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 twenty-nine 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 psychics and algebra teacher at Granby High School.
In her current position Lucy feels called to help children and adults live their faith 24/7. Choosing to place Jesus at the center of one's life is not always easy, but that is what being a Christian is all about. She hopes to help FPC families learn to use their time, money and talents to show the secular world the love and grace found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Lucy's passion is connecting with children and sharing the love of Jesus with everyone she meets. When not working to assure that every preschooler is nurtured in his spiritual, intellectual, social, physical and emotional growth, Lucy enjoys reading novels. A summer afternoon reading a Pat Conroy novel while stretched out at the beach is hard to beat! But then there is the Metropolitan Museum and those Broadway plays... |
