Staff
Rush Otey
How to contact Rush:
rusho@selwynpres.org
(704) 372-6836 ext. 105
Rush grew up in Gainesville, Georgia and was ordained in 1973 by the Mecklenburg Presbytery. His formal education includes: BA, English, cum laude from Presbyterian College, Clinton, South Carolina; study at New College, University of Edinburgh, Scotland; Doctor of Ministry with honors from Union Theological Seminary, Virginia; and a post graduate fellowship at Duke University Divinity School.
Prior to arriving at Selwyn in 2002, he served as chaplain and assistant minister at Davidson College/Davidson College Presbyterian Church, as director of the Uniting Campus Ministry at Louisiana State University, as pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Tucker, Georgia (northeast Atlanta), and as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Pensacola, Florida.
Rush has been on the boards of numerous community groups, is a member of the editorial board of Journal for Preachers, was a participant in the Pastor-Theologian program of the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey, and is on the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Charlotte.
Rush and wife, Debbie, have two children: Emily and Andrew.
Rush's interests are music, gardening and outdoor work, sports, reading and writing.
Director
of Christian Education,
Emily Phillips
(704) 372-6836 ext.103
Emily has lived in Charlotte for 26 years and with husband, Randy, has raised three daughters, Denise, Catherine and Abigail.
She received her B.S. at Salem College, her Masters in Education from Georgia State, and has a CAS from Harvard. She is a Certified Christian Educator.
She works for Selwyn part-time and completes her day as Lower School Chaplain at Trinity Episcopal School in uptown Charlotte. She likes to read and travel and says she uses her spare time wisely by reading about places she wants to travel!
Director
of Adult Education,
Lori Raible
How to contact Lori:
lorir@selwynpres.org
(704) 372-6836 ext.104
Lori graduated from Wake Forest University in 1995 with a degree in Communications. She and husband, Rob, moved to Charlotte in 2002 and she served as Habitat for Humanity Global Village Team Leader to Malawi, Guyana, and Kenya, prior to attending Union PSCE at Charlotte. During her studies at Union, Lori served as an intern at Selwyn in 2004, focusing on preaching and worship. She received her Masters of Divinity in 2005 and joined our staff as part-time Director of Adult Education in 2007.
Youth Director,
Erin Mills
How to contact Erin:
erinm@selwynpres.org
Erin is currently studying at Union-PCSE, Charlotte, focusing on Christian Education and youth ministry. For three years she served as a volunteer youth coordinator at First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. In 2000, she graduated with honors from Davidson College (BS in Biology with a neuroscience concentration) where she was a member of the Southern Conference championship swimming team and the Patterson Court Council. In 2006, she completed her M.A. in clinical psychology at UNCC, and her thesis was chosen for presentation at the American Psychological Association annual convention in 2007. Erin and husband, Roger are parents to a toddler.
Director
of Music, Fred Spano
How to contact Fred:
freds@selwynpres.org
(704) 372-6836 ext. 109
Fred's formal education includes a B.A. in music education (piano concentration) from William Penn College in Iowa, a Master of Music in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey; and a Ph.D. in choral music education from Florida State University (2002). Along the way he has served as Director of Music at the First United Methodist Church of Martin, Tennessee, as choir director and pianist for Pisgah United Methodist Church in Tallahassee, as children's choir music teacher at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton and at Flemington Presbyterian Church in Flemington, New Jersey. For seven years Fred was director of music at the American International School in Quito, Ecuador. He also spent three years as instructor of music and English at the International School of Baghdad, Iraq (1988-1990). Fred's "other job" is as associate professor and coordinator of music education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He held a similar position at the University of Tennessee at Martin from 2002-2008, and spent a year following his graduate work as visiting professor of music education at the University of Memphis. He has presented numerous workshops at national and international choral music and education conferences.
Organist,
John Siler
How to contact John:
jsiler1@carolina.rr.com
John received his Bachelor's Degree in Music (organ concentration) from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Music Education from the University of South Carolina. He has taught in public schools and colleges and continues private piano and organ instruction in Belmont, where he grew up in the First Presbyterian Church. For over twenty years John served as organist at the First Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, and from 2004 to January 2009 served as organist at Dilworth United Methodist Church in Charlotte. He enjoys composing music for choir and organ, and most recently published a setting of Psalm 150.
Church
Administrator,
Marsha Cooper
How to contact Marsha:
marshac@selwynpres.org
(704) 372-6836 ext. 101
Accountant,
Lisa Trevisan
How to contact Lisa:
lisat@selwynpres.org
(704) 372-6836
ext. 107
Administrative Assistant,
Tracy Welch
How to contact Tracy:
office@selwynpres.org
(704) 372-6836 ext. 100