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Betty,
Philip, Katharine & Rusty Douglas
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Dr. Rusty Douglas has served as pastor of First
Presbyterian Church of Greenwood since September 1998. He was born in Charlotte, NC, and
received a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Appalachian State
University. Dr. Douglas received his Doctor of Ministry Degree from Columbia
Theological Seminary and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister of Word and Sacrament in
August of 1980. He has served congregations in Mississippi, Tennessee, South
Carolina, and Georgia. Just prior to coming to Greenwood, he served as Minister of Evangelism
and Discipleship at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, the largest Presbyterian
Church in the United States. |
Dr. Douglas and his wife, Betty,
have two children, Katharine and Philip. Katharine is in nursing
school at Delta State University. She would love to be a
flight nurse on a helicopter someday. In the summer of 2010 this
congregation sent her on a two month medical mission trip to Nakuru,
Kenya where she worked in a clinic which was part of the
Presbyterian Church of East Africa. Philip was a STAR Student, and
Eagle Scout, and a National Merit Finalist
in high school. He attends Mississippi State University and is
studying aeronautical engineering. Betty teaches
Math and a Bible/ethics course, and French at Pillow Academy. Dr. Douglas has been active in the
community, serving two terms as president of the local chapter of
Fuller Center for Housing (formerly Habitat for Humanity), as
president of the Greenwood Rotary Club, and on the executive committee of the Chamber of
Commerce. He is an avid golfer (a 6 handicap, especially if he keeps score!). He enjoys
watching reruns of the Andy Griffith Show and following the University of North Carolina
basketball team.
Since arriving
in Greenwood, some 260 persons have joined the congregation, pledges
have grown from $310,000 to $638,000; 10 year total income equals
$10 million. The church has expanded its work with Fuller
Center for Housing, and has been instrumental in developing and funding
the Community Kitchen, an ecumenical ministry feeding on average
some 125 persons a day. A $1 million
renovation of the Education Building has been completed.
Another $1 million project has just been completed: purchasing property,
adding handicapped accessibility, and renovating space on the
sanctuary side of the building. Forty-nine persons
participated in a week-long mission project in Belize in 2003. |
