MARIA LA SALA
Maria LaSala has long been deeply involved in women's issues and feminist theology, and is an active community leader in this realm. She teaches Presbyterian Polity at Yale Divinity School, and Sexuality and Ethics at Albertus Magnus College. Maria is the President of the Board of Planned Parenthood of Connecticut

Maria holds degrees from Barnard College, Union Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary.

BILL GOETTLER
A graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York, Bill also served churches in Albany, New York, and Wilmington, Delaware. He is especially interested in the issues of urban ministry and economic justice, and has a special concern for the building of an interracial and multi-national Christian community at First Presbyterian Church. Bill also serves as Assistant Dean for Ministry Studies at Yale Divinity School, where he advises students preparing for parish ministry. Bill's essays have been published in a wide range of journals, the most recent of which include the lead essay in the Bulletin of Reformed Theology and in the forthcoming book Global Neighbors: Christian Faith and Moral Obligation in Today's Economy, which can be found at www.eerdmans.com.

Maria and Bill recently celebrated their tenth year at First Presbyterian with a trip to Israel.

STAFF

DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
PATRICK McCRELESS
Patrick McCreless is the organist and choir director at First Presbyterian Church. He is also the chair of the Music Department at Yale University. He holds a Ph.D. in Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music. Before coming to New Haven, the taught for fifteen years at the University of Texas at Austin, and was Associate Director of the School of Music. Patrick's academic work has focused on Wagner and the music of the late nineteenth century. But he also holds church music and congregational song dear to his heart. He delights in choir leadership, and always welcomes new singers!

PASTOR OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S MINISTRIES
NANCY McLAREN
Nancy McLaren directs our Christian Education programs, including Sunday School classes, Middle School Youth group, Children in Worship, and Vacation Bible School. She is also the director of FPC’s educational support initiative, Homework@First, and leads the Wednesday night summer worship series, Soulfood. Nancy is a graduate of Yale Divinity School where she received her Master of Divinity degree in 2006. After leaving New Haven in 2006, Nancy and her husband Kenny moved to Boston where she worked as the Director of Mission and Outreach at Fourth Presbyterian Church in South Boston. New Haven beckoned Nancy and Kenny back, though their hearts had never left! Nancy is thrilled to be back at FPC, where she had interned in 2005. She is passionate about urban ministry, paperless music-singing, and all things Scottish. Nancy, Kenny, and their son Alisdair live in New Haven.