At their 10 a.m. service on Sunday, October 18, the First Presbyterian Church of Tequesta will ordain and install Jeffrey Alan Binder as their new Associate Pastor, who will be primarily responsible for Christian Education and Youth. A recent graduate of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, he received his undergraduate degree in Religious Studies from the College of Wooster, Ohio.
Binder was a Tomlinson-Hampton Merit Scholar for academic achievement and church leadership, a Choral Scholar and is presently on the Presbyterian Youth Triennium Design Team 2010. He served as Interim Youth Minister/Seminary Intern at the LaSalle Street Church in Chicago, Minister with Youth at the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Oak Park, Illinois, and Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He spent the summer as Head Counselor at the Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center in Allenspark, Colorado.
His travels abroad include the University of Melbourne (Australia) and Ghana (Africa), where he studied about HIV/AIDS and Women in the Church. He was drawn to First Presbyterian because the framework for children and youth elements at the church needs to be utilized; Binder's goals are to, "...experiment with Bible Study, youth ministry, worship, music and outreach in the community."