SDPC Staff and Leadership
Mark Cary, Senior Pastor
Pastor Mark Cary was converted in 1979. Shortly after his conversion,
Pastor Mark worked in an inner city church in Philadelphia. He helped
with a variety of ministries including teaching English to refugees and
managing a thrift shop designed to touch the lives of people trapped in
poverty. While there he met and married his wife, Sarah.
Mark began his seminary studies at the
Reformed Episcopal
Seminary in Philadelphia and finished seminary at
Sangre
de Cristo Seminary in Colorado. He holds a BA in biblical counseling
from Trinity College and a Master of Divinity from Sangre de Cristo
Seminary. He was ordained by the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) in
May of 1990.
Mark has pastored in rural Custer County, Colorado, suburban Las Cruces,
New Mexico, and in the Baltimore/Washington, DC metro area at Chapelgate
Presbyterian Church where he served as Minister with Single Adults,
overseeing a singles group and a divorce recovery ministry. He was the
associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Gadsden, Alabama,
before coming to South Dayton Presbyterian Church in 2004. Pastor Mark
and his family spent 2001 ministering in the Czech Republic.
Mark and Sarah have two children, Elisabeth (1987) and Paul (1989).
For a fuller picture of our pastor's heart and direction in ministry,
see:
Email Mark at mark.cary@southdaytonpcachurch.org.
David Pratt, Director of Music and Worship Leader
David Pratt has been part of the South Dayton Presbyterian Church (SDPC)
family since 1996. He quickly became part of the music ministry, and in
May of 2001 he became the part time Director of Music and Worship Leader
while also working at Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems. In June of 2006
David became the full time Director of Music and Worship Leader.
David's musical background includes childhood piano and theory, school
orchestra, marching and symphonic bands, and vocal and jazz ensembles.
He has experience in strings, brass, percussion, guitar, and choral/solo
voice. He has sung in the University Men's Chorus and the Show Choir at
University of Cincinnati, the University Chorus, the Collegiate Chorale and the Chamber Singers
at Wright State University, and the Chorale and Chamber Singers at
Sinclair Community College. He also played percussion in the Sinclair
Community Concert Band. In 2006, he sang in the chorus in the Dayton
Philharmonic Orchestra production of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. David holds an AA in Music from Sinclair
Community College with concentration on vocal studies. He is currently
attending Wright State University where he is working on a BA in Music
Education.
Besides music, David's hobbies include backpacking and other outdoor
activities such as camping, hiking, canoeing, hunting and fishing. He also enjoys
cooking. He and his wife, Gayle, have two daughters, Amanda (1995) and
Emily (1998).
David pursues a growing understanding of what it is to worship the
living God by searching the Scriptures, reading books and articles on
worship, dialoguing with other worship leaders and attending various
conferences on the topic. It is his desire to bring SDPC ever closer to
biblical worship in spirit and in truth.
Email David at david.pratt@southdaytonpcachurch.org.
Kitty Drake, Secretary/Receptionist
Kitty
joined the SDPC staff in December, 2008. She comes to us with 7
years of experience as an Administrative Assistant to the Worship
Pastor at another area church. She holds a Bachelor of Music
Degree in Vocal Performance from Wittenberg University, and has
used her gifts to serve as adult and children's choir director at
churches in Ohio and Arizona.
Kitty currently serves as a Development Department Volunteer at the
Miami Valley Women's Center in Kettering. Kitty and her husband of
31 years, TL, have been stationed in 4 states and in Japan while TL
served in the U.S. Air Force. They have two grown children.
Kitty's life verse is Exodus 15:2 "The Lord is my strength and my
song; he has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise
him; my father's God and I will exalt him."
Email Kitty at
kitty.drake@southdaytonpcachurch.org
Elders (active)
Deacons (active)
