Our Pastor

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. 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 some day. Philip just graduated from high school, was STAR Student, a National Merit Finalist, and will be attending Mississippi State University this fall.  He plans to study aeronautical engineering. Betty teaches Math and a Bible/ethics course at Pillow Academy. Dr. Douglas has been active in the community, serving two terms as president of the local chapter of 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 240 persons have joined the congregation, pledges have grown from $310,000 to $627,000; 10 year total income equals $9 million.  The church has expanded its work with Habitat for Humanity, 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.

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