Pastor

Our Pastor and Head of Staff, Dr. William C. Poe, has been with St. Philip since Easter of 1999. He and his wife, Betty Anne, are both native Houstonians, and have served Presbyterian churches in Texas and Arkansas for more than 35 years. Bill is a graduate of the University of Houston, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and McCormick Theological Seminary. He has also done post-graduate study at Rice University. Betty Anne and Bill are the parents of Sarah and Christopher. Sarah and her husband Michael live in Austin, and are the parents of Ellie and Kenna. Christopher is married to Kimberly, and they are the parents of Ethan and Abby.

Interim Associate Pastor

The Rev. Kristy Forbes Vits spent part of her growing-up years here at St. Philip as the daughter of former Pastor Bill Forbes and his wife, Patty. She came to St. Philip to serve as our Interim Associate Pastor in July of 2009. She is a graduate of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and has served churches in the St. Louis area. Kristy and her husband, Logan, are the parents of Nathan, age 4.

Parish Associate

The Rev. Helen P. Bailey is our Parish Associate for Homebound Visitation. When not making visits for St. Philip, Helen works for Intracare Hospital, which is an intensive outpatient treatment program for adults and adolescents. In addition to her theological degrees, she is a licensed pastoral counselor and a licensed marriage and family therapist.

Parish Associate

Former St. Philip Associate Pastor Greg Han has returned with his family and serves as a Parish Associate. We are blessed to have Greg's help while we begin our search for a new associate pastor. After serving churches in the Houston area for the past seven years, Greg has accepted a teaching position at St. John's School teaching classes in religion and English. Greg earned his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and a Masters of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School.

Interim Director of Music

Dr. Justin Smith recently completed his DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Houston Moores School of Music, where he directed the University Men's Chorus, served as the Doctoral Conducting Assistant for both the Moores School Concert Chorale and Choral Artists. At the Moores School, Dr. Smith also assisted and taught courses in music history and choral conducting, and also served as the Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony Chorus.

Dr. Smith was the recipient of prestigious Moores School Fellowships for the 2007-8 and 2008-9 academic years, and was also inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda while at UH. He received a Bachelors degree in Music with Honors from Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) and a Masters in Choral Conducting from the University of Oregon, where he co-founded the University Graduate Lab Choir. While in Oregon, he was twice selected as a Conducting Participant at the Oregon Bach Festival. Prior to his arrival in Houston, he taught and conducted in the Boston metropolitan area for five years. While there, he directed the music program at St. Sebastian's School, teaching music history and theory, conducting various choral and instrumental groups and directing the annual musical. He was also Music Director for two community choirs, the Nashoba Valley Chorale and the Braintree Choral Society, where he conducted major works with professional orchestra and soloists.

Dr. Smith lives in the Montrose area with his wife, Cristina, and his two beautiful sons, indulging in his twin non-musical passions, cooking and eating fine food and rooting for the Boston Red Sox.

Organist

St Philip organist Matthew Dirst is the first American to win major international prizes in both organ and harpsichord. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Music at the Moores School of Music, where he teaches courses in music history and performance practice, and as artistic director and founder of the period-instrument group Ars Lyrica Houston Prof. Dirst's degrees include a PhD in musicology from Stanford University and degrees in organ and sacred music from the University of Illinois and Southern Methodist University. A Fulbright scholar to France, he received the coveted prix de virtuosité in both organ and harpsichord. The author of numerous articles on the music of Bach and its reception, he is the author of Bach as Idea: Strategies in the Reception of the Keyboard Works, 1750-1850, forthcoming from Cambridge University Press.

Volunteer Parish Associate

Rev. Dr. Jack Boelens brings over forty years of pastoral experience to St. Philip. He has served churches (ranging in size from 50 to 2600) in the Midwest, the Washington DC area, New York, and Texas churches in El Paso, Houston, and Angleton. He served as the General Presbyter (the highest administrative position) of the Presbytery of New Covenant, from which he retired in 1995. He has been an active preacher, speaker, and teacher for his whole career. Here at St. Philip, he focuses on pastoral duties, especially in teaching and pastoral ministries. He has earned degrees from Calvin College and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Pikeville College, Pikeville, Kentucky. He is married to Joan, and has three sons and five grandchildren.

Director of Children's Ministries

Judy Gunn came to St. Philip in January of 2002 with a wealth of experience with children. She spent over twenty-five years as a teacher in the Goose Creek Independent School District, and has also worked in educational ministries in churches in Baytown. She oversees all children's ministries, and also acitve in leadership with our Wednesday Night Children's Choir School. She has developed new minsitry programs, strengthened our existing ones, and is also active with programs outside of children's offerings such as our monthly luncheons at the retirement home next to St. Philip. She is working towards her certification as a Christian Educator within the Presbyterian Church (USA). She has two daughters.

Director of Youth Ministries

Cindy Pope

Office and Property Staff

Karen St. Laurent – Office Administrator
Nancy Craig – Office Administrator Assistant
Wilbert Parada – Facilities Manager
Dimas Parada – Facilities Worker