What is the "session"?
The session is the governing body of the local church. It is composed of godly men who have been called by God to lead His church together; each member of the session is selected by the congregation. The session includes both teaching elders (pastors) and ruling elders. Specifically, they teach, equip, disciple, nurture, discipline and shepherd the congregation.
Teaching Elders:
Pastor Jim Fredere, Interim Pastor
Jim is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. He has BSN from Georgia College and State University and an M.Div from Reformed Theological Seminary-Charlotte. Jim and his wife Carin, have one son (Nathan) who just recently graduated from Covenant College. You can reach him at jim@astoriachurch.org.
Ruling Elders: Joe Kickasola, Bryan Taylor, Raul Rojas and Sunny Arora
Inactive REs: Bruce DiCicco, Jason Greene, and Buddy Mungo
Our founding pastor was David Ellis. David is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. He has an M.Div. from New York Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Covenant Theological Seminary. David and his wife, Sobeyda, have four grown children and one grandson.
Photo of our farewell event on June 8, 2023 when we celebrated David and Sobeyda and said our loving good byes.
