Biography…Rev. Leslie G. McCarrick                    4.1.10


    Though I was born in Berkeley, California, Central Florida has been my home since I was little.  I enjoyed a childhood typical for a kid born in the 1960s.  Dad was an accountant and mom was an RN turned homemaker after my younger sister, Cynthia, and I came along.  Mom went home to God in 1999 and dad joined her in 2007.  I miss them both every day.  My sister is married to her husband Kevin, and they currently reside in Little Rock, Arkansas with their menagerie, which includes a large yellow lab and three cats.  
    After completing my A.A. degree at Valencia Community College, I transferred to U.C.F. and in the summer of 1985 received my B.A. in English.  In the ensuing years, I tried my hand at marketing and secretarial work.  I even worked at the Naval Training Center (now, Baldwin Park), which is where I met my wonderful spouse, Mac.  On May 19, we will be celebrating fourteen years of marriage.  Since God chose not to bless us with children, we rescued two feline substitutes -- Tabitha and Zoe.  They are both a handful and a joy.
    Mac and I enjoy spending time with family, scattered about like most families from New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Arkansas to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.  We also love to go to Regional Assemblies so we can catch up with church friends and see how God is moving in other churches both inside and outside our denomination.  I love books (just ask Mac) and anything to do with arts and crafts.  On a pretty day, you will likely find me outside doing yard work or out walking.  I love to sing and enjoy all sorts of music.  I have begun to learn the basics of crocheting and am currently working on a prayer shawl.  At my current speed, I should be done with it about this time next year.
    From 1992 to last summer, I worked for a group of dermatologists, all amazing doctors.  I coordinated lots of paperwork, but the most fulfilling aspect of my work was as supervisor of the Phototherapy Treatment Center.  Over the years, I was blessed to get to know many wonderful patients.  I was also blessed with co-workers who were a fun and caring bunch and I just adored my boss.  I even made a decent wage and never had to work weekends.  Who would ever want to leave a job like that?
    Wouldn’t you know it -- God had other ideas.  With me, God works with gentle nudges.  Much as I tried to shake the feeling, I knew in my heart that He was urging me to follow a call to ministry.  Armed with prayer, encouragement from our home church, (Pershing Avenue) Mac’s amazing 100% support, and a bundle of nerves, I enrolled at Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando and began my seminary studies in the spring of 2004.  Happily, I survived quite well as I learned and grew in my Christian faith and on May 16, 2009, I graduated with my Master of Divinity degree.  Then on May 31, 2009, I was ordained into the Disciple denomination at Pershing Avenue.  Currently I have my papers circulating in the Search and Call process.  Prayerfully, God, whom I know is always at work in the hearts of his children, is preparing just the right church who will soon call me to serve.  For now, I am looking forward with joy to serving Winter Park Christian Church as I continue to learn and grow in my ministry.

- Leslie McCarrick