The Session is pleased to announce the appointment of Rev. Larissa Romero as Interim Pastor of The Downtown Presbyterian Church. Reverend Romero recently relocated to the Nashville area from Park Ridge, NJ, where she was solo pastor of the Pascack Reformed Church for over 5 years. Rev. Romero is ordained in the Reformed Church of America, which is connected to the PC(USA) through a Formula of Agreement which allows pastors of the two denominations to serve churches in either.
Rev. Romero has accepted a one-year renewable contract as full-time pastor, beginning on August 1st. During this time of interim she will be responsible for the full range of pastoral duties, including: worship leadership, congregational care, outreach and church growth development, and serving as head of staff. As interim pastor, she will also lead our congregation through developmental tasks intended to support us in our search for a called pastor. As a reminder, it is the Committee on Ministry’s recommendation that interims not become installed at the churches they are serving.
As we look to begin a new chapter at DPC, the Session would like to express our gratitude to the congregation for your patience, prayers, and words of support and encouragement through this transition process. We especially appreciate the work of the nominating committee: David Maddox (chair), Jim Hoobler, Claire Armbruster, and Denny Harris. Lastly, an extra measure of gratitude is due to David Maddox for scheduling weekly supply pastors and overseeing our Sunday worship services during our time of pastoral transition.
Rev. Romero is eager to begin the work of pastoring DPC, and we are excited for her to meet the congregation and our downtown church community. She will be our guest for worship this Sunday, and will be available in the narthex before the worship service. Session will have more-specific information regarding office hours, contact information, etc. very soon. We are also scheduling various small group opportunities for the church family to meet with Rev. Romero, in person and/or via Zoom, beginning after Labor Day.
We hope you will make plans to join us this Sunday, July 18, as we welcome Rev. Larissa Romero to The Downtown Presbyterian Church!