OUR STAFF

Our beloved pastor since 2018, Ralph Hawkins, is the fifth installed pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church. In addition to his vibrant preaching and teaching, he shares in worship, leadership, visitation, and community outreach with elders and members of the congregation. Prior to this call, Ralph served as the Executive Presbyter and Stated Clerk for the Presbytery of Shenango — 45 congregations in western Pennsylvania.  He grew up in Covington, Louisiana, outside New Orleans, and was educated at King College, Columbia Theological Seminary, and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He served congregations in Georgia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania before arriving in Macon. His focus in pastoral ministry is “equipping the saints for the work of ministry,” including developing elders and deacons for their leadership roles, nurturing cross-cultural mission partnerships, and mobilizing Presbyterians for local ministry in the neighborhoods around congregations. Ralph is married to Rev. Deb Tregaskis, pastor to our presbytery, and together they have 3 children, Amelia, Thom and Ella. In his spare time, he is an avid railroad enthusiast, an amateur photographer, a tent camper and canoer, and a computer geek squad for family and friends. Ralph keeps a blog of pastoral writings.  Contact him at pastorhawkins@northminstermacon.org

David was born in Northern Virginia. Since 1982, he has served as organist and music director for Presbyterian, Episcopal, Disciples of Christ, and United Methodist congregations. He recently relocated to Georgia after nearly 13 years in New Hampshire, where he served as chair of the Young Organist Collaborative, which supports youth in pipe organ studies. David sang in church and school choirs and, ultimately, All-Virginia Chorus, led by Donald Neuen, with whom he later studied choral conducting. David also studied choral conducting with Wilma Jensen. He writes choral music and new hymns—either new lyrics for existing tunes or new tunes for lyrics written by friends. He has played modern and vintage pipe organs (the oldest being a 1787 David Tannenberg instrument) and has participated in design, installation, and restoration of organs. David holds a B.S.Ed. in communication disorders from The University of Virginia and an M.S. in speech pathology from James Madison University. A practicing speech-language pathologist, he has seen clients in many settings, including online, in hospitals, and in homes. David and his wife, Millie, are parents to Rosa Joy, Alida Lin, and David Michael (Jr.) as well as the late Rebekah Noelle and Shenandoah Christie.

Although I was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, I grew up and established roots in Macon when I was 4-years-old. After marrying my high school sweet-heart in 2001, we shared the joys and fears of his military service and the birth of our three (now adult) children. After finishing my bachelor’s degree in General Management in 2016, God blessed me with the opportunity to become the Ministry Assistant at Northminster. Although my family shares another church home, the congregation at Northminster has become my second church family.  I am inspired, encouraged, and amazed by the people of this church as I have the incredible privilege of seeing how they live out their daily lives shining the light of Christ. There is a genuine love and kindness here that seems so rare in the world today and I am so thankful to be a part of it. Contact Jennifer at: admin@northminstermacon.org