Rev. Dr. John Lennig Frye Jr. Senior Minister
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jfrye@fpcgastonia.org

First Presbyterian welcomed Dr. Frye in August 2007. He is a person of strong faith - intelligent and thoughtful, warm and engaging. A native of Moore County, North Carolina, Dr. Frye earned a B.A. degree in English from Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina. Following college graduation, he was a high school English teacher and football coach but he felt a call to the ministry. After one year, he joined the family business, John L. Frye Co., Inc. of Robbins, North Carolina, intending to save money for seminary. Instead, his father's illness and incapacitation led him to run the business for 14 years. While in Robbins, Dr. Frye was active in the Elise Presbyterian Church and served in leadership roles in numerous civic organizations and as mayor of the Town of Robbins.

In 1990, Dr. Frye entered Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, where he received a Masters of Divinity and was awarded the Salem Fellowship. Upon completion of Seminary in 1993, he served the congregation of Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, first as associate pastor for congregational care and mission and later as associate pastor for discipleship and nurture. While in Columbia, he began doctoral studies at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. In 2002, he accepted the call to be senior pastor and head of staff at South Aiken Presbyterian Church, Aiken, South Carolina. He completed a Doctor of Ministry in Spirituality in 2004 from Columbia Theological Seminary.

Dr Frye is married to Denise Deibler Frye and they have one adult son, John L. Frye III, who teaches high school in China. Dr. Frye is a recipient of the Alumni Service Award from the Davidson College Alumni Association and served on the Board of Visitors of Presbyterian College, Clinton, South Carolina. An avid Davidson Wildcats sports fan, he enjoys golf and waterfowling.

Rev. Dr. James G. Stuart
Minister Emeritus
 

Dr. Stuart accepted the call as minister of First Presbyterian in November 1968 and retired in February 1988. Beloved by the congregation, Dr. Stuart was conferred the title of minister emeritus by the Session in 1992. Dr. Stuart received a B.S. degree from University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi. Following military service in World War II, he worked as a CPA. Seeking a career change as a result of his military experiences, Dr. Stuart received a Master of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, and received a Doctor of Ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois. The Presbyterian Endowment Trust and Covenant Village were established during his tenure. He and his wife, Mary Beth, reside at Covenant Village. They have four children and eight grandchildren.

Pastor John Stanley
Minister of Visitation
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jstanley@fpcgastonia.org

    Concurrent with being Minister of Visitation, Pastor Stanley is pastor of Robinson Memorial Presbyterian, Gastonia, North Carolina and chaplain of McLean Funeral Directors also in Gastonia. A second career pastor, Pastor Stanley's first career was in the business world where he served as director of commercial marketing for Public Service Company of North Carolina and then as director of external relations for PSNA Energy, a SCANA Company. Among many civic leadership posts, he is past president of the Gaston Regional Chamber and the Gastonia East Rotary Club.

    Heeding God's call to full time ministry in 2002, Pastor Stanley enrolled in and was graduated from the Commissioned Lay Pastor Program of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and the Academy of Reformed Theology at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Following the death of their 16-year old daughter in 1984, he and his wife, Rose, co-founded the Gastonia Chapter of Compassionate Friends, a support group for families who have suffered the loss of a child. Pastor Stanley is recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc., a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, and was named 2004 Citizen of the Year by the Gastonia Civitan Club.

Rev. Lauren Sease Vanacore
Associate Minister
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lvanacore@fpcgastonia.org

    Reverend Lauren Sease Vancore joined First Presbyterian Church as Associate Pastor August 2011.  Born in Pinehurst, North Carolina, she was raised in Altavista, Virginia, the youngest of two daughters.  She accredits her foundation of faith to her parents and to Altavista Presbyterian Church, who nurtured and upheld her Christian education as a child.

Lauren is a graduate of Greensboro College and Princeton Theological Seminary.  She was ordained as minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1999.  She is the 1996 recipient of the Hardy Christian Service Award from Greensboro College and is the first installed woman pastor of Gastonia's First Presbyterian Church.

Lauren served the First Presbyterian Church of Ridgewood, New Jersey, as their Associate Pastor (1999-2002) working primarily in the areas of youth ministry and pastoral care.  Following three years of service in Ridgewood, she accepted the call to Memorial Presbyterian Church in Greensboro in 2002 to serve as pastor.  Lauren enjoys working in the areas of discipleship development, preaching, campus ministry and mission.

Lauren divides her calling between full-time service in the church and her most important calling to be a wife to Jeff and a mother to William and James.  When not on church time, Lauren can be found reading books to her boys, enjoying girls' night out with friends, and daydreaming about the next time she can sneak away to the beach.