Charlotte’s biggest Presbyterian church says farewell to senior pastor

Presbyterians don’t dominate Charlotte’s religious landscape like they once did, but it’s still a big deal when the city’s largest Presbyterian church says goodbye to its senior pastor.

In fact, 4,800-member Myers Park Presbyterian is also the biggest Presbyterian church in all of North Carolina and the fourth largest in the country.

So on Sunday, the pews were packed as the Rev. Steve Eason, 60, made his exit after 13 years as the spiritual leader of this well-heeled church known for its generosity.

During Eason’s tenure, the church made headlines by raising $30 million for a capital campaign in the teeth of the recession and then spending more than a third of it on everything from affordable housing in Grier Heights, a low-income neighborhood in Charlotte, to clean water projects in El Salvador, the Congo and Malawi.

Eason is leaving Charlotte and moving to Brevard to become director of consulting services with Atlanta-based Macedonian Ministries. He’ll teach and organize workshops for ministers of various denominations.

“In a sense, you have prepared me to go do what I’m going to do,” he told the congregation during his last sermon as pastor.

Eason acknowledged the day’s emotion by quoting Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.”

And the grand sanctuary rang with laughter as the Duke Divinity School graduate periodically signaled his flock to shout “Go Carolina!” so his sense of rivalry would chase away his tears.

Mostly, though, there was talk by Eason and others Sunday about how they think Myers Park Presbyterian has changed since he arrived in 2002.

It’s become a church, they said, that’s loosened up a bit, one where members are encouraged to go deeper in their discipleship by getting active in ministries and by developing richer spiritual lives.

At a reception for Eason and wife Catherine in the church’s outreach center – built with money from that capital campaign – longtime member Debbie Gourley said the church has responded to the outgoing pastor’s easy-going style on the one hand and his call for depth on the other.

“Besides the new building, he brought humor to a very traditional church,” said Gourley, whose uncle is Charlotte-born evangelist Billy Graham. “And he’s brought a fresh perspective of what it means to have a deep faith in God – not just in service to the community, but to transformation. There’s been a great focus on the inner lives of people in a fun, engaging way.”

In an interview, Eason said Myers Park Presbyterian has undergone “somewhat of a cultural shift. ... We became clear about what our business is. We are a disciple-making church, not a consumer church. You come not to consume, but to roll up your sleeves to do ministry that will not only benefit others but you as well.”

The flock at Myers Park Presbyterian includes many leading members of Charlotte’s business and education communities, from the Belk family of department store fame to Pamela Davies, president of Queens University of Charlotte – a school that, like Johnson C. Smith University and Davidson College, was founded by Presbyterians.

The influence of Presbyterians on Charlotte goes back to the mid-1700s, when Scots-Irish settlers founded the first seven churches in Mecklenburg County – all Presbyterian.

On Sunday, Eason alluded to the church’s wealth of leadership talent, which made his job easier. “I throw you a bone, and you design a dog,” he said. “Sometimes there were three dogs, one of each color in case I wanted to choose.”

But, Eason added as his final pastoral advice, always remember that “the treasure is not me, the treasure is not you, the treasure is the spirit of God.”

To replace Eason, the church has commissioned a committee to undertake a search that could take a while. The search that led to Eason’s hiring in 2002 started in 1999.

In the meantime, the Rev. Pete Peery will serve as interim pastor.

Henry Harkey, who was vice chair of the last search committee, said Eason has left Myers Park Presbyterian Church with “momentum.”

At a time when many mainline churches, including those in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), are losing members, Myers Park Presbyterian has grown from 3,600 members when Eason arrived to 4,800 now. And the church’s largest age group is those between 30 and 40, which means young families with kids – a good predictor of future growth.

As it faces a time of transition, Harkey likened the church, founded in the 1920s, to a train: “It’s moving. People are getting on and off. But the train will keep on going in the direction God wants.”

This story was originally published April 26, 2015 at 8:54 PM with the headline "Charlotte’s biggest Presbyterian church says farewell to senior pastor."