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Rev. Dr. William F. Galbraith
General Presbyter
bill@presbyteryofarkansas.org
Bill was born near the East Texas oil community of Gladewater. His father was a Presbyterian minister and his mother a high school English teacher. Bill's grandfather was also a Presbyterian minister and his great-grandparents missionaries in Mexico.
Moving to San Antonio, Bill was active in church, school and athletic activities. For five years, he was on the permanent summer staff of John Knox Ranch, his presbytery's camp. Accepting a scholarship from Rice University, he began his formal education. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree, Bill studied at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary from which he was awarded a Master of Divinity degree. At Louisville, he was recognized for promise in ministry as a recipient of an Anderson Fellowship. In 1984, Bill completed a Doctor of Ministry at McCormick Theological Seminary.
Bill was ordained by Missouri Union Presbytery in 1975 and has served congregations in Missouri, Texas, Virginia and Oklahoma. Most recently, he was the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Commitment beyond the local congregation has led Bill to serve the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. in multiple capacities including moderating Indian Nations Presbytery as well as various committees and commissions. For several years, he joined the adjunct faculty of Austin Presbyterian Seminary as a supervising pastor in the Supervised Practice of Ministry program. He has extensive experience with Committees on Ministry and Presbyterian mission. He has served as the Regional Resource Person for the Theological Education Fund and also on the Boards of Trustees of Mo-Ranch Camp and Conference Center and Lyon College.
Lifelong learning is important to Bill, a regular participant in continuing education events including a colleague group entering its thirtieth year.
Bill is married to Sibyl Kingston Galbraith, a CPA in public practice, who specializes in clergy tax and compensation issues. She is a Presbyterian deacon and elder. Bill and Sibyl have two daughters, Beth Sarey, Director of Discipleship, for St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Frisco, Texas, and Kate Cook, a pediatric hospitalist in Oklahoma City, two great sons-in law, Rich Sarey and C.W. Cook and four grandsons.
For fun, Bill enjoys reading, hiking, fishing and exploring new places. He looks forward to each football season and takes in several games each year. The Galbraiths most enjoy spending time with their children and their families.
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Rev. Cathy Ulrich
Stated Clerk
cathy@presbyteryofarkansas.org
Acting Stated Clerk Rev. Cathy Ulrich appreciates the way the Presbyterian Church combines faith and knowledge in service to Almighty God.
Her home church, First Presbyterian, Duncan, Oklahoma, has raised five generations of Cathy’s family. Faith and knowledge were combined in a unique way when Cathy attended Oklahoma State University, and was employed by First Presbyterian, Stillwater as a Fellow in Christian Education. This exploration led to enrollment in Union Seminary (Union/PSCE) upon graduation. Cathy sensed her call to ministry was in Christian Education, but upon receiving her M.Div. God called her to a small church in the panhandle of Texas as a solo pastor.
Ordained at First Presbyterian, Quanah, Texas in 1983, Cathy spent six years in this rural community learning the arts of ministry from wise saints of the church. Her next call was to First Presbyterian, Arkadelphia where she was the solo pastor of a trusting and progressive congregation. It was there that she met and married Tom Ulrich, and has been greatly blessed with an inspired partner in ministry and in life. Before accepting the call to Central Presbyterian, Fort Smith as co-pastor, Cathy was the solo pastor at First Presbyterian, Clarksville, where Tom was the Dean of the Chapel at the University of the Ozarks. She served as Stated Clerk of the Presbytery from Jan., 1999 until June, 2006.
Preaching, teaching, and pastoral care are the center of Cathy’s ministry. Because ministry for Jesus Christ is not limited to church-related activities, Cathy serves on the Board of the Good Samaritan Clinic, as President of the Pastoral Care Committee of Sparks Hospital where she is also a member of the Ethics Committee. She enjoys baseball (Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves), swimming, reading, walking, and dark chocolate.
She continues to practice grace, forgiveness, commitment, and stewardship hoping that some day she will get it right. Until then, she relies upon the large providence of Almighty God and the love of Jesus Christ to guide her ministry.
Cathy is the staff resource to the Committee on Clusters, Committee on Preparation for Ministry, and the Presbyterian Women Coordinating Team.
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NiAnn A. Thompson
Resourcing Director and Assistant Stated Clerk
niann@presbyteryofarkansas.org
NiAnn Thompson joined the Presbytery staff in January, 1999 as Resource Center Director, has served as Assistant Stated Clerk since 2001, and serves as staff resource to the Committee on Christian Education and Nurture. She is also Part-time Director of Christian Education at First Presbyterian, Malvern, and is former Director of Christian Education at First Presbyterian, Arkadelphia, Westminster Presbyterian, Hot Springs, and First Presbyterian, Jonesboro.
She serves the Presbytery as Adviser to Christian Educators seeking certification and has served on the Ferncliff Camp Board, as Cluster III Representative to Presbytery, and on Committees on Preparation for Ministry and Christian Education. NiAnn is an ordained Elder and Deacon.
She is a 1995 graduate of Memphis Theological Seminary with a M.A. in Religion and a 1991 graduate of Henderson State University with a B.A. in Secondary Education. NiAnn is a Certified Christian Educator.
She and her spouse, J.D., now retired, live in Malvern with their dog. Together they have six adult children, eight grandchildren and two great grands.
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Whitney Bordelon
Staff Resource for Youth
Whitney Bordelon is a preacher’s kid who grew up in North Little Rock, Arkansas. After college she served as the Executive Director of the Interfaith Disaster Recovery Team in central Arkansas, organizing the faith groups’ response to the tornadoes of 1997 and 1999. She then took a position on the Arkansas Area staff of the United Methodist Church in the area of mission & outreach, working one-on-one with churches across the state. For the past five years, Whitney has been the Director of Christian Education & Youth at Park Hill Presbyterian Church. She has also served on the Presbytery’s Youth Council for five years, directed several Junior High YouthQuakes, led the trip to Mo-Ranch for Junior High Jubilee, and was the adult co-moderator for the 2009-2010 term. Whitney loves spending time with the youth and children at her church, and always tries to incorporate mission into everyday learning, fellowship, and worship.
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Rev. Michael Vinson
Staff Resource CC&D
Michael Vinson is Parish Associate for Worship and Spirituality at First Presbyterian Church in Conway. Michael has a Master of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary and a Maters of Public Health from the University of Tennessee in Community Health Education and Organization. He has a Certificate in Spiritual Formation from Columbia Seminary where he has also been trained in New Church Development. He has served as chair of the New Church Development Committee of this Presbytery and currently serves on the Committee on Ministry. Michael has worked with a variety of congregations, administrative commissions and middle governing bodies in discerning new directions and transformation strategies. This Spring Michael facilitated the Individual Health and Balance workshop and co facilitated the Organizational Health and Balance Workshop as part of the Spring Academy for the Genuine Contact program. He frequently works as facilitator, consultant and mentor with Dalar International, a company devoted to holistic approaches to organizational transformation around the world.
Michael is married to Karen Young Vinson who serves on the Committee on Preparation for Ministry for the Presbytery. Michael and Karen have a blended family including four sons, two daughter-in-laws and to granddaughters. Michael is a potter and enjoys the lessons he learns from the clay about transformation.
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Rev. Jesus Juan (Jesse) Gonzalez
Presbytery Evangelist
A native of the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo, Jesse Gonzalez is the organizing pastor of Comunidad Presbiteriana Hispana Northwest Arkansas Hispanic New Church Development based at First Presbyterian, Springdale.
He is a 1983 graduate of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico where he received a Bachelors in Business Administration. He is a 1992 graduate of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, Texas where he earned a Master of Divinity. Jesse was ordained in November, 1992 at Presbiterio del Noreste, National Presbyterian Church of Mexico. Jesse has served the Iglesia Nacional Presbiteriana de Mexico in a number of positions and has served the PC(USA) in Mission Presbytery and the Pesbytery of Coastal Carolina.
Jesse and wife Bertha are the proud parents of three sons Isaí (wife Heather), Abner and Obed.
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Rev. David Dyer
Moderator of Presbytery
David was born in Munich, Germany, July 22, 1948 to M/Sgt Vernard Craft Dyer and Maxine Laflin Dyer. He grew up in St. Louis, Washington D.C., Battle Creek, Michigan, and Richmond, Virginia; graduated from George Wythe High School, Richmond, Virginia, 1966, King College, Bristol, Tennessee, with an A. B. degree in English (Linguistics), 1970, and Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, with a D. Min. Degree 1974. He was ordained in Hanover Presbytery in 1974.
David has served as Pastor of Village Presbyterian Church (PCUS), Richmond, Virginia from 1974 to 1978, as Pastor of Oaks Presbyterian Church (UPCUSA), Houston, Texas from 1978 to 1986, as Pastor of Westover Hills Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), Little Rock, Arkansas from 1986 to 1993, on the faculty of Philander Smith College, 1994 and 1995, taught at Arkansas Governor’s School 1993-1995, and served as Interim Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of Arkansas from 1996 until 1998. He recently retired as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, Arkansas where he has served since 1998.
He worked on the Task Force for both Daily Prayer and The Book of Common Worship, primarily doing the Easter and Lent sections.
David has served on and moderated the Worship Committee and the Committee on Ministry for the Presbytery of Arkansas, served as President of the Ferncliff Board of Trustees and chaired the building committee for the Brown Center. He is currently the Moderator of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Arkansas.
David married Marian Erdman Dyer in 1971 and they have two daughters, Jennifer (age 38) and Lucy (age 35), and two grandchildren, Joseph (age 16) and Miranda (age 13).
He enjoys Civil War History, computer gaming, and reading in the areas of mathematics, physics, cosmology, linguistics, and history. He actively plays the game HeroScape.
In 2004 David was diagnosed with colon cancer and has had successful surgery and chemotherapy. In 2005 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgskins Lymphoma. Following two and a half years of additional chemotherapy, he is now cancer-free; thanks be to God.
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Sheree Niece
Vice Moderator of Presbytery
Born and raised by a loving family on a farm in northeastern Ohio, Sherée Niece moved with her husband, Rick, to Clarksville, Arkansas, in 1997 to become the First Lady at the University of the Ozarks. Coming from a family of educators, Sherée graduated from a liberal arts college with a degree in elementary education.
As First Lady at Ozarks, as well as the Director of Campus and Community Relations, she has assisted the campus and community in many endeavors. Her activities include entertaining over 40,000 people in the President’s Home, working with donors and foundations, leading the interior design committees in renovation and remodeling efforts for every building on campus, serving as business advisor to student organizations, proofreading many of the University’s published documents, and consoling home-sick students.
In addition to being a Governor-appointed Commissioner to the District 5 Criminal Detention Facility Review Committee, Sherée is also President of the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Within the community, she has served as Chair of the Johnson County Community Foundation, Board Chair for Forrester-Davis Development Center, and Past President of P.E.O. Chapter CJ. As an elder at Clarksville First Presbyterian Church, Sherée is active in Presbyterian Women, having served as Moderator and Cluster Moderator on the Presbyterian Women Coordinating Team. She has been a member of General Council since 2009.
Sherée enjoys typing and reading and has proofread six published books including two of her husbands, Side-Yard Superhero and The Band Plays On.
She looks forward to serving the church during this exciting time of change and renewal.
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Sam Highsmith
Moderator of General Council
Sam Highsmith is a native of Batesville, Arkansas, a life-long Presbyterian, and, with his wife, Beth, is now a resident of Little Rock and a member of Second Presbyterian Church. Sam is a graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis and of Emory University School of Law in Atlanta. Sam is retired, having spent his last 16 years of professional life as a charitable gift-planning officer.
Sam is an ordained deacon and elder. He has served on the sessions of First, Batesville; First, Fort Smith; and Second, Little Rock. He is in his ninth year as clerk of session at Second.
Sam has served Presbytery as a member and moderator of the Committee on Ministry, as Assistant Treasurer, and as moderator of an investigating committee. December 31, 2009, marked the end of Sam's six-year term as a member and moderator of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of the Sun.
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