Staff

Interim Co-Pastors

We look forward to welcoming The Rev. Alice Geils Nord and The Rev. Bernard William (Bernie) Nord as interim co-pastors. Their ministry at St. Philip Presbyterian Church will begin Monday, August 16th, 2010.

Alice and Bernie are coming to Houston from Trinity Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Virginia where they have been co-interim pastors. Prior to their work in Virginia they served different congregations in Sun City, Arizona. The Nords have both had interim pastor training.

Bernie is a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary while Alice graduated from McCormick Seminary. Bernie has been head-of-staff at churches in Evanston, Illinois and Columbus, Ohio. He was also employed as Vice President of Seminary Relations at McCormick Seminary for eight years.

Alice is no stranger to New Covenant Presbytery having been elected as Moderator of our presbytery in 1994. Alice was Director of Youth Ministry at Clear Lake Presbyterian Church prior to her study to become a Minister of Word and Sacrament at McCormick Seminary. Alice has had extensive experience in Christian Education and has been involved with the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators for more than ten years.

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.

Director of Music

Dr. Justin Smith 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.

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.