Church Staff

  • Tara Thompson
    Pastor

    Born in Pennsylvania, Tara moved to the sunshine state as an eighth grader. A faithful Pittsburgh sports fan, Tara hoped to return to PA for college. Instead, God led her to Jacksonville, FL and the University of North Florida where she earned a degree in Psychology. Upon college graduation, Tara worked at Publix as a department manager for several years before attending Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts and earning her Master’s of Divinity degree. She served two churches in Florida and one in Pittsburgh, PA before Jesus led her to Beaumont to serve as St. Andrew’s pastor.

     

    Tara is a teacher at heart and loves helping others discover how Jesus has gifted them for service in building His Church. She describes her ministry style as relational, which involves experiencing life together, bearing witness to Christ's activity, and encouraging one another on the journey of faith.

     

    Tara's hobbies include sports, reading, art, and traveling. She has visited six of the seven continents and has nurtured ministry partnerships in ten countries. She loves meeting new people and is excited to do life and ministry with us in southeast Texas.

  • Thomas Furlow
    Director of Music Ministry

    Thomas came to St. Andrew's with a variety of musical experiences. From childhood, he has played piano and sang in church. He has served as assistant director and head music director leading worship in church since 2011. He has studied under many great professors of piano, organ, and voice. Thomas is always practicing or studying music to continue his growth as a musician and to continue honoring God with the talents he was blessed with. Thomas's love for music and worship is evident every Sunday. His leadership from the piano and organ will encourage you to worship God through songs of praise.

  • Rachel Stiles
    Administrative Assistant and Accompanist/Pianist

    Rachel is our administrative assistant and organist. In 2021, she graduated from Lamar with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and is now working on a Master of Music. She has played in churches for over ten years now, something which she finds immensely fulfilling. (When she was in elementary school, her dad played in church and her initial reason for taking up piano was so she could play in church too!) Her secondary instruments are harp and organ. In her spare time, she enjoys baking and reading.

     

  • Patricia Williamson
    Accompanist

    Patricia Williamson has worked as a music educator, collaborative pianist, and piano soloist in the Beaumont area for over two decades. Raised in a large musical family, she studied piano and euphonium in Houston, receiving her BM in piano performance and music education from Lamar University. She enjoys both instrumental and vocal performance: Patty is currently the principal keyboardist of the Symphony of Southeast Texas, directs a church youth a cappella chorus, sings in the Interfaith Choral Society, and still loves to play euphonium. In her twenty years as an educator, she has worked as a band director and an elementary music teacher, owned a private piano studio, and is currently the choir director and class piano instructor at Memorial 9th Grade Academy in Port Arthur ISD. In 2020 she returned to Lamar while working as church secretary and graduate assistant, earning a MM in piano performance. She is the mother of five children (ages 6 through 20), wife to a guitarist/high school administrator, and an avid reader. She enjoys running and takes every opportunity to be around the water.

 

Church Officers

 

Session Elders

Class of 2024 Class of 2025 Class of 2026

Emily Allen

Becky Ford

Julie Glenn

Will Nichols

Dave Collins

Jeff Newman

Bruce Partain

Maryann Sweeney

 

Brian Armstrong
Leslie Pember
Elizabeth Petit
Susan Reese
Clerk of Session: Bruce Partain
 

Board of Deacons

Class of 2024 Class of 2025 Class of 2026

Glenda Buckley

Michael Dove

Shelley Plunkett

Bobbie Wied

Becky Newman

Geren Raumaker

Billy Singletary

Jan Waugh

Daniel Dove

Judy Fisher

Martha Giarratano

Greta Ott

Trustees

Class of 2024 Class of 2025 Class of 2026

Tom Bell

Matt Sooudi

 

Audrey Parigi

Mike Petit

 

Ron Everett

Howard Nichols

 

Foundation Board of Directors

Class of 2024 Class of 2025 Class of 2026

Jordan Reese

Mark Russo

Peg Towers

Tillie Hickman

Steve Odle

Bob Webb

Bruce Burnside

Brenda Jackson

Martha Pate

Committee Chairs

Operations and Personnel:   Bruce Partain and Becky Ford
Fellowship:   Julie Glenn, Will Nichols, and Dave Collins
Mission and Evangelism  Maryann Sweeney and Emily Allen
Christian Education:   Brian Armstrong and Becky Ford
Finance and Property:  Jeff Newman and Elizabeth Petit
Worship:   Bruce Partain and Leslie Pember

Deacons

What is a Deacon?  

The word deacon is derived from the Greek diakonos which means “servant.”  The diaconate is the Board of Deacons.  The office of Deacon, as set forth in Scripture, is one of SYMPATHY, WITNESS and SERVICE, after the example of Jesus Christ. Acts 6:1-7; Phil. 1:1; I Tim. 3:8-15  

 

The mission of the Board of Deacons at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church is to provide leadership in ministries of personal care-giving (Book of Order, G-2.02). It is the duty of Deacons, first of all, to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless and to any who may be in distress.  

 

Diaconate Ministry Teams

The diaconate is composed of various ministry teams and each ministry team is described as follows, with its chair and membership noted.  

 

Pastoral Care
A team of volunteers devoted to caring for those in a current life “crisis” who meet every week to pray for and to call and/or visit those on their list.
 
Home Communion
This team assigns worship teams of two to bring Communion to the home-bound on the Sunday that Communion is offered in the church service. However, at this time, due to COVID, Home Communion is temporarily suspended until further notice.  

Funeral Visitation
This ministry provides refreshments during the visitation part of a funeral service.  It also provides for greeters if the funeral service is on a different day. Pat Buehrle coordinates the reception in the parlor and finds the greeters.

One on One Grief Support
This team works with the Pastoral Care Team to match those who have lost a loved one with volunteers who will support the bereaved with cards, phone calls and visits for up to a year.

 

 

2024 Nominating Committee

Session Representatives Deacon Representative Members-at-large

Julie Glenn

Susan Reese

Martha Giarratano

 

 

 

Julie Odle

Craig Pember

Steve Richardson

Linda Sparkman