Guest Preacher bios  are listed in alphabetical order.      

A-G               H-L            M-Z

Rev. Karen Bailey-Francois

Rev. Dr. Karen Bailey-François is a long-time friend of First Presbyterian.  In nearly a dozen years as Minister of Christian Education / Associate Minister for Center Church here in Hartford, Pastor Karen worked closely with Center City Churches and its partnering congregations.  She is a former CCC/Hands On Hartford board member and was active both in the clergy group and as a program volunteer.  Some of you may remember her as an organizer for Center City Churches’ annual Lenten Series or from the variety of cooperative ecumenical youth ministry initiatives she has helped to develop.  After leaving Center Church, Pastor Karen served as Interim Director for Hands on Hartford’s Center for Youth, which runs family resource centers and after school programs at Maria Sanchez and Bétances Elementary Schools. She is currently providing administrative and pastoral support for Ellington Congregational Church where her husband, Don, is Senior Minister and their children, Jon (12) and Danielle (23) are active.

Elder Edwin Carty

Elder Edwin Carty is a well-known and long-time member of First Presbyterian Church.  His speaking voice is admired by all those who have had the pleasure to hear him and his knowledge and recall of scripture is amazing.  Elder Carty has been Clerk of Session and a member of the Multicultural Team and Stewardship Committee at First Presbyterian Church.  He has also represented the church as a board member of GHICEJ. Ed is a founding member of the Caribbean-American society of Hartford and a member of the Jamaica Ex Police Association of Connecticut. He and his late wife Eileen were active members of First Presbyterian Church in Hartford for many years before moving to Florida in 1996.  In 2005 they moved back permanently to the Hartford area.      

The Rev. Shelley Copeland

"Rev. Shelley D.B. Copeland serves as the Executive Director of The Capitol Region Conference of Churches, a 106-year-old faith-based non-profit organization serving a regional network of almost 500 Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in Greater Hartford."   Click here to read more.  Text and photo from http://www.faithbasedcoach.org/bio.html. 

The Rev. Dr. Robert A. Evans

The Rev. Dr. Robert (Bob) Evans is a retired member of our presbytery and the Executive Director of Plowshares Institute, an international peace-making organization which was nominated in subsequent years for the Nobel Peace Prize.  First Presbyterian Church supports Plowshare's ministry as a Council Member Church. Bob and his wife Alice have been affiliated with First Presbyterian, Hartford since 1977.  

Dr. Heidi Hadsell

Dr. Heidi Hadsell is President of Hartford Seminary in Hartford, CT.  She came to the Seminary from the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches, Bossey, Switzerland, where she served as Director.

Dr. Hadsell has taught at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil; the University of Southern California; and McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, where she also served as Dean.

Dr. Hadsell has published on a number of subjects including ecumenism, environmental ethics, inter-religious relations and the public role of religion in society.

Dr. Hadsell lives in West Hartford, CT.

The Rev. Martha Highsmith

Martha Highsmith was ordained in 1998 for specialized ministry at Yale, where she currently serves as Deputy Secretary of the University, teaches at the Divinity School, and offers spiritual direction at the Annand Center.  Martha has ministered in a variety of churches - urban, inner city, suburban - in interim, transitional, parish associate and supply roles.  She most recently served as Senior Pastor of the University Church of Yale.  In her administrative role at Yale, she oversees all aspects of public safety, coordinates major events, and is involved with special University projects, such as Yale's new Faith and Globalization Initiative with Tony Blair (former Prime Minister of Great Britain).  Martha lives in West Hartford. 

Elder Lois Maxwell

Elder Lois Maxwell has been a member of the First Presbyterian Church congregation for 19 years.She is an elder, serves as newsletter editor, teaches Church school and is a member of the Parish Life and Outreach committees.

She also represents the church on the boards of Hands On Hartford, Presbyterian Promise and the Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition for Equity and Justice (ICEJ).

Lois is actively retired from the insurance industry where she worked in marketing and communications. She resides in West Hartford. Her adult daughter, Danielle, lives in Virginia.

The Rev. John Merz

Rev. John Merz is an old friend of First Presbyterian, Hartford, where he was ordained in 1992 and had his daughter Brittany baptized as an infant. He considers this church his first Hartford home church. He is an ordained Presbyterian pastor who serves the Church as the Executive Director of Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition.  John has most recently served the Presbytery as Chair of the Committee on Ministry and has been appointed as Moderator of our Session until an interim minister is called and installed. John lives in Simsbury with his partner Bill and their daughter Brittany and is active at Westminster, West Hartford where he is a parish associate. 

The Rev. Susan Olson  

Rev. Susan Olson is currently the Director of Career Services at Yale Divinity School. Ordained to the PCUSA in October 1993, she has served as a college chaplain (both full and part-time) at Wilson, Wesley and Connecticut Colleges, as well as Yale University. She is an Illinois native and a long-time volunteer for The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

The Rev. James F. Reese

Heather W. Reichgott

Heather Reichgott is a candidate for ministry in the Presbyterian Church, pianist, and activist for immigrants' rights and LGBT equality in the Presbyterian church. She lives with her wife and baby daughter in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Bishop John Selders

Bishop Selders is the founding Pastor of the Amistad UCC in Hartford and an accomplished musician from the African American Church tradition.  He is an activist around AIDS issues and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) issues.  In the fall of 2004, Selders was consecrated to the office of Bishop in the Church of God and designated Presider of a new religious body, the Inter-Denominational Conference of Liberation Congregations and Ministries. He currently lives in Hartford with his spouse Pamela and their two children. 

The Rev. Tom Speers

Tom Speers is a member at large in the Presbytery of Southern New England. Currently he serves on the Committee on Ministry. Tom lives on the campus of the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, where his wife Bessie is Head of School and they have two children. Previously Tom has served churches in Philadelphia, PA, Baltimore, MD and East Kilbride, Scotland. He is an avid fan of the Philadelphia Phillies.

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