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Janice P. Devine
and Timothy M. Devine (“Jan” and “Tim”)
Co-Pastors
  We
came to serve as Co-Pastors of First Presbyterian
Church, Endicott, in January of 1998. This
is our third pastorate in 28 years of
ministry. In those years, we have learned
to depend upon and celebrate the passions
and strengths that both of us bring as
individuals into doing ministry together.
We are glad to serve within a community
of faith that seeks to invite and encourage
people on the journey of faith. We celebrate
God’s invitation to be in relationship
with all people through Jesus Christ, God’s
power to transform lives, and the presence
and power of the Holy Spirit.
On a personal note, our greatest joy is
our two grown children, Nathan and Kristen
. We have tried to share family life in
much
the same way that we share ministry. Together,
we enjoy many different sports and activities,
music opportunities and travel.
“As you therefore have received
Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live
your lives in him, rooted and built up
in him and established in the faith,
just as you were taught, abounding in
thanksgiving.” Colossians
2:6-7
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 Jeremy
received his education from Philadelphia
Bible University with a B.A.
in Bible/Youth Ministry. He
was the Lead Residential Services Manager
for a Christian-based youth residential
treatment center in the Philadelphia area,
where he supervised resident managers,
direct treatment staff and counselors.
In addition to this intense work with hurting
children, Jeremy has also worked with youth
through church ministry. He served
in a voluntary capacity and became a youth
intern during a staffing vacancy.
Jeremy came to us because he wanted to
work full time in youth ministry “where
I am able to use the gifts and abilities
God has given me to draw young people and
their families to, and disciple them in,
Christ."
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 Alisha
graduated from Philadelphia Bible
University with a B.S. in Biblical Studies.
For five years prior to coming to FPC,
Alisha worked as the Director
of Client
Services
and Marketing Coordinator for a law firm
in the outskirts of Philadelphia. Her
passion, however, is ministry in the context
of the local church. She taught Junior
High students for a year at an
alternative public
school. She has served in
Christian ministry with children by way
of Child Evangelism
Fellowship,
Sunday school teacher, camp counselor
and youth volunteer leader at three churches.
Alisha
has been blessed with a wide range of musical
gifts. She plays French Horn and bass
guitar, sang
in the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
and led an alternative Christian rock
band. In the late 90's, Alisha was one
of the worship leaders for the “Awesome
Adoration” worship team at Family
Life Ministries and also directed the
Worship Team for the church they previously
attended.
We feel blessed to have Alisha sharing
many of her various talents with us. She
was originally hired to work in Christian
Education,
Youth
and Worship Leadership for the contemporary
service. For three years, Alisha Finn
led the Worship Team during the early service.
She added her energy, faith and passion
to the mix of musicians and developed the
team, new sounds and ways to worship God.
Even as we commission her to redirect more
of her time toward children’s ministries,
we are grateful for her presence and leadership
in worship.
And yes, Alisha is married to Jeremy
in case
you
happened
to notice
they shared the same last name.
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Larry
Hoey
Organist,
Choir Director and Music Administrator
|
 Larry
Hoey joined the
staff of First Pres. as organist/choir director/music
administrator in the summer of 2009.
Larry has been in church music ministry
for a number of years; Larry began playing
the pipe organ for church services at the
age of 10 and has been
performing on the bench ever since. As a teenager, he divided his time between
studying classical music and performing in rock bands. Larry studied organ
performance with John Buchanan Macmillan at Nyack College
where he served as a chapel organist. His graduate
work in classical organ performance
and
music literature was at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music.
Larry resided in Rochester for seven years and also studied engineering at
Rochester Institute of Technology. Larry participated in Master Classes and
private studies with America’s legendary virtuoso concert organist,
Virgil Fox, and studied improvisation in the Netherlands
with Klaas Bolt at the International Academy for Organists in Haarlem,
Holland. For eleven years before coming to FPC, Larry served as principal
Organist at Saint Peter's Cathedral in Scranton, PA.
Larry also has a sound system business
and services a broad territory in New York
and Pennsylvania. In addition, he is the
accompanist for the Valley Chorus, a large regional chorus with a long history
and respected
reputation. Larry and his wife, Karen, reside in Sayre, PA.
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Walter
Kondratowski
Worship Leader
for "9:09" Service
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 Walter
joined the First Pres. staff in October
of 2008 as our Worship Team Leader and
A-V specialist. He and his wife, Kristin, moved
from the Philadelphia area so he could
take this position (and be closer to cousin
Jeremy Finn).
During the week, Kristin works from home as the regional manager
of an educational agency, and Walter is
frequently seen at church with his daughter,
Tessa.
The Kondratowski family recently increased
in size this past winter
when Tessa became a 'big sister' to
Maria.
Kristin and Walter are also actively engaged in the Youth Ministry
of the church, and Kristin helps out in the Christian Ed. program
on Sunday mornings.
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 Sharon,
an engineer
at heart, heard God
calling
her to a ministry position within this
church. When her job was transferred out
of state, she took time to
study the ministry needs of this congregation
and attend conferences. Through prayer,
fasting, study and conversation, she was
able to discern God
leading her to call us
as a congregation to take risks in discipleship
and service.
At the November 2004 Session
meeting, the Elders gathered around Sharon,
laid hands upon her and prayed for God’s
direction. Three months later, Session
blessed Sharon’s call to a part-time,
non-paid staff position as Coordinator/Coach
of Connecting Ministries.
What are connecting ministries? They are
the ministries that connect people, make
them feel like they belong, help them
grow in faith, and give them the desire
to serve within and beyond this congregation.
Currently, Sharon’s primary focus
is the Small Group
ministry. Get involved and experience how
this ministry develops
and grows.
Sharon feels blessed to be supported
in this ministry by her husband Bryan
and their three children. Using
her gift of technical savvy, Sharon
also maintains our church website as a
way to help people stay connected by knowing
what is actively going on in the life of
our congregation. She also sends out
a pre-weekend update of what is happening
in the life of FPC, notification when the
monthly newsletter is posted and time-sensitive
communications during the week to those
on the distribution list. If you would
like to be included in these communications,
send an e-mail to
her with which lists you would like to
be added to.
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Janet
Frederick
Office Manager
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Janet assumed the position of part-time secretary
at First Pres., her home church, in 2006
after “retiring” from
a 15-year elementary school teaching career
and several business positions. Most recently
she was employed in the Human Resources
Department of Partners Trust Bank. She
has also worked at colleges, a Wall Street
investment banking firm, a paper mill and
a television station. At this time in her
life, Janet uses her work experiences and
talents to help serve others here at First
Pres- a direction she has felt God calling
her to for some time. She has also taken
an active role in helping further the vision
and ministry of First Pres.
Janet and her husband, Harry, in addition to being active members
of First Pres., enjoy music, reading, travel and time with family.
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Carol
Vos
Secretary & Bookkeeper
|  Carol joined us in June 2008 helping
out temporarily in the bookkeeping
department. As the needs of First Pres. changed, she was willing
to assume a more permanent
position working part-time as bookkeeper
and office secretary. Although her education and experience
are in the field of accounting
and office work, her passion is her
family. Carol and her husband, Dave, have three (mostly grown)
children and together they
enjoy traveling, hiking and precious
times of just being together.
Carol enjoys
discovering all the opportunities God
has for her to love, serve and grow at
First Pres. |
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When Bill retired from the U-E school
district where he served as an elementary
school principal for many years, he was not
planning to begin working again right
away. But “when
a minister named Devine” called to talk to him about the
nursery school and its needs, Bill took
some time to pray and discerned that it
would be both fulfilling and that he could
offer the N.S. what they needed. Bill brings
to us knowledge and experience in security,
UPK, expansion, shared space and restructuring
of space, as well as oversight of staff
and programs.
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Peggy Wheeler, a teacher here for many years, was
hired as the Director of Education in 2007.
Her particular areas of emphasis include
curriculum development/implementation and supporting/mentoring
the teachers, especially those who are new to the program.
The Pre-School is nationally accredited and also in partnership
with the Union Endicott School District as a site for Universal
Pre-Kindergarten. Although non-sectarian, the Nursery School is
a mission of the church as we seek to build bridges between nursery
school families and this congregation.
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Louis
A. Pasquale
Custodian
| | Picture Coming Soon!
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We welcome Lou Pasquale to our community of faith
as our temporary, full-time custodial/maintenance
worker. Lou will be filling this position
while we take the opportunity to examine
our current and future needs. Please introduce
yourself to and warmly greet Lou. |
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Bryan
Landon
Sunday Morning Caretaker
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Picture Coming Soon!
Bryan Landon recently took over for his father, Ken,
as our Sunday Morning Caretaker.
We will be working on a bio so you can
get to know him.
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Rev.
Hemant Tandi and Saima Naik
Part-time Security/Custodians
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 Rev. Hemant Tandi and Saima Naik do part-time
security and custodial work at FPC, in
addition to their full-time work at EIT
and Wilson Hospital respectively. They
have two daughters, Shelley and Hosanna.
The Tandi family moved to the US in 2002.
They are passionate about a mission in
their native India that they founded and continue to direct, The
Grace and Peace Mission in Orissa. It includes an orphanage,
medical clinic, ministry to a leper community,
support of tribal churches and outreach to an animist tribe in
the jungle area of Orissa.
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2010 DEACONS
Elizabeth
Kerr &
Linda Glajch
Co-Moderators
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Susan
Burchill, Secretary
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| Maynard Koplin, Treasurer |
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Anna Beers
Jason Camp
Denise Decker
Paul Everett
Lenny King (Youth)
Diana Moore
Jim Santacrose
Carol Smith
Jen Youngs |
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