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Rev. Ralph

The Pastor of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church is the Reverend Ralph R. Clingan. Rev. Ralph, as he is known to the congregation, is celebrated for his understanding of and ability to teach the Word as well as his keen wit. He has been the Pastor of Good Shepherd since November, 2005.

Rev. Ralph graduated from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, with a B.A. in Religion in 1979. He completed work for his M. Div. in Theology at Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York, in 1983, and received his D. Min. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta in 1996.

Rev. Ralph was ordained at his home church in Canisteo, New York, on July 10th, 1983, by his home presbytery, the Presbytery of Geneva, Geneva, New York. During his ministry he has served in four presbyteries; Genesee Valley, Geneva, National Capital and Utah.

He began his ministry at Livonia First Presbyterian Church in Livonia Center, New York, serving from 1983 to 1986. From Livonia, he moved to Sodus Presbyterian Church in Sodus, New York,> from 1986 to 2000 then served as Associate Pastor of the Neelsville Presbyterian Church, Germantown, Maryland, from 2000 to 2005. In November of 2005, he was seeking a new church and Good Shepherd was seeking a new Pastor. We seemed to be a good fit and he was hired as the third full-time Pastor of our church and plans to retire from his current position.

At Neelsville, Rev. Ralph was assigned to the Stephen Ministry, where he oversaw 25 active Stephen Ministers and four Stephen Leaders. He also began a Parish Nursing Ministry. He brought both of those programs with him when he came to St. George.

On July 10, 2013, our own Rev. Ralph celebrated the 30th anniversary of his ordination. His Tuesday Bible Study "Angels" provided the refreshments for fellowship following worship on July 7 and serenaded Rev. Ralph with a song. Chris Schleter shared a couple of stories from members of his previous church in Maryland and everyone congratulated Ralph on his milestone anniversary.

We are thankful that God saw fit to bring us Rev. Ralph and look forward to many more years sharing God's Word and Ministry with him and our community.