February 23, 2012
Meet the Staff
Ministry Staff
Rob Erickson
Pastor, Head of Staff
Reverend Dr. Rob Erickson came to First Presbyterian Church in November 2010 as the Pastor/Head of Staff. He graduated from Princeton Seminary in 1986 and received his Doctor of Ministry in 1996 from Princeton. Dr. Erickson has served churches in Philadelphia, Texas and Wichita, Kansas. He is a passionate preacher and teacher and pastor. He has travelled in mission around the United States as well as Honduras, Mexico and the Middle East. He is married to Joan Erickson and is the father of three grown sons: Stuart, Adam and Joshua and the grandfather of five grandchildren. He enjoys golfing, volleyball, reading, travelling and the challenges and joys of ministry. He has taught leadership, preaching, pastoral care and polity on the Master’s level. Prior to being called to ministry, Dr. Erickson was an energy consultant in Washington D.C.
David Henry
Associate Pastor
Reverend Dr. Dave Henry was Called to serve as Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in the summer of 2000 and began his ministry here in September of that year. He is a graduate of Albright College (BA in 1976) and Union Theological Seminary (Richmond, VA; Doctor of Ministry in 1981). Dr. Henry served churches in Five Forks, Woodleaf and Greensboro, North Carolina. He enjoys working with Mid High and Senior High Youth, and in the areas of family ministry and missions. He seeks to face the challenges of ministry with those in need in the Jefferson City area, and throughout the world. Dr. Henry continues to lead groups on mission trips (youth and adults) in the US and to the Amazon of Peru. He is married to Dr. Jackie Henry and they are the parents of four children: Elizabeth and her husband Kevin and grandson Solomon; Chris and his wife Sara; Josh; and Emily. When not at the church, Pastor Dave enjoys traveling with family and Duke basketball.
Cliff Cain
Parish Associate: Theologian-in- Residence
Reverend Dr. Cliff Cain began his teaching ministry at First Presbyterian Church in the fall of 2011, and is Professor of Religious Studies at Westminster College. He holds degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, Leiden University in the Netherlands, Vanderbilt University, and Rikkyo University in Japan. Dr. Cain's scholarly interests include world religions and interfaith dialogue, contemporary theology, environmental issues, and the conversation between science and religion. He is the author of six academic books, six collections of sermons and many journal articles. Prior to coming to Missouri, he taught at Franklin College near Indianapolis, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Berea College in Kentucky; he also ministered as Associate Pastor of the American Protestant Church of The Hague, The Netherlands, and as Chaplain and Head Varsity Coach at Muskingum University in Ohio. He enjoys sports, music, photography, and international travel. He has lived in several countries, visited many others, and enjoys taking people on study trips abroad. Married to music professor, Dr. Natasia Sexton Cain, who also teaches at Westminster College, he has two grown children and one granddaughter. A dog-lover, he enjoys playing with two cocker spaniels at home in Jefferson City.
Marilyn Hofmann, Ph.D.
Director of Christian
Education
Dr. Marilyn Hofmann has been the Director of Christian Education and Children’s Weekday Ministries since 1982. She graduated from Hanover College (a small Presbyterian college in Indiana), and received both her M. S. (in counseling psychology) and Ph.D. (in Curriculum and Instruction) from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She taught in the Education department at Lincoln University for 35 years and was department head for 6. She and her husband, Jim, are the parents of two children, two in-laws, four grandchildren, and also helped raise seven foster children. She enjoys anything that involves children of any age!
Michael Schulte
Youth Director
Michael Schulte came to First Presbyterian Church in May 2011 to serve as the church’s Youth Director. Outside of the church, Michael is a full-time student at Westminster College in Fulton, MO, where he is majoring in Middle School Education, Political Science, and Spanish. At Westminster, Michael is involved in the Christian Leadership Council, the Westminster Poverty Initiative, and the Phi Delta Theta Social Fraternity. Michael loves working with youth and one day hopes to work in an inner-city school district where there is an influx of Latin American youth. In his spare time he enjoys basketball, football, and boating at Lake of the Ozarks.
Support Staff
Ann Adams
Church Administrator
Ann Adams came to First Presbyterian Church in 1997 as the Church Administrator. She was born and raised in Callaway County. Ann and her family have been members of First Christian Church, Fulton, MO since 1981, where she served as administrator prior to coming to Jefferson City. Prior to her church work, she was employed by the State Department of Social Services and SERVE. Inc, a private social service agency in Fulton. Ann is married to Earl Adams and is the mother of one son, Robert and the grandmother of two granddaughters, Avery,6 and Alexis,3. She enjoys gardening, reading, traveling and spending time with her granddaughters.
Katie Groner
Church Secretary
Katie Groner came to First Presbyterian Church in September 2010 to serve as the Church Secretary. She graduated from the University of Central Missouri in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Photography and Business Administration. Katie is active in her home church of High Point Baptist and resides in Russellville. Katie has been married to her husband Michael for 4 years and has a little boy named Ethan. She loves serving in her church and spending time with her family!
Sally Crabtree
Parish Nurse
Sally Crabtree came to serve First Presbyterian Church as the Parish Nurse in the Spring of 2010. She has been a member of this church since she was a child and has enjoyed growing up in her church family. She currently works full-time at Capital Region Medical Center as the charge nurse on the OB unit, where she has been for 6yrs upon graduating from St. Louis University with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. She has attended the Parish Nurse Preparation Course at Eden Seminary, and works along side the church family to encorporate mind, body and spirit of healing. In her spare time she enjoys running, reading, traveling and spending time with family and friends.
Music Ministry Staff
Dan Urton
Choral Music
Karen Larvick
Director of Special Music
Karen Larvick has been Director of Special Music at First Presbyterian Church since 2004. After receiving music degrees from Gustavus Adolphus College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she was a faculty member at Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, for thirty-one years. She came to Jefferson City in 1997, taught at Lincoln University for two years, and was a professor of piano and pedalogy at the University of Missouri-Columbia from 2000-2006. Karen has operated a busy piano studio in Jefferson City since 1997. In addition to semi-retirement activities, she and husband Russell Greenhagen especially enjoy visits with their four daughters and four grandchildren.
