FCC- Church Staff

68 Main Street
Falmouth, MA 02540
508-548-3700
info@firstcongfalmouth.org

MEET OUR CHURCH STAFF

Rev. Douglas K. Showalter	Senior Minister
Mr. Howard J. Whitmore	Choir Director
Mrs. Patricia M.Crews	Organist
Rev. William W. Tucker	Honorary Minister
Rev. H. Alfred Allenby	Honorary Minister
Rev. Robert L. Singer	Honorary Minister
Rev. Allan C. Page	Honorary Minister
Rev. Barbara Miner	Honorary Minister
Mrs. Martha Evans	Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Laura Abbott	Director, Christian Education

SENIOR MINISTER--Rev. Dr. Douglas Showalter has served our congregation since 1987. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College, Yale Divinity School, and the Chicago Theological Seminary, where he received his Doctor of Ministry degree in the area of preaching. He has also done additional study at Oxford University.

Dr. Showalter was born in New London, Connecticut, and ordained there as a United Church of Christ minister in 1973. He and his wife Chris have a grown daughter, a son, and two grandchildren. Chris is a Marriage and Family therapist. Dr. Showalter previously served UCC congregations in Maine and Vermont. One of his special interests is researching, writing, and speaking on Congregational history. You are invited to visit the web sites he has developed as a leisure time hobby and personal ministry:

Forgiveness Forum is an outgrowth of his Doctor of Ministry thesis,

ASSOCIATE MINISTER-- (in memoriam) Rev. Nanette E. Geertz came to First Congregational Church in September 2000. She is a graduate of Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon and Andover Newton Theological School. Both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees are in the field of Christian Education. Further work at Andover Newton, her life experience plus a call to First Congregational has led to her ordination as of February 4, 2001.
Rev. Geertz was born in E. Derry, NH, was the daughter of a minister and is the wife of another minister, William Geertz, who pastors the UCC church in Sandwich, MA. She is the mother of two children. Her former employment was as Director of Christian Education at the Sandwich Church. She also served in that capacity in Newport, NH. Nan is the author of Journeys, a book of poetry which reflects her struggles with the death of her daughter and her own breast cancer.

"Reverend Nan" passed away in early 2005, after a long battle with cancer but lives on in the spirit of our church.

HONORARY MINISTERS--Retired ministers in our congregation who have been authorized by our church to assist in its ministry in various ways, including conducting wedding services, are:

--Rev. William W. Tucker is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College and received his Master Degree in Sacred Theology at Boston University. He had clinical pastoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital and did graduate study at Oberlin Graduate School of Theology.

Bill has served as a pastor for forty-two years: in rural areas of Ohio and in Cleveland; at First Parish Church UCC. in Dover, New Hampshire; and in Brookline, Holden, and Holliston, Massachusetts United Church of Christ parishes. Bill recently completed an interim pastorate at Pilgrim Congregational Church UCC. in Harwich Port, Massachusetts. He has chaired several Pastoral Counseling Boards in a number of communities. He has worked as a group support leader in every church community he has served.
Bill and his wife Ann have four married children and seven grandchildren who live in New England.

--Rev. H. Alfred Allenby Arriving in Falmouth in June of 1988 following his retirement from Kind School in Stamford, Connecticut, was a homecoming for him. Born in the old parsonage on Palmer Ave, he was baptized by his father here in our church. It was here that his sister was married in 1949, which the funeral service for his parents and brother was held later that year, and it was here in 1952 that he was ordained into the Christian ministry. The house that his wife, Nancy, and he now live in is the one that his parents had built in 1929.

In his career he served as the Chaplin for The Loomis School, the assistant minister of First Plymouth Congregational Church in Denver Colorado; the minister of South Congregational Church in Braintree, Massachusetts; instructor in Bible and then College Counselor at Mount Hermon School, now Northfield Mount Hermon School; Head of Upper School and College Counselor at King School in Stamford, Connecticut. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in 1944 and then entered the Navy V-12 program in W.W.II. Discharged in 1946 as a midshipman, He enrolled at Yale, graduating in 1949. Three years later He graduated from Yale Divinity School. It is now an honor to be able to serve as an Honorary Minister of the First Congregational Church of Falmouth.

--Rev. Barbara Miner is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and of Andover Newton Theological School. She was raised in Englewood, New Jersey and pursued careers in publishing and college administration as Director of Alumni Relations for Middlebury College before entering the ministry. Since being ordained fourteen years ago, she has served as the Senior Pastor of the Union Church of Stow, as an Intentional Interim Minister for the Wellesley Village Church, and as the Minister for Program at Craigville Conference Center.

Bobbie comes to Falmouth with her husband, Rich, from Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord where they raised their two daughters. She is currently involved as a volunteer chaplain at Falmouth Hospital and serves on the Board of The Upper Cape Chaplaincy. She is trained as a Spiritual Director through The Shalem Institute in Washington, D.C. and serves in areas of pastoral care for our church.

--Rev. Dr. Robert Singer is one of our retired clergy in the church who is authorized by our congregation to assist in various ways, including participation in morning worship, conducting wedding services, and helping on church committees. He presently serves on the Lay Visitation committee and helps to facilitate the parish's outreach in the greater Falmouth area. He has also been an assistant chaplain at the Falmouth Hospital.

Mr. Singer received his ministerial degree from the Yale Divinity School and his Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Psychology and Counseling from Andover Newton Theological School. During his 37 years in Connecticut and Massachusetts congregational churches, he specialized in adult Christian education, pastoral counseling, and housing for the elderly. After his retirement from the active ministry, he served as interim minister of several churches in the area.

"Bob," as he likes to be called, enjoys several hobbies including travel, hiking, classical and New Orleans Jazz, reading, cosmology and astronomy. He has five grown children and nine grandchildren, with the oldest just graduating from college.

--Rev. Dr. Allan C. Page is one of our honorary ministers who is authorized by our congregation to assist in various ways. Dr Page was ordained in the Lutheran Church and served as the Falmouth Hospital Chaplain for many years. Prior to that he served two congregations and was Chaplain at St Francis Hospital in Hartford, Ct. Presently, as a “retired’ minister, he continues to work as a counselor in private practice in Falmouth, a position which he had done for many years as a licensed counselor while serving in other church positions. At First Congregational Church, he served as interim Minister to single adults prior to the arrival of Rev. William Tucker.

Allan is married to Janice, a Mashpee public school teacher and they have two grown children. He enjoys boating, gardening, and enjoying Cape Cod.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT--Mrs. Martha Evans oversees our Church Office. Martha Evans, our Administrative Assistant, came to Cape Cod, and our church, in 1992 from Laramie, Wyoming. Her educational emphasis was in vocal performance and she has a Bachelor of Music in Voice from the University of Wyoming and Masters of Music degrees in Voice and Opera Production from Florida State University. A former regional semi-finalist in the National Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Martha continues to stay vocally active by singing with the Cape Cod Opera Company, performing as soprano soloist with the Falmouth Interfaith Choir, and as soloist for weddings and other occasions. She and her husband, David, have 18+ year-old twins.

DIRECTOR OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION--Mrs. Laura Abbott oversees our Church School and the Youth Group program. Laura Abbott came to Cape Cod in September of 2007 from Kittery Maine. She is originally from Western Massachusetts. Laura's educational background is in Education and Biology. She holds a Master's in Education from Springfield College and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. In addition to caring for her infant daughter, Lily, with her husband, Coast Guard member Derek Abbott, Laura enjoys photography and horse back riding.

CHOIR DIRECTOR--Mr. Howard J. Whitmore is the director of Music and conductor of all of the choirs at the church. He is a Commissioned Minister in the United Church of Christ and also heads the Communion Ministry. Howard holds a Bachelors degree in Music from Ashland University in Ohio, and a Masters degree in vocal performance from Kent State University.

Howard taught music in the public schools in Ohio for almost thirty years and performed for seven year with the Columbus ( Ohio ) Opera Company. He has also acted and directed professionally in Musical Theater.Howard has been involved in church music for most of his life and brings a wealth of musical knowledge to his position. In addition to his church duties he also performs with the Cape Cod Opera Company, serves on the voice faculty at Cape Cod Conservatory, and is an active member of the United United Church of Christ Musicians Association.

He and his wife, who aslo sings in the choir and plays bells, have two grown daughters, one grandson and one granddaughter. In his spare time Howard likes to read, go for long walks, and work on his n-gauge model railroad.

ORGANIST--Mrs. Patricia M. Crews serves as our organist at the twenty-six pipe organ built by the Austin Organ Company in 1975. A graduate of the University of Maryland, she studied piano and music theory at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, and organ with Eleanor Heaps Thompson. She became a Commissioned Minister of Music in the United Church of Christ in 2002.
Pat serves on the board of directors of the Cape Cod Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is a member of the United Church of Christ Musicians Association. A trustee of Healthcare Foundation of Cape Cod, she is also a member of the advisory board of the Visiting Nurses Association.

Also learn more about our Austin Pipe Organ

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