The Rev. Marthame Sanders - Pastor

Marthame Sanders has been Pastor at OPC since 2005. He describes the faithful church as one which is involved in its own community and in the world, witnessing to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It seeks mutual support and encouragement within the body of Christ, pursuing relationships across denomination, language, and culture. To this church, he brings experience and a passion for preaching and pastoral care, for shaping relevant and alive liturgy and education, and for promoting authentic mission and service.

A native of Atlanta, Marthame is a graduate of the Galloway School. He received his B.A. from Yale University, where he majored in History. Yale is also where he met Elizabeth, his future wife. They were married in 1995 at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta and are the proud parents of Ramsay.

Marthame received his M. Div. from the University of Chicago in 1996, while Elizabeth continued her studies in Geography and Environmental Studies at Northeastern Illinois University. Following graduation, Marthame worked in churches in the Presbytery of Chicago as a youth director, assistant pastor, and temporary supply pastor.

From 2000 to 2003, the Sanders served as mission personnel of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in the Palestinian Christian village of Zababdeh. Their ministry was one of ecumenical support for the Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic churches of the northern West Bank and culminated with the production of the documentary film Salt of the Earth: Palestinian Christians in the Northern West Bank.

Marthame enjoys spending his spare time with his family, playing soccer, noodling on facebook, blogging, tweeting, listening to music (anything from sufjan stevens to soundgarden), and emulating ee cummings' capitalization. He describes himself as a "evangelical, post-modern, justice-yearning, biblical, liturgical, orthodox presbyterian follower of jesus." Whatever that means.

Tiffany Kromer - Pastoral Assistant for Discipleship and Care

Tiffany Kromer is the Pastoral Assistant for Discipleship and Care at OPC. She has been at OPC since 2007. Working at OPC has allowed her to journey with children, youth, and adults in their walk with God by helping to facilitate Christian education and pastoral care for OPC's growing congregation. In ministry, she strives to live, teach, express, and preach the all-inclusive love of God. She loves the energy, hospitality, and missional spirit of Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church.

Tiffany and her husband Tim have been married for four years and enjoy raising their dog, Billie. Tiffany and Tim are high school sweethearts and both graduated from Florida Southern College with B.A. degrees and went on to Candler School of Theology to recieve their M.Div. degrees. Tim works as an admissions advisor at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Tim and Tiffany are both pursuing ordination as elders in the United Methodist Church. Tiffany particularly enjoys the ecumenical friendship and ministry she has with OPC and the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. She is grateful for the opportunity to be enriched, challenged and nurtured by both the Presbyterian and Methodist traditions.  

While at Candler, Tiffany interned at Central Presbyterian Outreach and Advocacy Center and also taught a Bible study at Clifton Sanctuary Ministries. She has been a supporter of the Coaltion for Immokalee Workers since her days in at Florida Southern College.  

Tiffany finds herself refreshed when she travels to new places with Tim, spends time with children, hikes, knits, doodles, sings, plays the guitar, watches House, or laughts with friends or family. She is a sucker for sushi, cheesecake and facebook.

Meghan Brown Saavedra - Student Pastor

Meghan Brown Saavedra is Student Pastor at OPC. Meghan grew up in Dallas, Texas, at First Presbyterian Church. At an early age, Meghan fell in love with drawing, and continued to make art while attending an Arts Magnet High School in Dallas and later at Harvard University, where she majored in Fine Arts, particularly focusing on printmaking and sculpture. All the while, Meghan was also involved in the life and ministry of her church; through these experiences she began to feel a quiet, but persistent call to the ministry. After college, she spent a year abroad in London, and then another year as a Young Adult Volunteer with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Northern Mexico.

Meghan lived along the Arizona-Mexico border, where she worked with local churches and humanitarian aid organizations to provide support to migrants. During this year, she re-learned her high school Spanish, learned about the politics, economics and social factors involved in migration, and met her future husband, Raul Saavedra, a member of the Mexican Foreign Ministry, who had been stationed at the Mexican Consulate in Douglas, Arizona. Entering her last year at Columbia Theological Seminary, Meghan and Raul have now been married one year.

During her time at Columbia, Meghan has interned at RRISA (Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta) and at Grady Hospital System, where she was a chaplain this summer. Meghan is interested in pastoral care and counseling, cross-cultural dialogue, and parish ministry. She is looking forward to spending the year learning from and with you all at Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church!

The Rev. Dr. Linda Hawthorne - Parish Associate

Linda, Parish Associate at OPC, is an ordained Presbyterian minister who serves as an intensive care chaplain at St. Joseph's Hospital. She and her husband, Charles, have two daughters. Linda is originally from Texas and in previous careers was a professor of Special Education and a school psychometrist. She earned a Masters of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary and a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. Her favorite activities are playing with her new grandson and traveling with Charles. Her ministry at OPC focuses upon pastoral care and womens' activities.

The Rev. Dr. Fitzhugh Legerton - Pastor Emeritus

Fitz Legerton has been Pastor Emeritus of OPC since 1992. Prior to that, he served as the congregation's Pastor for forty-two years. With degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Union and Princeton Seminaries, and Presbyterian College, Fitz continued working after "retirement" as Director of Church Relations at Warren Wilson College. He re-retired in 2005 and now lives with his wife Emmy Lou in Montreat, NC.

During his time in Atlanta, Fitz served as Clerk and Moderator of the Presbytery, as well as serving on many committees. Fitz also served the church at the Synod and General Assembly levels, attending as a commissioner in 1955, 1964, and 1969. He also participated in exchange pastorates in Oregon, Bridgwater (England), and Rotorua (New Zealand). Fitz also taught courses at Oglethorpe University and Columbia Seminary.

Fitz was very active in civic activities as well, serving on the boards of Pace Academy, Oglethorpe University, the Dekalb Community Council on Aging, and on the Advisory Council of the Montreat Mountain Retreat Association, among others. In retirement, Fitz enjoys tennis, golf, reading, traveling, and carpentry (of a basic sort!).

Nancy Hamalian - Office Manager

Nancy Hamalian is the Office Manager at OPC. Nancy brings extensive experience to this position, including her work as a Program Director for Habitat for Humanity. She and her family recently relocated to Atlanta from several years in Central and South America. She is a mother of three and a member at North Avenue Presbyterian Church where she is active in their Missions program. She is also fluent in Spanish!

In her spare time Nancy loves to play the guitar. She plays in the contemporary service at North Avenue Presbyterian, and was actually a band member in a girls' praise band called "The Chica Band." In this band, she played at Christmas celebrations for the homeless and for surfer groups in Costa Rica as well as at the local English speaking congregations. Her other hobbies are ceramics and bowl making with chainsaws.

Jerry Ulrich - Director of Music

Jerry Ulrich is Director of Music at Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church. His responsibilities include directing the OPC Adult and Handbell choirs. His diverse musical interests and eclectic background are reflected in the worship music of OPC. He is energetic, "out-of-the-box," and passionate about establishing "choral community" and autonomy in the ensembles he directs. His "day job" is teaching engineers at the North Avenue Trade School in Atlanta (Georgia Tech) to sing.

Neil Thompson - Organist

Neil Thompson has been the Organist at OPC since 1994 and has been a church organist since high school. He teaches kindergarten through fifth grade at Sarah Smith Elementary as the Music Specialist. He holds a B.A. from Belmont University and an M.A. from Central Michigan University.

Francisco Flores - Sexton

Francisco Flores, our Sexton, has been working at OPC since 1994. He knows every nook and cranny of our buildings. Ask him where something is and he'll be able to tell you.

Francisco grew up in Mexico and arrived in Atlanta in 1988 from Texas. Within five years of coming to Atlanta he began working at OPC, first on a part-time basis and later, on a full-time basis as the church began to host more activities.

Francisco is blessed with three daughters, one son, and nine grandchildren. His church home is Iglesia de Dios Hispana in Norcross. In Francisco's spare time he likes to sing and play Boleros on his guitar and play baseball.

Beverly Moon - Director

Beverly has been the Preschool Director since 2004. Prior to that she was the Assistant Director and a teacher at OPP for four years. She has lived with her husband and two girls, Grace and Hannah, in the Ashford Park/Brookhaven community for fifteen years.

Beverly attended the University of Texas and the University of Houston while studying nursing. In 1993 she moved to Atlanta and finished her BA in Business Management at Georgia State University and Child Development Associates w/ the University of Georgia. She is actively involved in PTA as a Co-President and has served on a PTA Executive Board for five consecutive years. She loves children and spends much of her time reading recent trends in early childhood development.

Lynnette Kachel - Assistant to the Director

Lynnette Kachel is the Assistant to the Director of Oglethorpe Presbyterian Preschool. She and her husband, Bryant, have been residents of Brookhaven for twenty years and are parents to two teenage daughters, Emma and Lori.

Lynnette was raised in Defiance, Ohio, and came to Atlanta in 1979 where she worked as a chiropractic assistant and office manager until 2002. She came to OPP in the Spring of 2003 and worked as a teacher in the toddler ("Busy Bee") classroom until August of 2007 when she became Assistant Director. In her spare time, Lynnette enjoys art, music, and movies.