Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Your Interim Pastor Nominating Committee is very happy to let you know that Session has approved the hiring of The Rev. Dr. David M. Watson (“Pastor Dave”) as our next Transitional Pastor.  We are confident that Pastor Dave will continue the work that Pastor Tim Eichler began in preparing our congregation for our next called pastor.

Pastor Dave grew up at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, and as a young adult, he spent time at the Salt Company here at FPCH!  He has a heart for people of all ages and a heart for our church.  He understands and is drawn to our history as a Christ-centered, Bible-based congregation; as the son of a church organist and choir director, he also is drawn to our passion for worship.  

Pastor Dave earned his Bachelor’s Degree in History from California State University Northridge; his Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary; and his Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary.  His pastoral career has included pastoring churches of varied sizes in California, Pennsylvania and Aalen, Germany; teaching Biblical Hebrew at Fuller; earning teaching certification in the Bethel Bible Series and Alpha; and service on committees of many presbyteries, including time as an instructor in Church Leadership in San Fernando Presbytery.  Pastor Dave has many years’ experience as a transitional pastor and feels that God has called and equipped him for transitional ministry.  His statement of faith aligns well with Who We Are as a congregation.

Pastor Dave and his wife Gerlinde have two adult sons, Markus and Jonathan.  Markus is a Presbyterian pastor in San Diego County, and Jonathan is a founding partner of a website architecture and software company in Los Angeles.  Markus and his wife, Robin, have three children; Jonathan and his wife, Sarah, have four children.  Gerlinde is multilingual, grew up in Germany and worked there as a flight attendant as well as an international sales representative and a certified secondary school teacher of German and Spanish in the United States.  We are blessed to have Pastor Dave and Gerlinde joining our church family at FPCH.  Pastor Dave will begin working at the church on October 12th, 2021 and his first Sunday preaching will be October 17, 2021.  

Please join us in welcoming Pastor Dave and. Gerlinde Watson!

Your Interim Pastor Nominating Committee