POTSDAM -- The congregation of the First Presbyterian Church of Potsdam recently selected a new pastor.

Rev. Deborah Packard presided over her first Sunday service on Feb. 24.

Everyone in the community is invited to share worship and to meet the new pastor following any upcoming service.

Rev. Packard was born in New Jersey and has lived in New York City, Atlanta, Budapest, Hungary and Rochester.

Most recently she has pastored a church in Ellicottville, a ski resort town south of Buffalo.

A graduate of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, she is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Music was her first calling. In response to that call she began her college career as a voice performance major at the Oberlin Conservatory.

From there she went to New York City where she decided she didn’t want to live the life of the starving artist, she said in a press release issued by the church.

Instead, she got a master’s degree at NYU in music therapy. That was interrupted by marriage and the birth of her two children.

Today, her daughter is writing her dissertation for her PhD from Tufts while she lives in Brussels with her husband. Her son, while pursuing his dream of acting, works as a bartender.

Having recently moved to Potsdam she is still acclimating to the “north country” with her wire-haired dachshund, Chloe. Together they are exploring and learning about their new home.

Worship will return to the main sanctuary on Palm Sunday, March 24 at 10 am.

It will be preceded by the annual Palm Sunday Pancake Breakfast in the Church Community Center. Food will be served beginning at 8:15 am.

All are welcome to attend. Easter Sunday service will be held March 31 at 10 am.

Please join us in welcoming Rev. Packard to the North Country.

First Presbyterian Church, Potsdam | 42 Elm St., Potsdam NY | (315-265-9434 | www.potsdampresbyterian.org