Rev. Stephanie Anthony

Pastor Stephanie has been in ministry as a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) since 2002, having served urban, small town, and suburban congregations in Nebraska, Wisconsin, and most recently, Illinois. She is a proud, self-described Presby-nerd whose love of God and God’s people was part of her church upbringing in Indialantic, Florida. She can also claim deep Pennsylvania roots on the maternal side of her family tree. Pastor Stephanie has degrees from the College of William and Mary (B.S.) and Columbia Theological Seminary (M.Div.). She is committed to continuing education and spiritual growth that supports the church being a loving neighbor beyond its four walls. Pastor Stephanie’s family includes her husband, Phillip, and young adult and teen children, Karoline, William, and Margaret, as well as their rescued, furry, and four-legged members, Chloe and Rosie. The Anthony family is very musical, and Stephanie herself plays the string bass. For her part, Stephanie enjoys knitting and going to the movie theatre. She also loves to travel and would return to some of her favorite destinations, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala and Scotland, in a heartbeat. Herself-designed perfect day would include: a nature walk, the company of loved ones, hanging out at a pub or coffee shop, maybe a music festival or any quick-friend-making communal experience, and really good, local food.

Scriptures:Deuteronomy 6:1-9Luke 18:15-17 Despite the morning scramble it inevitably produced, “Show and Tell” was a favorite day when the kids were little. Finding just the right thing to fit the designated theme, whether it was by color, season, or letter, was a good game. Although, I’m surprised that our preschool didn’t ban Show and Tell […]

Dear FPCA family, This Sunday we’re going to be celebrating the sacrament of baptism in our church family.  While worshipers at the 11:00 a.m. service will get to witness it in person, it is still a celebration for all of us as we welcome a new child of God into the Body of Christ. In […]

Scriptures: Luke 10:1-11; 2 Kings 5:1-14 Back after the exodus from Egypt, able to anticipate how the power would corrupt the nation, rule by king was not the model God desired for God’s people, Israel. But when the people begged again and again for a sovereign like their neighbors had, God reluctantly obliged and gave […]

A social media post from contemporary English author and theologian, Dr. Joy Marie Clarkson, circulates all the major platforms every once in a while. It reminds us: This is your gentle reminder that one time in the Bible Elijah was like “God, I’m so mad! I want to die!” so God said “Here’s some food. […]

We don’t often spend a whole lot of time in the book of Proverbs. There are probably a couple of different reasons for that. For one, the short couplets of advice and counsel that make up a significant portion of the book don’t really lend themselves to sermons and preaching.  One scholar said they should […]

A few years ago, one of my best friends and her spouse bought a local small business in the Wisconsin town where we used to live. I met Erin, a Lutheran pastor, when the Lutheran colleagues in my town adopted me into their weekly Bible study and sermon preparation group.  She lived and served in […]

In the early days of the spiritual movement that we now think of as the early church, the followers of Jesus were pretty much all people who share Jesus’ Jewish faith. The followers of Jesus, those who believe he had been resurrected from the dead for the salvation of the world, didn’t see themselves as […]

As a young child I participated in a few plays in our local young children’s theater.  Saturday mornings my mom would take me to the Indian Harbor Beach Civic Center across from the library and, with other children, I would take on characters, learn lines, practice blocking and vocalization, and usually run around annoyingly when […]

Dear FPCA family, Many of us know the story of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. It’s the meal we reference most directly when we celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as we will this coming Sunday. But the Gospel according to John actually records the last breakfast Jesus had with his disciples as […]

Dear FPCA family, Happy Easter! Still! Easter is a season, not just one Sunday, and so we keep celebrating for a little while longer. I hope you had a blessed holiday wherever you were able to worship. We will keep observing the joy resurrection with Pastor Kathryn peaching this week. The doors are open for […]

The women had every good reason to go to the garden tomb early that morning on the first day of the week. They had a job to do; They couldn’t have gone any sooner, since it was inappropriate to go on the Sabbath to the place where a dead body was placed.  They went as […]

Scholar and activist, Loretta J. Ross, starts her 2021 TED Talk with a purposely shocking declaration that she is present at the Monterey, CA TED conference because (and I quote), “Most black women don’t go to Ku Klux Klan rallies on purpose,” which is the work she does that caught the attention of the organization. […]