It has been suggested that I write you, the members of First Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, to let you know a little bit more about Jo Ann and me than you may already know. The first thing I want to say is that we are thrilled to be here. We have bought a house here, but will not move until some work has been done. The address is: 4914 Double Eagle, Pasadena 77505. We dont have a phone number yet. Jo Ann and I both were born in Dallas. In fact, we were both born in the same hospital Methodist Hospital in Oak Cliff. In fact, we were both born into the same church Oak Cliff Presbyterian Church! My father was the pastor there, and Jo Anns father was an elder. My family moved to Houston when I was 4 years old, and here we stayed for the next twelve years. The summer after my sophomore year in high school we moved back to Dallas when Oak Cliff Presbyterian Church called Dad back as its pastor. That church had a phenomenal minister of music, William C. Everitt, who also owned the Brook Mays Music stores. He oversaw several choirs at Oak Cliff, one of which was a 100-voice high school choir. Jo Ann sang in that choir for four years, and I for two years. In addition to singing at Sunday evening services, this choir also sang for a regular Sunday evening program on KRLD radio. Then, every summer the choir took a two-week tour to some part of the United States and sometimes into Canada. We would sing every night, usually at a Presbyterian church, stay in homes of church members, and then board our buses the next day for the next city. This past September Jo Ann and I went back to Dallas for a reunion of that choir and sang for a Sunday morning worship service as well as for a Sunday afternoon concert. Mr. Everitt was there to conduct the reunion choir just as he did for 38 years before his retirement. I earned my B.A. degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and Jo Ann earned her B.A. from Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches. I also have degrees from Indiana University ( M.A. in German ), Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary ( M.Div., Th.M. ), and Rice University ( Ph.D. in church history ). I was ordained on July 8, 1979 when I began my first call three small churches in rural Missouri: Silex, Whiteside, and Auburn Presbyterian churches ( 1979-1983 ). I have also served First Presbyterian Church in Killeen, Texas ( 1983-1989 ) ; a new church development in Warrenton, Missouri ( 1992-1994 ) ; and Westminster Presbyterian Church, Houston ( 1995-2005 ). From 2005-2010 I served as the full-time director of Austin Seminarys Houston Extension Program. That program was closed June 30, 2010. Jo Ann has taught school in Channelview, she taught childbirth classes for ten years, and she served as Director of Christian Education at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Houston for ten years. She also writes ( poetry and essays ) and has served the church at the presbytery level in various capacities. We were married on July 11, 1999 and, together, we have four children: Adam, Meredith, David, and James. They range in age from 28 years to 21 years. We are thrilled to be here First Presbyterian Church, Pasadena.