Note: This is a series of posts aimed at helping you get to know your church staff in a more personal way. We hope you enjoy!
Libby M. Grammer grew up mostly in and around the picturesque North Georgia mountains (with a short 3-year period in Clovis, NM). The daughter of a Baptist Minister of Music and a High School English teacher, it may have been inevitable that God would call her to a career joining pastoral ministry and education. Libby met her husband William Underwood in their senior year of high school in North Georgia near Chattanooga, TN, but they didn’t date until after graduate school when they both moved back to the area. Will works as an Analyst for the City of Richmond in its IT department and they share a home with three dogs: Paco, Boober, and Samson. Libby and Will are expecting their first child this September.
Libby has long felt called to be a pastor. This led her to River Road Church, Baptist in January of 2015 to serve as a pastoral intern with Mike Clingenpeel. When we needed an Interim Minister of Christian Education and Spiritual Formation, Libby stepped into this role in September 2015. Libby’s pastoral preparation has continued through her work in a Doctor of Ministry program with McAfee School of Theology, which she began in the fall of 2016.
One year later, in the fall of 2017, remembering her call and maintaining her desire to become a pastor, Libby and pastor Daniel Glaze carefully crafted the role of Pastoral Resident, a position that provides for a focused time of pastoral preparation. Beginning in January 2018, Libby now is not only overseeing our Adult Education and Spiritual Formation, but also studying the various aspects of pastoral ministry to prepare her to take on a pastoral call in the very near future.
Libby’s time as Pastoral Resident at RRCB will conclude August 31, 2018, at which time she will transition to a new place of ministry. While we will be sad to see Libby go, we are grateful to God for her ministry among us and we are honored she chose us to help her prepare for the pastorate. We also give our blessing and prayers during this season as she interviews with churches looking for a new pastor and discerns her new call alongside them.