OUR CHURCH LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP
Our Church thrives because of the energy and style of the people who have stepped up to lead.
Below are a few of the people that make our church community special.
REV. J. MICHAEL DOWD
SENIOR PASTOR
Rev. Mike is our Senior Pastor and "Shepherd", guiding us in our worship of God and service to our community.
RICH PHIFER
CONSISTORY PRESIDENT
Rich is the leader
of our church governing body.
LINDA RUSH
CONSISTORY VICE-PREESIDENT
Linda is the vice-president
of our church governing body.
CONSISTORY
Our Church is governed by our Consistory which consists of four officers: President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. Falling under them are seven committees made up of members of our Congregation and headed by individual Committee Chairs. Our Committees are: Christian Education, Christian Witness, Church Life & Program, Membership Outreach, Property, Stewardship and Worship.
Our Consistory meets the second Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. and meetings are open to all of our members.
STAFF
Anthony Lamourt - Director of Music Ministry / Organist
Anthony joined our ministry in May of 2026 & we look forward to hearing his musical talents & his leadership of our music ministry.
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​Wendy Wandersee - Sexton​
Our Sexton is our building care taker and is in charge of keeping us spic and span inside and out, assisting any outside groups that use our facility and generally keeps an eye on things around here!
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Margaret Parisi - Congregational Assistant
Margaret is our office staff and makes sure we have our weekly bulletins, our monthly newsletter, assists our Pastors, other staff and our congregation as well as outreaching to our community.
We Welcome our New Music Director, Anthony Mark Lamourt!
It gives me great pleasure and it is my honor to introduce to you Anthony Mark Lamourt as our new music director.
His first service will be May 24th.
And not to be overlooked I want to thank Bud Martin for his role since early January as interimorganist.
Both of these gentlemen are accomplished organists and we as a congregation are very fortunate to have had them lead the music portion of our services.
Anthony's resume reads that he is a dedicated musician with an expertise in directing music programs in the service of the church as organist and conductor while working with diverse populations of adults and children. He is skilled and experienced in a variety of musical styles from classical repertoire of Bach, Buxtehude, Sweelinck to Jazz, Gospel and Contemporary forms.
His specific strengths are that he is accomplished in keyboard and improvisation of all styles. He is proficient on the organ, piano, harpsichord, vibraphone and xylophone. He is also a composer of choral and instrumental music. Other talents include professional organ and piano tuning and technician.
Other accomplishments include successful establishment of concert series in three different churches where he attracted renowned musical artists like the Meridian String Quartet and the Aurora Wind Ensemble. Anthony has performed recitals at St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, GraceEpiscopal Church and St Peters Lutheran Church at Citicorp Center in New York. He has been awarded the New York News Day's Young Artist Award.
Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Anthony and his wife Tia.
Bill Arnold
Chair, Search Committee
MEET OUR PASTOR
Senior Pastor Rev. J. Michael Dowd
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Rev. J. Michael “Mike” Dowd began his pastorate at First Church in 2002 and has been an active leader in our church and community. Mike has extensive experience in leading organizations and has earned a B.A. History, M.Div., and M.A. Organization Development from the University of Delaware. He is committed to a ministry in our downtown community as is our Church leadership. He brings a unique blend of experience in the pastorate, business, training and political world to our church and our ministry. As well as serving our church as our spiritual leader Mike is a member of our County Council, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and a trainer for Dale Carnegie with his wife Kathleen. Mike and Kathleen have two daughters.
