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.

When Associate Pastor, Janice Six, refers to FCPC as her church family, she means it. Janice’s grandparents and their 10 children joined First Presbyterian in 1924 and now four generations later, the family is still part of the congregation. Prior to ordination and installation as the Associate Pastor in 2005, Janice served on staff as the Director of Christian Education beginning in 1997. Most recently, Janice received a Doctor of Ministry degree (D.Min.) from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2015. Janice and her husband, Gene, have both served as Deacons and Elders at FCPC over the years and they are now delighted that their son, Greg, and his wife, Trudy, have returned to Abilene and FCPC. Janice and Gene also have a daughter, Julia, who is an artist in Philadelphia. The Six family enjoys inviting the church family to gather in their home throughout the year.  

Jacob Snowden and his wife, Sara, both come from Midlothian Texas. Before attending Boston University’s School of the Theology, he was First Central’s Youth Director and now happily serves as the Director of Christian Education. He also has been the Buffalo Gap Camp Director for a few years, and would be happy to talk about basketball, books, space, or just about anything else over a cup of coffee.

Kristen, a native Texan, moved to Abilene in the Fall of 2005 to attend Hardin-Simmons University. After she graduated from HSU with a B.B.S. in Communications in 2009 and a Master of Divinity in 2013, she worked at HSU within their media and marketing division, while also serving as the Teaching Pastor of a small Cooperative-Baptist-Fellowship-affiliated church. In the summer of 2015, Kristen joined FCPC’s staff as the Director of Youth Ministries. She added the responsibility of leading the Emerging Adult Ministry in 2016. Her husband, James, is from Savannah, GA and he LOVES to talk about craft beer and professional baseball. They have two adorable mutts named Phoebe and Helga. Kristen likes to spend her time playing sports (not watching them on TV), reading fantasy fiction, watching great TV shows, and hanging out with church members, other friends, her puppies, and James. 

Clell E. Wright serves on the faculty of Hardin-Simmons University as Director of Choral Activities and Head of the Department of Church Music. He also holds the endowed Logsdon Chair of Church Music. Dr. Wright’s responsibilities at HSU include directing Concert Choir and the oversight of the choral program of the university, consisting of four total ensembles. As head of the Church Music Department, Dr. Wright gives direction to both the undergraduate and the graduate degrees in church music. He teaches courses in conducting, literature, and in church music practice and history. Dr. Wright has served as an adjudicator and a choral clinician throughout the state and the region and has directed All-Region honor choirs. He is also a frequent lecturer on Music and Worship and has presented clinics at the Texas Music Educators Association, American Choral Directors Association, and Texas Choral Directors Association conventions. He holds degrees from Samford University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the University of Missouri, Kansas City, where he studied with Dr. Eph Ehly. In addition to his responsibilities at HSU, Dr. Wright serves as Conductor and Artistic Director for the Abilene Chamber Singers and as Director of Music at First Central Presbyterian Church in Abilene, TX.

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.

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.

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.

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!