Author: Lou Ellen Gibson

Ren and Linda McDearis recently became members of our congregation. Ren is an executive with Georgia Power Company and is nearing retirement with forty years of service.  Linda retired a few years ago from Home Depot corporate where she was administrator for the Vice President of Legal Affairs.  Ren and Linda have two children – Nicholas and Katelin.  They have three grandchildren – Zoey, Blaire and Daniel.  Both Ren and Linda enjoy a variety of activities – hiking, travelling and spending time with their family.  Ren is a member of the choir and both are very grateful to be members of this church.

Bill Harkins is in his 23rd year of teaching pastoral theology and counseling in the various graduate programs at Columbia Theological Seminary, where he co-directs the Th.D. program in pastoral psychotherapy shared with Emory and the Interdenominational Theological Center. He served for 18 years as Priest Associate at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip. Bill practices psychotherapy and marriage and family therapy at the Cathedral Counseling Center in Atlanta. He joined the faculty of Episcopal CREDO, a wellness program for clergy, as Psychological Health faculty in 2012. He has also served as faculty on CPG Planning for Wellness and ECF Boot Camp conferences for clergy. Bill was appointed in 2015 by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefforts-Schori to the ECUSA Commission on Impairment and Leadership. He enjoys consulting with parishes, businesses, and institutions experiencing conflict and transition. Bill is an Approved Supervisor in AAMFT, a Diplomate in AAPC, and an ACPE Approved Psychotherapist and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy Trainer. He holds degrees from Rhodes College (B.A.) and Vanderbilt University (M.Div., Ph.D.) Bill is married (40 years) to Dr. Vicky Harkins, an advanced practice nurse leader, professor and healthcare administrator. They have two sons, Justin (38) an environmental litigation attorney who is a partner with Crowley & Fleck Law Firm, LLC in Billings, Montana, and Andrew (35) a second-year resident in Internal Medicine/Oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine. Twin grandchildren, Alice and Jack, were born in Billings, Montana in March 2017, and a granddaughter, Sophia, born in Atlanta on Christmas Eve 2018. Bill is the veteran of 45 consecutive Peachtree Road Races, and completed the Asheville Marathon, his 11^th, in March of 2015. He enjoys trail running and other forms of outdoor recreation, writing, and spending time with family.