Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson (Senior Minister) - In addition to being Senior Minister, Dr. Ferguson is Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. A graduate of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, he is the author of some two dozen books, has authored numerous articles and has contributed to various symposia. His writing interests have ranged from works of scholarship to books for children. He has served as minister of two congregations in Scotland, one on Unst, the most northerly inhabited island in the United Kingdom, and the other at the center of Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. He has served more than twenty years as a seminary professor and is currently on the faculty of Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas as well as part time faculty of Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia.
Sinclair and his wife Dorothy have three sons, a daughter, three grandsons, and three granddaughters..
Rev. David Lauten (Minister for Families and Congregational Outreach) - Rev. Lauten came to the church in early 2007. He is a graduate of Emory University (B.A.) and of Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.). He began ministry by serving with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Columbia. Prior to coming to First Presbyterian Church, he served two other congregations: Westminster ARP Church in Conway, SC, and Shiloh ARP Church in Lancaster, SC.
He is married to Anne and has a daughter and a son.
Rev. Neal R. Mathias (Minister of Congregational Assimilation and World Missions) - Rev. Mathias has
been on the staff since 1994 at which time he was called to be Minister of Missions. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (B.A.) and a graduate Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div.). He served as the Youth and Children's Ministry Director at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church in Youngstown, Ohio. He served as pastor of New Hope Presbyterian Church (ARP) in Tampa, Florida. In 1986 he was called to serve as Director of Candidate Ministries of World Witness (the foreign mission board of the ARP Church) in Greenville, South Carolina.
He is married to Anne and they have three grown children - a daughter and two sons and two grandsons.
Dr. Derek W.H.Thomas (Minister of Preaching and Teaching) - Dr. Thomas joined the staff
in 2011, coming from Jackson, MS, where he was Chairman of the Theology Department at Reformed Theological Seminary and Minister of Teaching at First Presbyterian Church. He is from Wales. He is a graduate of the University of Wales (Bc.S), 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 Mississippi. He remains the
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at RTS and is Editorial Director, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. He is also a well published author.
He is married to Rosemary. They have two grown children and one granddaughter and one grandson.
Rev. L. Craig Wilkes (Minister of Pastoral Care and Visitation) - Rev. Wilkes came to First
Presbyterian Church in 2004 as minister of Pastoral Care. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia. He attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson Mississippi and is a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He was pastor of the Rose Hill Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, from 1983 through 1993. He spent nine years with Mission to the World (PCA) in the area of Estate and Gift Design and general stewardship.
He is married to Vicki. They have a son and a daughter.
