Cliff delights in healthy relationships both in and out of the church. Cliff refers to the Kingdom of God as the kingdom of right relationships. He likes to say that God “writes straight with crooked lines” – and that our Creator uses people, imperfect as we are, for his good purposes in this world.
 
Cliff was not raised in Texas – but he got here as soon as he could! A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania he attended Ashland Theological Seminary, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary.
 
Arriving here in March 1993, Cliff hit the ground running! “I’ll never die of boredom around FCPC!” says Cliff. He enjoys ministry with all ages. On any given Sunday night, you can find Cliff at church with our kindergarten through fifth graders as he helps with the Logos program. On Thursday nights, the Stewart’s host a young adult study group in their home.
 
He is formally served as a youth pastor in the Troy Methodist Church in Ohio, and First Presbyterian in Evansville Indiana. Cliff was then called to Beulah Presbyterian Church in Louisville Kentucky. Then in 1993 the Stewart’s moved to Abilene.
 
Cliff is married to Evelyn (Evie) Stewart. Their son Josh is Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth.

Grace is from Pecos, Texas and moved to Abilene in 2015 to attend Hardin-Simmons. She graduated with her B.A. in English Education and teacher certification in May 2019. Grace graduated with her Master of Divinity from the the Abilene Christian University Graduate School of Theology in 2022 and is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in New Testament.

Grace has been involved in leading children’s ministry at her home church in Pecos and at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church as their children’s ministry intern. She has enjoyed working with kids in different capacities, including as a camp counselor, a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and a summer missionary.

When Grace isn’t at FCPC or ACU, she’s probably reading a good book, hanging out with friends, or spending time with her husband Carlo and their pets. 

Carlo is from Weslaco, Texas and moved to Abilene in 2015 where he attended Hardin-Simmons University. He met his wife, Grace, their first semester of college. Carlo graduated with his B.A. in Psychology and Biblical Studies in 2018. From there, Carlo attended Logsdon Seminary where he graduated with a Master of Divinity in 2021.

He has been involved in church ministry at his home church in Weslaco and previously served as a Youth Minister for a Baptist church in West Texas.

Carlo joined FCPC in the summer of 2020 as an Emerging Adult and Christian Education intern. Since 2022, Carlo has been serving as the Director of Children's Ministry. He enjoys helping with LOGOS, teaching Sunday School, leading the Young Adult Bible Studies on Thursday nights, and planning events with FCPC staff.

If Carlo isn’t at FCPC, he is probably spending his day watching movies, reading, canoeing at the Abilene State Park or losing at board games to his wife Grace.

Dr. Dee Romines joined our staff as Choir Director on September 1, 2019.  Dee is well known on the music scene in Abilene. He is presently associate professor of Music Education at Hardin Simmons University. Soon he will be directing the HSU concert choir. Dr. Romines is the conductor of Abilene’s Classical Chorus. He has earned the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Dee is an Eagle Scout and presently serves as the troop committee chair for Troup 206.  He has two children. Daniel is at Wylie High School and Rebecca is a junior at HSU.  Dee grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Larry Wolz has been organist at FCPC since 1980. Dr. Wolz is Professor Emeritus at Hardin-Simmons University, where he taught voice, vocal pedagogy, and music history for 37 years.

He is a long-time member of the American Guild of Organists and holds the Service Playing Certificate (SPC). He is also a member of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada and served as associate editor of book reviews for the Society’s journal, The Hymn.

Dr. Wolz also maintains membership in the Church Music Institute and the Society for American Music. He is very active in the Abilene arts community, having served on the boards of directors for the Paramount Theatre, the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, and the Center for Contemporary Arts. Wolz is an avid collector of books and art.

Barbara was raised in Abilene and is one of six siblings.  She graduated from Cooper High School in 1979.  Before she finished High School, Barbara started working at Mouser & Young, CPAs in 1978 as a secretary and bookkeeper. She stayed there until 2008 when the position of Financial Secretary for FCPC became available. In 2016, Barbara was certified as a Church Administrator after many hours of specialty training.  Once her coursework was completed, Barbara’s title was changed to Church Administrator and Financial Administrative Assistant.

Barbara does more than ever before for FCPC, and we are a better congregation and church staff because of it!

When you stop by the front office during work hours, you will most likely see Doreta’s lovely smile. Doreta was a member of FCPC long before she joined our staff in 2013. She and her family joined First Central in 1987 along with her husband, Dale, and two daughters, Brittany (31) and Tiffany (28). Doreta lost her sweet husband to cancer in 2011. Before working as the Pastor’s Administrative assistant, Doreta served as the Vice President of their family owned limestone quarry in Leuders, Texas. Doreta has been a part of FCPC’s staff for 4 years as the Pastor’s Administrative Assistant. In Doreta’s words: “I love working at FCPC because of the people, and I enjoy helping others.” Her favorite hobbies are gardening, walking, and spending time with her family.

Kori was born in Abilene and grew up in Anson, Texas.  As she progressed through school, she discovered a love for writing and participated in the FFA, which led her to Texas Tech University where she received a B.S. in Agricultural Communications with a Print Media Focus. 

She returned to Tech to receive her M.S., also in Agricultural Communications, and received journal publication credits for studies based on the perceptions of agriculture in news media, which was also the topic of her Master’s thesis.  

Though it might seem odd for someone with a background in agricultural journalism to end up working at a church, she loves FCPC and applies her print design knowledge daily! 

Kori enjoys video games, fantasy and sci-fi novels, origami papercraft, sketching and writing, and spending rainy days at home with a cup of coffee and her cat Bella.