Rev. Dr. William P. Crawford has been the Senior Pastor/Head of Staff at the Larchmont Avenue Church since 1999.  Bill is a native of Philadelphia; he graduated from Westminster College and earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Temple University via a National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship for graduate study.  He holds both a Master in Divinity and a Master’s Degree in Sacred Theology from Union Theological Seminary (NYC), where he was recipient of the Maislin Fellowship for advanced studies in ministry.  He holds a Doctorate in Ministry from the Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta; his doctoral thesis is entitled “When Religion Prompts Violence: A Congregational Inquiry” written in the aftermath of 9/11.

Prior to his ministry in Larchmont, Bill served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Freeport, Long Island.  Before that, he served as Protestant Chaplain at George Washington University and Associate Pastor at the Western Presbyterian Church in Washington.  He has served previously on the staff of the Riverside Church in New York City.  Before seminary, Bill worked for the City of Philadelphia as planner/coordinator of U.S. Department of Justice programming.  During that time, Bill served as elder at the Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church and chairperson of the Youth Ministry Committee of the Philadelphia Presbytery.

In Washington, he was co-founder of Miriam’s Kitchen, a meals and service program for the homeless. He was the recipient of the George Washington University Award for leadership in the Washington, DC, community. He served as the summer staff Director of the National Presbyterian Conference Center at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. He was the Director of the international “Youth, Violence and Racism Seminar” sponsored by the Presbyterian Church USA and the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland; Frankfort, Germany; London and Northern Ireland. Bill’s leadership and service also includes Moderator of the Presbytery of Long Island; President of the Freeport Interfaith Clergy Council; convener of Presbyterian Urban Ministers Council (Washington, DC); Board Member, Hispanic Resource Center (Mamaroneck, NY); co-recipient of the 2002 Award for Best Religious Programming on Public Access TV from the National Alliance for Community Media, with Rabbi Jeffrey Sirkman for “The Reverend and The Rabbi” on LMC TV. He is on the board of the Auburn Theological Seminary Center for Church Life.

Bill is married to Rev. Julie Faith Parker.  They are the proud parents of a son Graham (16) and Marisol (14).  Rev. Parker is an ordained Methodist Minister; she is currently a PhD student and teaching assistant in Hebrew Scripture/Old Testament at Yale University.

Bill has been a Larchmont-Mamaroneck recreation league basketball and girls’ softball coach. He ran the New York City Marathon, but now he bikes whenever he can. He is a die-hard Bruce Springsteen and NPR fan. He loves the theatre and movies, watching the TV shows “Office” and “American Idol”, especially with his family.

bcrawford@lacny.org

 Rev. Julie Emery joined the ministry team at LAC in September of 2008.  A graduate of the University of Michigan (1998) and Princeton Theological Seminary (2004), Rev. Emery was ordained in 2005, when she served as Minister of Education at Kearsarge Community Presbyterian Church in New London, NH.  During that time, Rev. Emery also served as a Hospice chaplain at Lake Sunapee Region Visiting Nurses Association Homecare and Hospice.   Rev. Emery's responsibilities at LAC include worship, youth ministry (primarily High School), pastoral care, and mission.  Rev. Emery comes to us with her husband, Jason who is completing his Psy. D, and their two lively toddler boys - Aiden, and Chase.  If she's not at LAC, Rev. Emery is likely chasing her boys around, grabbing a cup of coffee at Starbucks or Bradley's, knitting, blogging, catching a yoga class, or trying to cram something else into her very full and exciting life!  

jemery@lacny.org

Louise joined the LAC staff in August 2000, after volunteering here for years. As an LAC elder, she chaired the Christian Education Task Force (1998), was a Sunday School superintendent (1998-2000), and chaired the Sunday School Committee (1999-2000). As DCE, Louise enjoys working on programs for all ages, often collaborating with other staff members, and finds it would be hard to get bored in this position—doing everything from online research to cooking for TGIF to budgeting to preparing craft projects to writing promo material to “producing” our Christmas pageant (and more). She is a member of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE), and serves as a POINT (Presbyterians Organized In Nurture & Teaching) representative for Hudson River Presbytery. Louise brought many years of experience in management and information product development to this position, along with a passion for Christian Education. She is married to Steven Williams, a very active member who grew up at LAC; they have two sons, Peter (22) and Jonathan (18), also raised at LAC and now members. A big supporter of her children’s interests, Louise has also been a volunteer for various school and community activities.  The family resides in Larchmont. 

lwilliams@lacny.org

 Douglas Kostner is the Director of Music Ministry at the Larchmont Avenue Church. He hails from a long line of butchers and plumbers; a lineage which perfectly suits him for his chosen profession as an organist since he is often working in cold buildings with lots of pipes. He received his Master of Music in Organ Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. He is a Fellow of Trinity College of Music, London, and an Associate of the American Guild of Organists. Besides his love for classical music he is an avid fan of folk music and dance from all over the globe. He plays a little piano on the side but someday hopes to turn it right side up.

dkostner@lacny.org