Welcome Aboard, Becky!
by Kim Allen | Reprinted from COLUMNS Magazine
“I think there are so many ways to be available and serve the congregation—I get excited just thinking about it!”
Reverend Becky Capps Davis knows a thing or two. Or three. Actually, she knows a lot, but her passion isn’t knowledge; it’s helping people see God in their everyday lives.
The daughter of a pastor, Becky grew up in the St. Louis suburbs and began to explore her call to ministry during her college days at Wheaton. But when she graduated in 1997, she didn’t feel the time was right to go to seminary. So she entered what she jokingly refers to as “retail ministry,” working in management at Talbots for two years. Even there, regular customers would come in the store—not to buy dresses or suits, but just to chat and share their problems. Becky recognized there her gift of pastoring people.
Then Becky lost her grandfather. She remembers that as being the first time she was with someone as they died, sharing Scripture with her family. It was a pivotal point in her life, and a realization that she wanted to help pastor people through the grief process. “Grief doesn’t have to be dealing only with loss of life; there are all types of grief—moving, kids going to college, or just other life changes that require a letting go,” says Becky. “I want to help shepherd people through those times.”
Becky entered Princeton Seminary and graduated in 2003, taking a year to serve as a student intern pastor and hospital chaplain along the way. Ordained in the PC/USA church in March of 2004, her first call as a pastor was to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg, SC and Spartanburg had a surprise in store.
Becky befriended Carrie Williamson, a daughter of First Pres, living in Spartanburg at the time and working as a youth pastor at First Presbyterian Church. (Carrie is the daughter of Anne and Richie Davis and is currently serving on children’s ministry staff here at the church.) It didn’t take long for Carrie to introduce Becky to her brother, Austin. The rest, as they say, is history: in 2010, Becky married Austin Davis. The couple now has a delightful two-year-old daughter, Dulaney.
Becky recently passed her ordination exam in Tallahassee, this time for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, our new denomination. (The church where she was ordained has also joined the EPC.)
Becky joins our staff as the Associate Pastor for Congregational Care this month. Among her other gifts, our newest pastor also has a passion for ministry to women in general—whether it’s a new mom in her baby’s first year or an elderly woman in a retirement home. She loves helping people connect to God and to each other—and sharing their excitement or difficulties along the way. There is great joy in her voice when she talks about ministry. “I am just looking forward to joining a great team of pastors and staff at FPCO,” she says. “I think there are so many ways to be available and serve the congregation—I get excited just thinking about it!”
We are excited too, and thrilled to welcome her to this church family; ready to learn a thing or two in the process.
Becky Davis began her journey with First Pres in July. You can reach her directly at bdavis@fpco.org or call 407.423.3441.
