First Presbyterian Church

Lucy Gates became FPC's Director of Family & Children's Ministries in August of 2007. Her previous position was serving as Preschool Director since 2001 leaving a meaningful twenty-nine year career with the Norfolk Public Schools. The last seven years with the public schools Lucy spent as Communication Skills Specialist (a reading and writing resource teacher) at W. H. Taylor School in West Ghent. Lucy graduated from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a Master's degree in Elementary Administration, in addition to certification as a reading specialist. Lucy grew up in the Methodist church and does not remember a time when she did not believe in God. Though seeds were planted by pastors and teachers, it was Jim Wood's preaching and teaching that made her believe in, desire, and develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Her husband Ron is an attorney with Wolcott Rivers Gates and has been the love of her life for the past thirty years. They are both elders in the PCUSA and active members of First Presbyterian Norfolk as well as members of FPC's Long Range Planning Committee. Ron and Lucy have one son, James "Jim" E. Gates II. Jim serves as FPC's Associate Pastor for Youth and Young Adults, and his wife Krista is a physics and algebra teacher at Granby High School. Jim and Krista were blessed by the birth of their first child, Jonathan, on May 8, 2009.