The Rev. Chip Hatcher, pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Hot Springs, Ark., will visit campus on the week of Nov. 13 as part of the University of the Ozarks’ Struthers Visiting Pastoral Study Leave Program. He will lead the University’s weekly Chapel Service at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
Hatcher has lived all of his 65 years in the Deep South. After gaining his undergrad degree from University of Mississippi (1981), he taught high school English, speech and theater in his hometown of Columbus, Miss., for four years. Working as a school teacher with free time in the summer, he began a job as camp counselor for Camp Hopewell, St. Andrew Presbytery’s camp and conference center near Oxford, Miss. At Camp Hopewell, Hatcher felt a call to serve in pastoral ministry.
Since receiving a master’s of divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in 1988, Hatcher has served in three pastorates: in Mobile, Ala., as an associate pastor for three years; in Hernando, Miss., as solo pastor for 25 years; and in Hot Springs, Ark., as solo pastor for seven years. He has been married to Melinda Wood for 39 years, and they have three children, Marshall, Katie and Robert. They also have two grandchildren, Trip and Amelia.
The Pastoral Study Leave Program was established in 2005 by the late Rev. Dr. James R. Struthers of Stillwater, Okla., a long-time member of the University’s Board of Trustees. Struthers established the program to bring Presbyterian pastors to the U of O campus for personal and professional development.
Topics: Chapel