Our Pastors

Tim Erskine
Interim Senior Pastor
Tim.Erskine@epres.org

Dr. Tim Erskine was born to Christian parents in a Christian community.  He was a member of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, TN where he was loved and nurtured in Biblical teachings.  With roots in a Christian family, he surrendered his life to the Lord at the age of 17 during a Young Life retreat in Colorado Springs, CO.  Since that time, and throughout his career, he has found himself being drawn ever closer to God's servant-hood in Christ.

His call to ordained ministry did not come quickly.  With a BS and MBA in Business from the University of Tennessee, he spent 8 years in industry, 16 years in government, and 8 years as a commercial developer.  During this time, the Lord blessed him with an abundance of practical business experiences.  The call to ordained ministry came while living in Atlanta, GA.  It was a Wednesday afternoon in September of 1993 when a close friend asked him if I had ever considered being a minister.  "Never" was his immediate reply.  Driving home that day the Lord dramatically intervened in his life.  Arriving home, Tim knew that life would never be the same
for he was going to become a minister.

The following Tuesday, Tim began classes at Erskine Theological Seminary. He and his wife,  Cathy, moved to Due West, SC.  While attending Erskine Seminary, the Erskine's were dorm parents to some eighty young ladies. After serving as student associate pastor in Due West and receiving his Master of Divinity degree, he was called to pastor in Newberry, SC.  While serving the Newberry Church, he completed requirements for a doctorate and received the Doctor of Ministry degree from Erskine Seminary in 2000.  His second call was Senior Pastor in Greenwood, SC.  From there he has served as an Interim Associate Pastor at Eastminster Presbyterian in Marietta, GA, Senior Pastor in Vicksburg, MS and is currently the Interim Senior Pastor at Eastminster Presbyterian in Marietta, GA.

He has served on a variety of Stewardship Committees, Synod Boards and Foundations.  God's grace continues to enrich and bless his ministry.  He is a husband, a father to three fine sons, and grandfather to 6 active grandchildren.  Over the last fifteen years of ministry, God's grace and mercy continues to fill Tim's heart with Christ's truth and love.

Alan Gibson is married to a patient wife, Teri, who with grace and encouragement has been a partner to him throughout the insanity of leaving the practice of law and completing seminary.  He loves being a father to three awesome, if not tiresome, children – Ellie, Braden and Tatum.  Alan completed his B.A. Political Studies at Oglethorpe University in 1995 and went to the University of Georgia School of Law, J.D. (‘99).  After 10 years of being a trial attorney in metro Atlanta, he began a mediation practice in 2008 in which litigated disputes are resolved.  It was during this time in Alan’s life that he greatly enjoyed the grace and patience of God pursuing his call to ministry – much later than when he first sensed that call.

In 2006 Alan was first ordained as an Elder of the Presbyterian Church at Eastminster.  Throughout his ministry at Eastminster, he has thoroughly enjoyed teaching Sunday School and engaging people in challenging questions about faith and their relationship with God.  Alan says he is strengthened daily, but also humbled, by the knowledge that His creator loves him infinitely greater than his shortcomings.  According to Alan, recognizing that love in Jesus Christ is far and away the most important reality to come to grips with in life.

Set to graduate from Columbia Theological Seminary with an M.Div. in May 2010, Alan has served as the regular preacher at Eastminster’s contemporary worship service, The Road, since the fall of 2008.