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Lib McGregor Simmons

Davidson College Presbyterian Church has named the Rev. Elizabeth (Lib) McGregor Simmons as pastor after a yearlong national search. The Rev. Simmons will be the first woman as permanent senior pastor/head of staff in DCPC’s 171-year history. She was called to the job at a congregation meeting Sunday following the 11 a.m. service.

The Rev. Simmons, 55, is a South Carolina native and currently pastor at University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas. University Presbyterian is adjacent to Trinity University, an independent 2,600-student liberal arts institution.

“Lib is an exceptional pastor and an excellent preacher, teacher and head of staff,” Todd Duncan, the nominating committee chair, said in a statement Sunday. “She is a deeply spiritual person who leads her staff and congregation by example, and DCPC has a great future ahead with Lib as pastor.”

Martin Kerr, another committee member, said in a flier distributed at the congregation meeting, “Lib is a preacher who reaches both the head and the heart from the pulpit.”

The Rev. Simmons will visit Davidson to meet church and community members the first week of March. She will worship with the congregation for the first time April 24 and preach her first sermon on May 4.

In an interview Sunday, she said she is excited to be called as DCPC’s pastor.

“I really look forward to working with the gifted staff that is there,” she said. “The church has a really deep commitment to the things that make a difference in the world and I feel very honored that the congregation has placed this kind of confidence in me.”

She also is looking forward to being part of the campus community. She said the connections between DCPC and Davidson College appear stronger than those at her current church.

“I love the interaction and interchange,” she said. “Presbyterians hold as a strong ideal (that) the life of the mind is a gift from God and we’re called to explore ideas and commitments and to use that as a part of our faith commitment.”

DAVID BORAKS photo Davidson College Presbyterian Church, Feb. 23, 6:35 p.m.

REPLACING BRINDISI

Davidson College Presbyterian Church now has 1,300 members, making it the state’s 14th largest member of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The church has had a series of interim pastors since its former leader, the Rev. Allen Brindisi, passed away Sept. 26, 2006, after a battle with liver cancer. The Rev. Brindisi had been pastor since December 2000.

Bill Cockrill is the current interim pastor. Other interim ministers included Russell Mase and Kathy Beach-Verhey, the church’s associate pastor for campus ministry, who was acting head of staff following the Rev. Brindisi’s death.

With the Rev. Simmons’ appointment, the church will have four women on its pastoral staff, including Kathy Beach-Verhey; Shelli Latham, associate pastor for youth and missions; and Julie Hill, associate pastor for membership and congregational life.

The Pastor Nominating Committee was picked last February. It initially reviewed files of about 300 potential candidates before narrowing the field. Members of the committee met the Rev. Simmons in Davidson when she was in the area to visit family and also traveled to San Antonio to hear her preach.

ABOUT REV. SIMMONS

The Rev. Simmons has been at University Presbyterian in San Antonio since 1993. During her time there, the congregation has grown 76 percent. She also oversaw the creation of the SoL (Source of Light) Center, an interfaith adult education center.

She grew up on a dairy farm in Hopkins, S.C., near Columbia. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Agnes Scott College, in Decatur, Ga., and received her master of divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary also in Decatur, Ga., which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Before San Antonio, she was pastor at churches in St. Louis, Mo., and Jacksonville, Fla.

She also has maintained an active life of writing and service to the Presbyterian Church. She is a frequent contributor to Journal for Preachers. In 2002, she was named a Campbell Scholar at Columbia Seminary and was on an eight-scholar committee charged with helping the church study its mission in the 21st century.

She has served on the ministry preparation committees on all three presbyteries where she has worked. In 2007, she received the Distinguished Service Award from Columbia Seminary Alumni Association, which praised her for “awe-inspiring sermons,” for being supportive and trusting of those in her congregation, and for being “a spiritual guide to all ages,” according to the nominating committee flier handed out at DCPC Sunday.

Laura S. Mendenhall, president of Columbia Theological Seminary, called the Rev. Simmons “one of the finest pastors I know.” In the nominating committee flier, she said the Rev. Simmons is “attentive to preaching God’s Word, leading a congregation to live in God’s Word, looking beyond the congregation to what God is doing in the community and beyond.”

“I know she will be a significant leader in your community and presbytery,” Dr. Mendenhall said.

She is married to W. Gary Simmons and they have a grown son, Stewart McGregor (Mac) Simmons, who lives in San Antonio.

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