STAFF

 

Meet our New Pastor, Rev. Marranda Major!

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Marranda Major moved from upper Manhattan to the Capital District to begin her first call at First United Presbyterian Church in January 2023. Marranda was born in West Virginia and raised by her grandparents, Floyd and Gerry, who owned a local bookstore and instilled in her a love of learning and values of hospitality and welcome. Marranda began attending Kanawha United Presbyterian Church after routine Saturday night sleepovers with a childhood friend, and fell in love with the music and rhythm of worship. Before she could read, Marranda loved when the pastor included snippets of Greek and Hebrew exegesis in his sermons, and was determined to one day be able to translate and interpret scripture for herself.

At Wellesley College, Marranda majored in Peace and Justice Studies with a concentration on the role of music in social movements. During summer breaks, she worked as a camp counselor at Bluestone Camp (Hinton, WV), where Marranda began writing liturgy, composing music, and leading worship. After graduating in 2013, Marranda participated in the PCUSA’s Young Adult Volunteer program serving abroad first in Northern Ireland and then stateside in Washington, D.C. In Belfast, Marranda worked at Wave Trauma Center and facilitated workshops around storytelling, drama, and art; taught music at a local primary school; and served the Whitehouse
Presbyterian Church as the Youth Director. In D.C., Marranda learned about community organizing while serving with NEXT Church to support local congregations partnering around racial justice issues. 

While attending Union Theological Seminary, Marranda worked as a Student Chapel Minister, and interned with Not So Churchy, a queer Manhattan-based worshipping community. During this time, Marranda’s call to ministry became more focused on serving folks who have been hurt or excluded by the Church, and her thesis research explored alternative worship spaces and trauma-informed worship styles. Marranda completed her Master of Divinity degree in 2018 and received the Robert E. Seaver award for integrating social justice and the arts in worship as well as the Traveling Fellowship for exceptional scholarship and pedagogy.

After graduating, Marranda completed an extended unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at New York Presbyterian Hospital. While searching for her first call, Marranda has worked as a cheesemonger, a middle school sexual health educator, and as the Director of Communications for Larchmont Avenue Church. Marranda loves music, pub trivia nights, and spending time with her partner, Allison, and rescue rabbit, Bunnhopper.

 

 

Carlie D'Annunzio

                                                      Financial Administrator                                                   

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Carlie has a BS and a MBA in Accounting from Siena College.

She began serving congregations in Albany Presbytery in 1989 as the Financial Administrator of The First Presbyterian Church of Albany. She has since increased her service to include Westminster Presbyterian Church of Albany, First United Presbyterian Church of Troy, and New Covenant Presbyterian Church of Albany. 

 
Carlie has been a member of St. John the Evangelist Church in Schenectady since 1972 and was baptized at St. Helen's Church. She is also a member of the Rosary Society. She lives in Schenectady, has three grown daughters and five grandchildren.