Rev. Mary Beth McCandless
The Pastor Nominating Committee of First Presbyterian Church in Evansville is proud to introduce our nominated candidate to serve as our next Installed Solo Pastor, the Rev. Mary Beth McCandless!
Rev. McCandless is currently serving two small churches in Northwest Ohio – West Bethesda Presbyterian Church and West Eagle Creek Presbyterian Church. She also serves as the Journal Clerk for the Maumee Valley Presbytery. She earned her Master of Divinity Degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and has a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Western Kentucky University. She also completed a Concentration in Educational Ministry while at LPTS.
She served as committee assistant for the Race, Sexuality, and Gender Justice Committee for this year’s General Assembly in Salt Lake City and as a delegate to the 225th General Assembly in Louisville, where she served on the International Engagement Committee.
Rev. McCandless embodies all the qualities that the PNC felt were most important in our next installed pastor, including:
- Compassionate preaching
- Engaging and effective communication
- Collaborative planning and execution
- Unwavering faith and devotion to the church
Mary Beth is married to Murray McCandless, and they are the parents of two grown children, Hannah and Jesse (who currently reside in California with their partner and spouse, respectively). They also enjoy the company of their grand-dog, Rocky, the wonder chihuahua. Murray owns his own business, Murray’s Cool Cars, which he will be relocating to the Tri-State from its current location in Ohio.
In her profile that the PNC reviewed before interviewing her, Rev. McCandless included this paragraph in her personal statement of faith:
I believe faith has inward and outward dimensions; that as God pursues a loving relationship with us, we are called to a life deeply rooted in God; and that as we become deeply rooted in God, we naturally reach beyond ourselves to share ourselves with people beyond us. I believe that every person has value and that the circumstances of our lives (age, gender, intelligence, wealth, etc.) do not limit (or multiply) that value. God loves us and compels us live expansively generous lives – loving others the way Jesus has modeled love for us. This is our work: to love one another as Christ has loved us.
Mary Beth & Murray McCandless
From the Pastor Nominating Committee
Rev. McCandless presents a warmth and energy that is inspiring and nurturing. She has ideas to share, but she is collaborative. Two sentences in her PDP resonated with many on the PNC: “My goal is to bring hope, challenge the status quo, and encourage people toward God’s best. I also value the gift of walking with people through life’s joys, challenges, and sorrows.” In our first interview with her, all of those qualities were evident and more.
It was important to our congregation that we have a pastor with the appropriate training, including clinical pastoral education, as well as at least two years of experience as a parish pastor. Her background and training in music and Christian education, her ministry experience in large and small churches, and her administrative and management experience outside of the local church will be an added benefit to both our staff and our congregation.
Rev. McCandless is engaged in her current community as well as serving her two churches in northwest Ohio. We believe that she will bring her gifts to the city of Evansville as we work to revive “One God, One Community” with our interfaith sisters and brothers.
We also believe that Rev. McCandless has the skills and abilities to help our congregation become fully engaged as a Matthew 25 church. She understands what we need to do to be fully connected to our neighbors and live our lives as Jesus’s disciples.
The members of the PNC are incredibly grateful for the trust and support from the First Pres congregation as we completed this work. We also extend our gratitude to Bill Henderson from Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church who served as our liaison to the Ohio Valley Presbytery Committee on Ministry.
Sincerely,
Tony Aiken, Sarah Cross, Lynn Kyle, Emily Rosenquist, Tracy Shaw, John Strange, and Steve Wylie (Chair).
More Photos of the McCandless Family
