By BARBARA BARBIERI
Members of Bluffton’s First Presbyterian Church welcomed two new faces to their midst in August as they not only welcomed their new Pastor Rev. Terry Epling but also Sandra Garcia, a Candidate for Ordained Ministry, under the care of the Whitewater Valley Presbytery.
Pastor Epling graduated from Louisville seminary in 1995 and has served in Wisconsin, Missouri and Indiana—most recently at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Fort Wayne. He is married to the Rev. Dr. Anne Epling, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Fort Wayne.
The Eplings reside in Fort Wayne and have four children. Their oldest is Henry who graduated from the College of Wooster and works in Fort Wayne as an environmental specialist; Tommy graduated from the University of Denver and is a special education teacher in the Denver Public Schools; Julia is a junior at Miami University in Ohio studying English Education and their youngest Charlotte is a sophomore at Homestead High School, playing clarinet in the band and excels at piano and Spanish.
In accepting the call to the church here Pastor Epling explains that he has found that “the church has a deep history of community involvement, Christian spiritual formation and engaging worship that connected with his own commitments to connecting body, mind and spirit in service to God’s mission.”
“The congregation’s newly constructed labyrinth is a physical expression of its desire to meet people where they are to help them become more centered in their walk of faith,” Epling continued.
Over the next year Pastor Epling will be a mentor for Pastor Garcia, who also is a Fort Wayne resident along with her husband Martin Garcia.
As she prepares for her ordination, she is required to engage in supervised ministry within a congregation. Here she will be employed as an Assistant Pastor spending 12 to 15 hours a week and most Sundays on site. She also will continue taking classes in Indianapolis at Christian Theological Seminary.
Sandra and her husband Martin Garcia, who also is a pastor at Fort Wayne’s Amistad Presbyterian Church, conduct a radio show once a week on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until noon with information relevant to the Latino community. To check it out go to amistadfw.com and weltfm.019.
