Pastoral Staff

A native of Matthews, NC, Sarah Clark has always been drawn to working with children. Sarah graduated from UNCC with Honors in Elementary Education and a minor in History and Japanese. She met the love of her life in 6th grade, and after many many years of friendship married him 12 years later in 2005. She jumped straight into her teaching career, earning teacher of the year, and was selected to participate in CMS’s Talented Transfer Initiative. She was transferred to Title 1 schools as a model teacher, and teacher coach for 3 years, before welcoming her son. Her passion for equity and serving children of low-income areas, kept her in Title 1 schools until 2013, when she had her second son. She loved teaching, but at that time felt a calling towards giving her children undivided attention. As soon as her children were school ready, she started her Masters in Curriculum Development and Gifted Education. While working on her Masters, she worked at her sons preschool part-time and nannied part-time. She completed the Talented Education certification, and went back into teaching until 2021, when she had her daughter. She is now a Gifted Education, part-time teacher at CMS, and continues to serve underprivileged children in the TD program.

Sarah believes that children learn best through positive experiences, filled with movement, singing and hands-on activities. She believes in equity for all children, and strives to bring world awareness and empathy into her classroom and Sunday school curriculum. She is overwhelmed with joy and thankful for a position at PPC, that caters to her talents and satisfies her deep love for teaching, children and Jesus.

In her free time, Sarah enjoys dabbling in photography, walking, cooking meals with her sons, planning parties and events, boating on Lake Tillery, and watching movies with her husband once the children are in bed.

Emily Dora, originally from an Appalachian holler in East Tennessee, has called North Carolina home for more than 5 years. With a BA in Spanish from Berea College, Emily was the first in her family to attend college. Following her work study position as a Student Chaplain, she made the move from KY to Winston-Salem, NC after graduation to work with Spanish-speaking nonprofits through the Episcopal Service Corps.

After 2 years of plugging into her local parish, she decided to combine her motivation for justice-seeking with her theological curiosity to pursue a Master of Divinity from Wake Forest University. There, she followed her call to work with young folks and served with several local youth groups and college ministries. She wrapped up her graduate studies via Zoom and made the move to Charlotte mid-pandemic.

Emily approaches ministry from a place of wondering and wandering – encouraging folks to see themselves as fully loved and fully seen by God through a lens of curiosity and creativity. As an Enneagram Type 7, she enjoys building deep relationships over fun conversations and adventures. She is super excited to be here at PPC and working with our youth!

In her free time, you can find Emily cheering on the Deacs, playing disc golf, throwing mud on a pottery wheel, or re-reading Harry Potter for the umpteenth time.

Fred Lyon is a cradle Presbyterian who grew up in Sparta, New Jersey and Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. His education includes undergraduate studies at Bucknell University and graduate work at Princeton Theological Seminary, Virginia Theological Seminary, and Union Presbyterian Seminary. Fred has served congregations in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois and, most recently, Gastonia, North Carolina. Fred has extensive experience working with churches going through changes in pastoral leadership, and he is grateful for the opportunity to serve PPC as interim head of staff during their present season of transition. Fred is married to Jan Edmiston with whom he has three now grown children –Ben (married to Sahar), Jay, and Libby (married to Brian) –as well as a very willful yet lovable lab mix named Spense. Fred and Jan live in Charlotte. They enjoy hiking and taking road trips to explore new places, near and far.

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I was born in Myanmar (also known as Burma) and am a fourth generation Presbyterian. I was seven when my father immigrated to the U.S, and at the the age of seventeen I was able to join him. I graduated from the University of Maryland in 2006, earning a B.S. in finance. After two and half years of working in the area of asset management in Baltimore, I began my studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. I graduated with a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Christian Education in the spring of 2013. During my time in seminary, I enjoyed working with a group of people with autism in the Princeton area, teaching and preaching among immigrants, an internship at the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, and hospital chaplaincy in Edison, New Jersey. My home church is Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church in Maryland where my ordination took place in March 2014.

Since August 2013, I have been serving as a Minister in Residence (a two-year program funded by Lily Endowment) at First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan where I’ve been working with children and their parents, college students, young adults, and residents in a local nursing home. This past year I led two intergenerational mission trips, one to Nicaragua where we worked with local schools, and another to Russia where we worked with special needs children.

My gifts in ministry are oriented about helping others connect to the Divine who is already at work in their lives. Through teaching, listening to life stories, and conversing about the influence of faith in our daily lives, I believe we can grow into the individuals and church God calls us to be.  I believe peacemaking begins in families and congregations, by focusing on sharing one another’s burdens together with a healthy dose of forgiveness all round, true restoration can come about.  Reconciled, restored and healed, we are better equipped to bring peace to God’s world.

I hope to bring my unique experiences as a Mizo ethnic from Myanmar and share the works of God in my own life. My vocational goals are shaped mainly by God’s working in my family and personal life.  My ancestors came to know Christ through the arrival of the Welsh revival at the beginning of the 20th century at the border of India and Burma. As a son of a church planter in Myanmar and an immigrant PC (USA) pastor, I have spent most of my life moving around in different churches among different cultures. From my past experience, I understand that the mission of the church is the continuation of the ministry of Jesus Christ by proclaiming the good news of salvation to others and taking care of the poor, oppressed, and people who are in need of help in the community.

To glorify God and enjoy God forever is my first call.  However, I also enjoy gardening, playing soccer, photography, running, reading, and listening to NPR news.

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