, "If you don't believe it, don't preach it!"  This is his foundational basis for what he does.  "I believe in preaching the life of Jesus Christ - crucified, dead, and buried; but definitely resurrected and living."Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Nathan Wheeler in an ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and serves as their Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. Nathan grew up in Gallatin, Tennessee and felt called into ministry as a teenager attending St. Luke Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Madison, Tennessee. He attended Bethel University (College at the time) where he earned a degree Bachelor in Science in Psychology. He went on to Memphis Theological Seminary earning his Master of Divinity.  Nathan has served as youth minister/director and young adult minister in Presbyterian Church (USA), United Methodist, and Cumberland Presbyterian congregations. He has served in his current role with the denomination since 2015. Beyond his work in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Nathan also is writing and releasing music available at nathanwheelermemphis.bandcamp.com and is currently writing a book on theology and youth ministry to be released by The Youth Cartel sometime in 2022. Nathan currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife Marissa and their dog Lucky. Music is provided and used by permission from Nathan Wheeler, Better Day Now.https://nathanwheelermemphis.bandcamp.com/releases

Elea Brown Forester is a Cumberland Presbyterian from Memphis, Tennessee. She is a history major at Maryville College and is discerning a call to ministry. She enjoys playing guitar, going on long walks, and laughing at inappropriate times.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Cynthia Paulk's Faith JourneyI was born in Jacksonville, Texas and raised in Texas and eastern New Mexico. My father’s work required that we relocate every couple of years so I learned independence and developed the ability to “start again.”I was raised in Presbyterian churches across Texas and eastern New Mexico. I took catechism classes in New Mexico and joined the church in Junior High. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t “believe,” but my real walk of faith would begin much later in life.I knew at a young age that I would be a teacher. I have a passion for music, and I was very blessed to use that passion as my career choice. I spent 32 years in the elementary classroom (with a brief stint as a junior high band director) teaching elementary music. It was truly a passion for me! Who could not love teaching music....singing, playing instruments, dancing...it was a joy. In 2010, I began to think that it might be time to move out of the classroom. (Age was making it hard to sit on the floor with the kids-and get back up without help, and dancing 8 hours a day was becoming difficult!). I had always wanted to pursue music therapy, so I thought that might be my next career path.   I Unfortunately, those doors did not open for me. My husband Joe, had always encouraged me to move into school administration. I decided to see if that path would open for me and in two weeks I was in graduate school. I graduated in 2011 with a Masters in Educational Leadership. The next few years would prove to be exciting and would stretch me in ways I never thought possible. Within 9 months of graduation, I became an assistant principal at my teaching campus, then an assistant to the new campus being built, to suddenly becoming the principal opening the new school. I mention this because these events and a situation that happened at the end of this career path is what brought me to my walk of faith.I had always been a workaholic and continued that work ethic as an administrator. I was the first person at school every day and the last to leave. I worked 7 days a week. After 3 years in administration, I had a health issue that almost killed me. During my recovery, I discovered that a group of teachers had filed a complaint against me. It’s not unusual for an administrator to deal with formal complaints from teachers and parents, but several issues were at play that made this more serious. Much to my surprise, I was not allowed to dispute the claims, but was re-assigned. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. All I had worked I felt was destroyed along with my confidence. That’s when my life began to change in ways in which I will always be grateful.I was never angry about the situation, but I was very hurt. I remember not sleeping and spending much of my time trying to find anything that would help me. I had a Jesus Calling book that had been a table decoration for years, but that and my Bible became my constant companions. It didn’t happen over night, but God began to help me heal. I put YouVersion on my phone so I would never be without God’s word. I also began to listen to Christian music. I believe God talks to me through music, and there were so many songs that showed me His love and that He had a plan for me even through the pain. I began to feel the Holy Spirit like I had never felt it before. I also began to “listen” to God and let Him guide me instead of trying to guide myself.I’m blessed to have a wonderful husband and he has always been my biggest cheerleader. He too was devastated when this happened and very angry for me. But....through our pain we came to our walk of faith together. What a blessing!I was re-assigned in mid June, and by August we were talking about joining a church. God led us to First Cumberland and it was there that we found our forever church family.  We joined in September with a commitment to serve in any way that God wanted us to. We have been blessed with many spiritual mentors as we continue our walk with Jesus.Walking with Jesus didn’t change what others outwardly see about me. I have always tried to be a kind person, and the personality is still the same....but the emphasis on what is important has changed. I now realize what is truly important and I try to live that every day. When I talk to others about Jesus I usually work this phrase into the conversation, “If you only knew.” If you only knew how a relationship with Jesus will change your heart and your life, you would jump at the chance to walk with Him. It doesn’t mean that you won’t still have trials, but your ability to deal with these trials will change. I have sometimes wondered how different my life would have looked had I walked with Jesus earlier, but I truly believe that God’s timing for me is exactly as it happened.My church ministryI love all aspects of church life and serving. The passion that I had for education is now my passion for Jesus. I am excited for every ministry at church from our annual pumpkin patch, to the savvy summit of free community workshops, to potlucks-game nights-Bible studies, and all that we have done and will do as a church. We were blessed when after a year without a pastor, God sent us Pastor Nate Mathews and his lovely wife Anna. It’s exciting to see where God will lead us. Even in the midst of the current pandemic, we are still serving and worshipping together as a family...although we are doing it virtually!AspirationsI look forward to the ways in which God will continue to lead me. I love doing textile arts like sewing and crocheting and I have been able to use those skills for the kingdom. I was so glad that I could sew when the pandemic hit in March! Who would have thought that mask making would be needed? I have also been able to use my passion for music as I play the piano during worship. If you allow Him to, God will use your gifts where He needs them. I feel happiest when I am serving...and I look for ways for God to use me.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jeff DeWees is a jack of all trades… master of none… or at least he’d like to think that of himself.  Jeff was born into a Christian family who loved Jesus, but did not do life perfectly… a trait which Jeff continues on today.  He was raised in Lyles, a small town in Hickman County, Tennessee.  Jeff used to like to boast of being from the county that held the record in Tennessee for the most number of miles of dirt roads.  During his high school years, while attending Synodic Camp at Camp Crystal Springs, Jeff felt called to ministry.  However, he also found a love for science.  He eventually pursued a degree in Chemical Engineering at Tennessee Technological University.  It was here that he met and fell in love with the woman who would eventually become his wife, Stacy.  After receiving his Bachelors of Science in Engineering, Jeff went to work for the environmental engineering consulting firm with which he had engaged in a cooperative learning opportunity.  During his tenure at EnSafe, he felt the call to ministry return.In 2008, with the approval of the Nashville presbytery, Jeff submitted to ministry.  He began seminary education and full-time ministry work in 2009.  His first pastorate was at Mt. Vernon in Ramer, Tennessee.  Jeff graduated from seminary in 2013 and continued to serve the Mt. Vernon Cumberland Presbyterian Church for another 2 years.Jeff and his family now serve the Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee.  It is the first church family that Jeff remembers having an epic snowball fight after service.Jeff has been married to his much better half, Stacy, for almost 17 years.  They have twins, Annabelle and Andrew, who are 15, and are according to Jeff, “impressively amazing individuals!”Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Laura Reed resides in the Tampa Bay area in Florida and is originally from the Northeast. She attended the University of Tampa where she received a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Business and Spanish and she received her MBA from St. Leo University. She is currently a student in the Program of Alternate Studies program and hopes to work towards her Master of Divinity in the future. Laura works in management at T-Mobile and has a 16 year-old son named Alexander. Laura rarely has free time but when she does she likes to travel, spend time with her son, spend time with family and friends, watch airplanes take off and land, and read about history.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Logan Dixon is a Program of Alternate Studies student under the care of Arkansas Presbytery working towards his ordination in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  He serves the Mars Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Pottsville, Arkansas as their stated supply.  Logan hosts his own podcast called The Monday Morning Megaphone.  He is also a writer for the adult bible study, The Encounter, and a regular writer for the Late Night Theology blog/website. Logan is married to his best friend, Brittany.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Mitch Boulton surrendered to the ministry of the Word and Sacraments in 2002.  He graduated from Bethel College in 2008 and Memphis Theological Seminary in 2011.  Currently, Mitch is continuing his education with a Doctorate of Ministry at Knox Seminary.  Having served congregations in Kentucky and Tennessee, Mitch currently serves the Olivet Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Tennessee.  He has been married for 30 years to Ronda, enjoys spending lots of time with their grandchild, fishing and the outdoors.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

​Rev. Dr. Milton L. Ortiz is the Team Leader of the Missions Ministry Team in the Cumberland Presbyterian Denomination. He is a graduate from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts and has served as bi-vocational pastor for more than 25 years.  He is originally from Colombia, South America, but has lived in the United States for almost 30 years. Rev. Ortiz is married to Francia Ortiz and lives in Cordova, Tennessee. They have two adult children: Helena and Jacob.  Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Maddie Taylor is a student at Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee studying degrees in both Political Science and Sociology.  Originally from Memphis, she considers McKenzie First Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Colonial Cumberland Presbyterian Church her two home churches.  She has grown up Cumberland Presbyterian and was baptized at the age of two.  Her faith really grew out of attending Camp Clark Williamson from the ages of 7 to 17.  During her high school years, she served on the Youth Planning Council as well as an "all around" intern at the Cumberland Presbyterian headquarters during her senior year.  Currently, she serves as the Education and Communications Intern for the Coalition for Appalachian Ministries (CAM).  In this role, she researches and writes newsletters for CAM as well as manage the social media accounts.  She says, "I am the first to ever hold this position and am excited to expand its role and see what impact it can have on CAM and the greater Appalachian community."Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rhonda McGowan’s Faith JourneyPart 1 Salvation StoryMy Faith journey begins when my uncle Steve invited me to go to church with him and Vickie.  I can not remember when this was but I went with them.  The church and people treated me very kind however, I did not feel it was for me.  A few Sundays later I decided to start visiting Mt. Calvary Missionary Church in Crossroads TN.  I went for some time sitting in the very back row with Ms. Waters, Linda and Gordon Miller.   Once Sunday I was moved by the Lord to get Saved.  I held onto that church pew like it was a life preserver, not realizing at that time that the Lord Jesus was my life preserver. I don’t remember stepping out into the ile or even the walk to the alter but I got there by the grace of God.  When I got to the front of the church Rev. Johnny Jones ask me if I knew Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I said no and he said do you want to and I said yes.  He prayed with me and I received Jesus into my heart and Life.  This was the single most amazing day in my life.   I was baptized the following Wed. night. Life and Ministry The Lord blessed me with two amazing people who raised me and made me the woman I am today.  They were J.C. Miller (papa) and Erma Jean Miller (granny).  They took time to take me and Jimmy in and raise us when they should have been getting ready to retire.  They were two of the most influential people in my life then and now. A few years after I was saved my papa had a light stroke and my grandmother was not in good health during this time I quit going to church.   I said it was to help them but in truth I was upset with them being sick.  Over the year’s granny got worse and ended up being bedridden an this hit me pretty hard.   There were many health issues during these years, however, I did return to church Red Hill.  My grandfather had another bad stroke and developed stage 4 lung cancer and passed way in 2004.  My granny’s health deuterated and she passed away form complications of copd.  This was a very trying time for me but I held on to Jesus and He got me through the loss of Granny and Papa.After I was saved the Lord began to work on me and change my life one day at a time.   The thing He wanted to work on the most was my relationship with my mom.   We had been estranged for over fifteen years.   God was asking me to forgive my mom and I was not ready to do that.   So I said ok and wrote her a letter telling her I forgave her.  In this letter I told her I forgave her but not to call me, write me or come see me.   So I had not forgiven her and was just trying to do what I thought would work but of course it did not.   God continued to work on me and deal with my hatred and unforgiveness until I finally gave in and let Him lead.  Mom and I reconnected, and it took time but we build a relationship that I am so thankful for.   God also helped me to get closer with my dad and build our relationship for the better. The next faith step was my marriage to Rev. Kriss McGowan.   We began dating just after thanksgiving 2007.  As our relationship developed, he ask me to go to church with him at this time I was attending Red Hill Community Church.   He was a candidate for the ministry and was serving at Cedar Springs Cumberland Presbyterian Church and South Pittsburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  At the time he ask me I knew he was preaching at two churches and also visited Ebenezer Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  However, I did not realize the energy it took to go to three services a day.  I was really tired and needed five-hour energy to make it through for a while.   Kriss proposed to me on the way across Suck Creek Mountain and ask me a question that question was are you ready for the ride.  I said yes and we now serve God together every day.  I continue to enjoy the ride with the Lord and Kriss.   We have been serving together for twelve years now and I look forward to each new chapter in our ride together.  Part 2 My Call and Part 3 My education I was called into the ministry while going to the Program of alternat studies as a visitor with Kriss.   I sat in every class with him his last year of preparation.   He said you should do the homework I said no I am not going to be a preacher.  He said ok whatever you say.  He knows me to well.    I should have listened because the next year I started the PAS program after being accepted as a candidate for ministry in the Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery.   I then returned to college at Miller-Motte to get my associates degree I graduated and was ready to begin the next step and the was PAS.  .It took me three years to get through the classes and prepare for ordination.  Part 4 My ordination I was ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament on February 2,2013 at the South Pittburg Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  It was snowing and laying so we were not sure if people would or could come.  But they did the committee that was set up make it even Ms. Pat Vernell came through the snow.  I have both family and church family surrounding me during this wonderful day.  My CPC Family made this day special by being there in so many ways for me  Marlynn Blevins,  played the piano,  Kathy McGowan sang ,Jane Lattimore  for reading the Word of the Lord, Mark Rackly for bringing our message, Kriss McGowan for conducting the service and giving me my,  Philip Layne for asking the questions Lamar Jackson for Prayer , Jane Latimore, George Holland, Deloris Rogers, and Sarah Way for helping with communion and everyone for coming and participating in glorious time..Part 5 My ministries While I was going through PAS. I began a weekly Bible Study along with the help of Lola Carter at the Bridge Nursing home which I call the Sunshine Gang.  I absolutely love working with the elderly.  They have so much to give and share with us.  One of these days we will look up and we will be the elderly person that can share.  I also participate in a yearly revival at Silverdale now Corcentric prison.  Glen Turner ask me to help a few years back and I absolutely love reaching out to the prisoners.  Yes, they have made mistakes some more costly than others but every person deserves to know who Jesus Christ is and have the opportunity to accept Him as their Lord and Savior.  I also served as Volunteer Chaplain at Bledsoe Prison.  I entered data and canceled  for over a year learning a lot from both Chaplains and inmates.  The other ministry that I have is Ladies of the Valley in which Marty Layne helped get started.  We usually meet once a month but have not met lately due to Covet 19.  But we get together have a devotion and reach out to our communities,  we have helped kids with camp,  the homeless with goodie bags,  Christmas and food for families and kids in need and we give Christmas Cards to three different nursing homes and two prisons each year.    The next big step God took me through was The Pikeville Cumberland Presbyterial New Church Development that was started by The Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery to reach out to the Pikeville, TN community.  Tim Rapson was the original plant started unfortunately time became ill and passed away.  This is when Phillip Layne ask me to consider becoming the Church planter.  I was hesitant but I did become the planter.  This is a journey with God and the committee that was heading it up.  We finally planted the church in Pikeville with the help of the members and TJ Malinoski.   Who gave insight helped develop an action plan.  We began meeting on Saturday evening and have transitioned into Sunday morning and Wed night. The church is blessed with members who work for the Lord.  We have had gains and losses during our plant but the Lord has made us  a Church.  Part 6 Personal Info I have been happily married to Kriss McGowan for twelve years now. He keeps me going every day During our marriage we have grown together helped and strengthened each other.  The loss of three parents has helped us understand grief and loss in many ways.  The Lord leads our journey and has given us the opportunity to share Him with the world. We are still enjoying the ride.  We have two little ones we are now raising Alex and Alyssa which bring so much joy and hard work into our lives.  I cannot imagine our lives without them now.  We have four fur babies Boosee, Lucy, Rylie and Rufus and that is a lot of fur for one family, but they are all ours. Part 6 Milestones 1.    Marriage2.    Got my associates degree3.    Completed PAS4.    Got Ordained5.    Started my Bachelors still working on this one.6.    Helped start a new Church7.    Raising two amazing rambunctious kids.Now lets see where the Lord Leads. Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. David Lancaster is the Professor of Christian Studies at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee.  He earned a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School and began his first pastorate in West Paducah, Kentucky.  Later, he relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee serving the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church over the next 19 years.  For 12 years, the Knoxville congregation sponsored a daily radio ministry which David produced called Family Matters airing on a local Christian radio station.  In 2008, David received a Doctor of Ministry degree from The Graduate Theological Foundation.  In September of 2010, the Sharon Cumberland Presbyterian Church honored him by naming as their supply pastor.David has served on several denominational boards and is a long time instructor for the Program of Alternate Studies (PAS) and in 2017, he was elected as the General Assembly moderator of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.For over 20 years, David has studied the subject of leadership.  He wrote a monthly column, Leading Matters, for the Cumberland Presbyterian magazine.  He has also developed two outreach/service programs at Bethel University.  One being The Bethel Center for Creating Leadership and the other Certificate in Christian Studies.  Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reverend Billy Price is the Associate Pastor of Youth at Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, TN.  He resides there with his wife Lara, step-son Eden, and son Woods.  Billy was ordained in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 2016 and has been serving at Beaver Creek for the past three and a half years.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Neal Wilkinson is the Senior Pastor at White Oak Pond Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Lebanon, Missouri. Neal grew up in Northern Ireland and moved to the United States in 2011, coming to Nashville, Tennessee with the Center for Youth Ministry Training, where he served for 4 years as a Middle School Minister in a United Methodist Church. It was in Nashville where he met his wife Joanna, a fourth generation Cumberland Presbyterian. He has been at White Oak Pond since January 2018. He and Joanna had their first child, Nora Ellis in November 2019. Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Joyce Merritt directs Still Waters Family Ministries, a Middle Tennessee outreach ministry headquartered in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  This ministry serves families, with a focus on single parent families, who need a hand up to move forward to the full and secure life God wants for all God’s children.  Prior to founding and directing Still Waters Family Ministries, Joyce pastored the Rockvale Cumberland Presbyterian Church for ten years.  Previously, she served in associate pastoral capacities at Commerce Cumberland Presbyterian Church and at Cookeville Cumberland Presbyterian Church where she co-founded and co-pastored an outreach ministry to persons living in or near the Cookeville Housing Authority. Joyce received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts Degree from Tennessee Technological University and taught in the public schools for ten years as a family literacy teacher and program director as well as a secondary science teacher.  Following her teaching career, Joyce answered the call to ministry, earning her Master of Divinity degree from Memphis Theological Seminary in 2004.  Her first call to ministry was to a Cookeville Outreach Ministry.   She was ordained in December 2004 during the same service in which her fifth child received infant baptism.In addition to the Still Waters Ministries, Joyce also serves as Parish Associate for the Murfreesboro First Presbyterian Church where she has served for the past three years.  She has also published a book of poems: Naked Before God, A Journey Into Light and Life.   Joyce and Tim and three of their five children live on a family farm in Rockvale, Tennessee.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Susan Parker was ordained as a Cumberland Presbyterian minister in 2014 after graduating from Memphis Theological Seminary’s Program of Alternate Studies. Since that time Susan has been serving as interim and supply pastor in various Cumberland and USA Presbyterian churches in North Alabama. During 2018-2019, Susan served as Interim President at Memphis Theological Seminary.  Prior to the ministry, Susan served in two statewide elected positions: Alabama Public Service Commission (2006-2010) and State Auditor of Alabama (1998-2002). She spent most of her career in higher education working seventeen years at Calhoun Community College, Decatur, Alabama and eight years at Athens State University, Athens, Alabama. Susan retired in 1996 as Chief Development Officer at Athens State. Susan and her husband, Paul, live on the Elk River in Rogersville, Alabama.  Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

John grew up in the same neighborhood in Albuquerque, New Mexico as Rev. Shelia O'Mara and Rev. Lyle Reece and is tremendously disappointed he didn't know them as a child. John's parents were both Presbyterian elders and active in a PCUSA church in Albuquerque. John might be best known there for his disdain for pre-school. He would often cry in the corner while secretly waiting for the pastor to come in to greet the kids before service. He'd dart out the open door and run around and sneak into the adult service. When he was four his parents gave up on preschool and he got to come to the service without the drama. Coloring books were strictly verboten in that church, so he'd occupy himself searching through the old hymnal looking for the oldest hymn ("Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence"), the most prolific arranger/composer (Ralph Vaughn Williams) and all the songs that used the same meter. John can't carry a tune to this day, but he knows the fourth verse of "All Creatures of Our God and King" if anyone asks.At age 11, John's family moved to Eugene, Oregon where John attended middle and high school. Albuquerque was an intellectual town with the national laboratories and the air force base, but Eugene was an athletic town, so John's world was upended. He went from being the first picked for kickball to being the nerd. He still remembers winning the Charlie Hustle award in Little League for being the hardest working right fielder the coach had ever had. After high school, John matriculated at a Methodist University (Willamette University) where he joined the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and committed himself to ministry in the dorms. Fortunately, the University required him to take classes, too, so he was exposed to a set of brilliant and engaging Bible teachers who nurtured his love for Jesus' parables, CS Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Maxwell's equations. The nerd factor was always in play, so John majored in Physics and Electrical Engineering.After college, John joined a group of Intervarsity friends to form a community committed to inner-city ministry. Nicknamed the MISFITS (Missionaries in San Francisco in Training), this group of nine moved to San Francisco to pursue God's call. John worked in technology, while each of the others pursued their own paths. The group wandered through different ministries and churches looking for places to settle down. John didn't have to look far. He lives two blocks from the first house, works from home and walks to church.John married his lovely wife Sharon seven years later. They're blessed to have two adult children, Justin and Claire. John and Sharon switched off being the stay at home parent a couple of times while each worked in a demanding technology career. They both credit the role switches as being key to thriving in marriage. Today, John spends most of his time in different ministry pursuits while Sharon supports the family with a high tech job, Justin works with an immigration law firm and Claire is trying to have a rewarding senior year of college while stuck at home because of the pandemic. They have no idea what comes next. Only God knows.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Samantha Hassell was raised in the Rose Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church and has served the Cumberland Presbyterian Church as a christian educator and youth pastor since 2001.  She is a graduate of Bethel College (B.A.) and Memphis Theological Seminary (MAYM).  Samantha has been a contributing writer for Faith Out Loud, Feasting on the Word, Growing in Grace and Gratitude and was the writer of the 2016 Presbyterian Youth Triennium Small Group Manual.  She and her husband, Rev. Victor Hassell, have three children and serve together at the Sturgis Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Sturgis, Kentucky. Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Nathaniel (Nate) Mathews is an Ordained Minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is a graduate of Bethel University and Memphis Theological Seminary. Nate is currently serving as the Senior Pastor of First Cumberland Presbyterian Church (FCPC) in Lubbock, Texas of Presbytery del Cristo. He and his wife Anna, along with their two pets, have been residents of the Lubbock area for over 2 years. They look forward to fruitful and vibrant ministry together with the wonderful people of Lubbock FCPC. Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Fredy Antonio Diaz Caedeno is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister serving as the Associate Pastor of Multicultural Ministries at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Houston, Texas.  Fredy has a background in electrical engineering, a master's degree in Theology from International Biblical Seminary and currently is studying for a doctorate of ministry at Memphis Theological Seminary.  He was born in Manizales, Colombia, is married to Rev. Dr. Gloria Villa and they have one adult son, Benjamin.  Fredy has been part of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church since 1985 and is actively involved in the life of Trinity Presbytery serving as chair on the Ordained Clergy Task Force.You can find more about Fredy's ministry at Iglesia Presbiteriana Cumberland de Houston on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsTjwol4db-_EQH3SrYV9rg.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Rev. Dr. Jody Hill became the ninth President of Memphis Theological Seminary on January 1, 2020. Hill grew up in the Mt. Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Falkner, Mississippi, and he is a direct descendant of Ephraim McLean, a founding member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He was a three-year letterman on the Ole Miss Rebels Football Team from 1990 to 1992. Rev. Dr. Hill is a graduate of the University of Mississippi (B.S.), Memphis Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (D.Min.). He served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Memphis Theological Seminary from 2008 to 2014, and two terms as Moderator of the Board. In his prior position, Rev. Hill was the Vice President for Community Relations at Blue Mountain College in Mississippi. He has served full-time and bi-vocational pastorates in both the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is the New York Times Best Selling author of 38: The Chucky Mullins Effect. Jody and his wife, Monya, have two sons, Noah and Luke.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Byrd Broyles was born in Johnson City, Tennessee and is a 4.5 generation Cumberland Presbyterian.  He has a degree in Special Education from East Tennessee State University and is a graduate from the Program of Alternate Studies.  He serves the Pleasant Mount Cumberland Presbyterian Church outside of Columbia, Tennessee and is a Special Education teacher at Marshall County High School.  His claim to fame is being the first person to submit a resignation to a church within a week following ordination.  This episode's music was written and performed by Byrd Broyles and used with his permission.  

Rev. Becky Zahrte was ordained in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in March 2020.  She serves both the Madisonville First and Rose Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Churches in Kentucky.  She is a graduate of the Program of Alternate Studies has a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in organizational communication.  She and her husband Chris have been married for twenty-two years have two adult children and two granddaughters.  You can find Becky as a contributor to the Encounter curriculum and on Facebook and Youtube with worship services and bi-weekly devotionals.  Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Alan Butler is from Forth Worth, Texas and a recent graduate from Memphis Theological Seminary.  He will soon be ordained to the word and sacrament in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and is the Coordinator of Benefits the denomination's Board of Stewardship, Foundation and Benefits.  Alan also serves as youth minister at St. John United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Rev. Dr. Tommy Clark is the minister at McCain’s Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in Columbia, Tennessee, actively serves the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry in Nashville and is a consultant for individuals developing urban ministries in various cities in the United States. In addition to ministry, Tommy is an avid runner, cyclist, and outdoors enthusiast. And, he is a devoted husband to his partner in ministry, Rev. Ellen Hudson Clark. Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A native of Jackson, TN, Rev. Shelia O’Mara graduated from Bethel College, McKenzie, TN, in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.  She received her Masters of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary, Memphis, TN, in 1983 and was ordained a Cumberland Presbyterian minister in January, 1983.  She was commissioned in the United States (U. S.) Navy Chaplain Corps in June,1983.  Shelia is the 189th General Assembly moderator of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a member of Presbytery del Cristo and is the Chair of the Presbytery Committee on the Preparation for the Ministry.  She also serves on the Presbytery Ministry Council.  Reverend O’Mara served for six years on the Unified Committee on Theology and Social Concerns, serving as Chair for two years.  She resides in Gadsden, TN, and is married to Duncan O’Mara, a retired Naval officer and recently retired professor at the U.S. Naval Academy.Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Patrick is an ordained Cumberland Presbyterian minister and he, his wife Jessica and two daughters Bella Grace and Jacqueline have been living in Colombia, South America for three plus years.  Patrick has been called to provide training to develop leaders within a new presbytery, mentoring seminary students, helping establish youth programs in the churches, training youth leaders, helping with camping programs, helping with mission teams that visit Colombia, helping with existing and new social action programs, and helping with the expansion of the Presbytery and formation of new churches. Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

​Cardelia Howell-Diamond is an ordained minister of word and sacrament in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. She is married to the Reverend Steven Howell-Diamond, and together they have three children, Kai, Sam and Wyatt Howell-Diamond. Cardelia has served the church for 21 years in various ministry positions and currently pastors Christ Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, AL, Leads The Community Table, a Worshiping Community in Huntsville,  AL and is the Coordinator of Women's Ministry for the Cumberland Presbyterian Denomination. When she had free time, she enjoyed reading, crocheting, knitting, and spending time with friends. Music is provided by Punk Rock Opera, I Wanna to be a Machine.  https://files.freemusicarchive.org/storage-freemusicarchive-org/music/ccCommunity/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_13_-_I_Wanna_be_a_Machine.mp3 (2)Additional Comments: URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Punk_Rock_Opera/Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II/Punk_Rock_Opera_-_Punk_Rock_Opera_Vol_II_Album_-_13_I_Wanna_be_a_MachineComments: http://freemusicarchive.org/Curator: Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/