Our Staff 

We are blessed to have a very talented and committed staff. To find out more about any of our staff members, click on their name or scroll down.

Reverend Bill Carter, , Pastor and Head of Staff      pastor@fpccs.org

Jana Schillinger, Coordinator of Children and Youth ce@fpccs.org

Nancy Owens, Administrative Assistant     office@fpccs.org

Frank Jones, Director of Music

Kay Ten Eyck, Organist

 

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Rev. Bill Carter

Pastor and Head of Staff

Bill Carter has served as our pastor since 1990. Obviously we enjoy having him around – and he tells us how much he loves serving as our pastor. “It’s an interpretive art,” he explains.

“A good pastor is one who leads people in prayer, explores the scriptures, and asks how God is working in our lives.” 

 

Like all Presbyterian ministers, Bill has had a good bit of education. After earning a philosophy degree at Binghamton University, he went to Princeton Theological Seminary to prepare for the ministry. He is an avid student of the Bible and theology, and teaches regularly at our church. The author of seven books of sermons and numerous articles, he is frequently invited to speak at church conferences and workshops. His special interests are stewardship, faith and the musical arts, congregational vitality, and the art of preaching. 

 

In addition to his full schedule at FPC, our national denomination has enlisted his talents in a number of significant ways. Most recently Bill served for the second time as a mentor for brand-new pastors. “That was a blast,” he notes, adding, “It’s clear that God keeps calling capable and creative people to serve the church.” He has preached nine times on Day 1, the national radio pulpit of the mainline church. Currently Bill serves as a member and the past moderator of the Committee on Ministry of Lackawanna Presbytery, with a focus on the spiritual health of congregations and their preachers.  

Bill is also well known as a musician. Back in 1993, he formed a jazz ensemble called the Presbybop Quartet. It all began on a Sunday when the church couldn’t find a substitute organist and asked their pastor to fill in. A long-time professional jazz pianist, he called some musical friends to help him lead worship. “It’s been steadily rolling downhill since then,” Bill confesses with his trademark grin. Eight recordings and numerous concerts later, the quartet has become nationally acclaimed for its music and liturgical leadership. Each fall they assemble for our church’s annual Jazz Communion Service and during the holidays for a Christmas Eve midnight service. “This is a church that invites all kinds of people to share their talents,” he notes, “and the pastor is not exempt.”

 

For fun, Bill composes jazz tunes (over one hundred to date), reads a lot of books, tries out Mexican and Thai recipes, and seeks out the perfect Texas Weiner (northeastern PA’s version of the chili dog).

 

Bill lives with his wife Jamie in a lively and loving household in South Abington Township. They have four young adult children between them.  

 

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Nancy Owens

Administrative Assistant 

Nancy Owens, a native of western Pennsylvania, is at the center of the day-to-day ministries of First Presbyterian Church.  A most capable and competent administrator, she joined our staff in 1989.  Nancy is a graduate of Grove City College, with a B.A. in Business Administration.   

 

She is a certified fellow in church administration and has completed three levels of course work (120 hours) with the Administrative Personnel Association (APA), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  Nancy has served as secretary, president-elect, and president of the Northeast Region of APA.

 

Nancy rings in our adult bell choir, fills in as organist at nearby churches, leads a monthly Bible study for women, and is trying to learn the art of arranging an eye-appealing flower garden.  She has two adult children, son, T.C., and daughter, Becky.   

 

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Frank Jones

Director of Music 

Frank Jones joined our staff at the beginning of the 2015-2016 church year. Frank has a BME in Music Education from Penn State University. He is currently working on an MS in Higher Education Administration. He studied with Norman Spivey at Penn State. While there, Frank competed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Competitions and won 1^st place in his respective categories. He has travelled with the Penn State Concert Choir and Penn State Glee Club to New York City, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and San Francisco. Frank sang in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Bernstein’s Mass. He served as the Children’s Choir Director and Tenor Section Leader at University Baptist and Brethren Church. Currently, he has a private voice studio in Scranton and is an elementary music teacher in the Scranton School District serving West Scranton High School, Isaac Tripp, Robert Morris and John G. Whittier Elementary Schools.

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Kay Ten Eyck

Organist 

Since December 2008, Kay Ten Eyck has been filling our sanctuary and lifting our hearts with the soaring notes of her beautiful organ music.  “One of the many things I like about First Presbyterian Church,” she says, “is the wide variety of musical styles that are enjoyed and appreciated by the congregation.”

Kay also has directed the Chapel and Allelulia Choirs (which are now inactive)

 

Kay graduated from Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio with a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance.  She and her husband, Tim Pfleiderer, moved to Pennsylvania from Ohio in 1985.  

 

“I remember as a child, sitting in the choir loft at church and watching the organist,” Kay recalls. “I started taking piano lessons in the third grade, but there was something about the organ that fascinated me.” She has served as organist and choir director of both adult and children’s choirs at several area churches over the years, including Dunmore United Methodist Church, St. Peter's Lutheran Church and Trucksville United Methodist Church. She is a past Dean of the Pennsylvania Northeast Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and a member of Choristers Guild.

 

Kay and Tim reside in Dickson City.