This summer, we have the privilege of welcoming some guest preachers to our pulpit. We wanted to give you a chance to get to know them a little bit and also give you the date and time(s) of their preaching.
Blair Smith | June 24 morning service
Blair is a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and his family are members of Christ Covenant Church. He serves as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC. Blair’s graduate theological work is in the area of Trinitarian theology in the early Church, and he hopes to finish his dissertation later this year and receive his PhD from Durham University. Before moving to Charlotte in 2016 he was a Research Visitor at the University of Notre Dame. Blair served for more than seven years as the Pastor of Adult Education at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD. His wife, Lisa, is the Lower School Nurse at Covenant Day School, and they have four children.
Derek Thomas | July 1 morning service
Dr. Thomas became senior minister of First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, on August 11, 2013. He originally joined the staff in 2011, coming from Jackson, MS, where he was chairman of the Theology Department at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) and Minister of Teaching at First Presbyterian Church. He is from Wales. Dr. Thomas is a graduate of the University of Wales (B.Sc.), Reformed Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and University of Wales/Lampeter (Ph.D.). He was ordained in the Evangelical Church of Ireland, where he served Stranmillis Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Belfast for 17 years before going to Jackson, Mississippi. Dr. Thomas served the next sixteen years in Jackson, MS, as a professor of theology at RTS Jackson and Minister of Teaching at the historic First Presbyterian Church. Currently, Dr. Thomas is the Robert Strong Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology at RTS Atlanta and a teaching fellow with Ligonier ministries. He is also a well published author. Dr. Thomas is married to Rosemary. They have two grown children, one granddaughter, and one grandson.
Ligon Duncan | July 22 morning and evening services
Dr. J. Ligon Duncan, III, is the chancellor and CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary and the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. He served as senior minister of the historic First Presbyterian Church (1837) in Jackson, Miss. for 17 years (1996-2013). He is co-founder of Together for the Gospel, senior fellow of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (having served as both chairman of the board and president), and was president of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals from 2004-2012. Duncan served as the moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (2004-2005). He studied at Furman University, Greenville, SC (BA); Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis (M.Div., MA, cum laude); and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (Ph.D.). Duncan has edited, written, and contributed to numerous books. Ligon and his wife Anne have two teenagers and they reside in Jackson, Mississippi.
Mike Kruger | August 5 morning service
Dr. Michael J. Kruger is the president and the Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC. He received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh, his M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in California, and his B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is one of the leading scholars today in the study of the origins of the New Testament, particularly the development of the New Testament canon and the transmission of the New Testament text. He is the author of numerous books and a frequent conference speaker. Dr. Kruger is ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America and is the Pastor of Teaching at Uptown Church. His wife, Melissa, is an author and serves as the Women’s Director at Uptown Church. Mike and Melissa have three children: Emma, John, and Kate.
