Ashley, Paricia R.

Pat Ashley is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She grew up in Arlington Heights , a suburb of Chicago. With her parents and younger sister, she was active in the Presbyterian Church there. She was participated in choirs and youth groups during her childhood and adolescence.

After graduating from Rockford College, Rockford, Illinois in 1970 with a B.A. in French, she taught high school French for a year. During this time she explored a call to ministry and the following year enrolled in McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. She completed her work there in December 1973 and received an M.Div. degree. She was ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1974.

While engaged in ministry with Second Presbyterian Church, Tulsa and with the presbytery of Eastern Oklahoma developing a community/urban ministry, she received word that McCormick Seminary had awarded her the Bernadine Orme Smith Fellowship for academic excellence. In 1976-77 she used the fellowship to complete an S.T.M. degree at Union Theological Seminary in New York City through the Department of Psychiatry and Religion.

Pat has served as a project director with the Regional Inter-Faith Association in Jackson, Tennessee; as associate pastor with First Presbyterian Church, Lancaster, OH; as interim pastor with First Presbyterian Church, Delaware, OH; and as pastor with Pinecrest Presbyterian Church in Miami.
After a year of specialized training in spiritual direction at the Center for Religious Development in Cambridge, MA, she returned to south Florida in 1995. She served churches and the presbytery office in an interim capacity, and she engaged in a ministry of spiritual direction and spiritual formation. This ministry involves one-on-one work with individuals; as well as workshops, retreats, and other presentations in a variety of group settings. Most recently, she was interim pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Rome, NY.

Much of Pat’s continuing education has been in the area of spiritual formation. She has received certificates from the Upper Room’s Academy for Spiritual Formation #5 and from the Shalem Institute’s Group Leaders Program.

Currently, she is a member of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Program’s National Response Team, and she does volunteer work with the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. Pat enjoys reading science fiction, going to movies, walking, and informal time with friends and family.

Krch, Jack

Has successfully completed interims at Central Miami (2007-2009) and  All Villages Port St. Lucie (2009-2011) since coming here from Davenport, Iowa.  He was the Spring 2011 visiting preacher at First Miami, where he helped the church celebrate their 115th Anniversary with a special sermon (“The Fate of the First '1st Church'”) and an original hymn (“Ever Constant, Ever Faithful”).  Jack has a relaxed, informal preaching style suitable for both traditional and contemporary settings.  He is known for his effective use of humor in the pulpit, and can work either with or without AV screens in the Sanctuary.  If not otherwise engaged, he can be called on short notice to cover for an emergency.  A native of the inner-city of Chicago, Jack took his education at Oberlin College and the Yale Divinity School.

Vaughn John

The ministry of John C. Vaughn was launched in May 1951 when he was delivered from darkness into light by faith in Jesus Christ. He grew up in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois majoring in Anthropology and Philosophy, followed by seminary education at Princeton. His first pastorates were in Albany, NY (1960-70) after which he returned to graduate school, receiving a Ph.D. in Sociology in 1975 from the State University of New York at Albany. He did social research at the National League for Nursing in NYC for 10 years, and then felt called to return to pastoral ministry which led him to Hillside NJ where he served for 10 years. Moving to South Florida in 1995, he has served pastorates at Cypress Presbyterian Church (Pompano Beach), Sunset and Second Presbyterian Churches (Ft. Lauderdale). On two occasions he served as presbytery administrator.

Married to his wife, June, for 50 years, he has two daughters (one of whom died n an auto accident) and five grandchildren, ages 14 to 25. He served in the army in Korea from 1950 to 1952.

Wyrick, Rev. Neil

He served twenty-one years in the pastorate in Virginia and Florida, and since 1971 has traveled the world presenting his dramas and speaking as himself. From 1992 thru 2005, he has also served three churches as Interim Pastor while continuing his dramatic, speaking and seminar ministry. He presently writes, speaks and continues to present his One Man Dramas.

He has had nine books published ,The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln is his latest, and authored and created nine one man dramas which he has presented over 8,000 times from coast to coast, in Europe, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. For twenty years, he wrote a weekly newspaper column entitled, The Why Of It all. Currently he writes a syndicated column for Clearmountain Syndicate. He has written and directed over one dozen Orange Bowl extravaganzas, both secular and sacred. He was Director of Radio/Television for the Miami Council of Churches and is President/Founder of Pageantry, Inc., The Church Without Walls.

He was written up in TIME magazine in 1962 for his creative talents and has had extensive radio and television experience as a moderator, newscaster and in professional spots. He was moderator of three radio programs; Family Line, Young Miami Speaks and Rap Around, all aired over WKAT (CBS) in Miami, Florida, and was moderator of the television series Man To Man on Miami’s PBS station. In 1962, he also received the J.C.’s Outstanding Citizen’s Award.