This summer the Revs. Emily Béghin, Daniel Ervin, and Angela Ryo – our eighth cohort of residents – left Ann Arbor to take up their new calls. First Pres’ investment in the Residency is bearing fruit in diverse ministries carried out in multiple settings across the nation. In recent communications, each testifies to the impact of the Resident Ministry experience on their work and development as pastors, and tells us how they have integrated programs, services, and exemplary modes of ministry from First Pres in their current parishes. They cite the many ways pastors and members of our congregation have shaped their pastoral identities, habits and practices in ministry, and professional values – and thereby fostered an unceasing striving toward excellence in leadership and ministry across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Emily Béghin, Associate Pastor, First Pres, Virginia Beach: “My time as Associate Pastor here has been delightful. First Pres Ann Arbor truly prepared me for this position by giving me experience in every category of ministry.”
Angela Ryo, Assistant Pastor for Christian Formation, Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills: “Not a single day passes by without [my] wistfully thinking back to my formative years at First Pres or applying the skills I’ve learned there. If I had a penny every time I talked about how they do things at First Pres, I’d be able to retire in less than a year.”
Daniel Ervin, Pastor, LoveJoy United Presbyterian Church, Wood River, IL: “Even though First Pres is considerably larger than LoveJoy United, I feel my residency experience helped me live into a much more well-rounded pastoral identity. I’m also so appreciating the colleagues I have now in Angela, Emily, and all of the First Pres staff.”
View Emily, Daniel, and Angela’s complete remarks here:
This Just In:
Brennan Blue (née Brennan Pearson), RM Class of 2011, is leaving Westminster Presbyterian Church (Minneapolis), where he served as the Associate Pastor for Families, Youth, and Children for four and a half years. He has accepted a call to serve as Senior Pastor at St. Luke Presbyterian Church (Minnetonka, MN).
Mark Brainerd, RM Class of 2003, has accepted a call at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, to serve as the Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care. He leaves Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC, where he served as Associate Pastor for Congregational Care and Connection for twelve years.
Jenny McDevitt, RM Class of 2009, has accepted a call to Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City to serve as Senior Pastor/Head of Staff. She has served as Associate Pastor of Pastoral Care at Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas, for the past five and a half years.