Simply click on name to send email to staff member or feel free to call the church office at 703-549-6670, individual extension numbers are listed beside name.
Robert R. Laha, Jr., D.Min., Th.M., Ph.D., was born and raised in Kentucky where he was active in church and community affairs. As a child of the church, he felt the first stirring of a call to ministry in his high school years leading him to a church related college in Tennessee. While in college he began doing youth work in local churches, which led to a full time job after graduation. That work confirmed his sense of call and led him to undertake a theological education at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia as a Bridges Scholar. He engaged in additional graduate work both at UTS and at Oxford University where he was named an Oxford Foundation Fellow. He maintains a keen interest in preaching, teaching, social justice work, and the promotion of ecumenical and inter-faith work.
He has served churches in Tennessee, Virginia, and Louisiana and has served the larger church at every level including a stint on the General Assembly Council and its Executive Committee. He currently serves on the Council of National Capitol Presbytery. He is the author of a commentary on Jeremiah and is working on additional manuscripts related to biblical interpretation.
For fun, he enjoys the theater, cooking, interior design, boating, golf, Harley riding and spoiling his grand-daughter! He is married to Sally, a first grade teacher and an ordained Elder in the church. Together, they have three grown children, Rob, Jenny, and Ben.
Ann Herlin came to the Meeting House in 2001, after receiving her Master of Divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Prior to seminary, she taught first grade for two years in South Texas (as part of Teach for America), and then spent 16 months teaching English to elementary students in Costa Rica. She received her BA from Yale University in 1993.
In addition to her Meeting House responsibilities, Ann serves as a first-grade reading tutor at Lyles Crouch Elementary School, and as vice-chair of the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium. She is also vice-chair of the Board of Directors for the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington. Ann’s hobbies include speaking Spanish, soccer, and running.
Priscilla Andre-Colton, Certified Christian Educator, is our Director of Christian Education, with responsibilities for children and adults. Priscilla joined our staff in November, 2006. Priscilla earned her bachelor’s degree at Valparaiso University (Indiana) and her masters at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (1979). Before coming to the Meeting House, she served churches in Florida, North Carolina and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Priscilla’s family includes her husband, Todd, who sings in the Meeting House choir, two daughters, and two darling little granddaughters.
Alice Rose Tewell is our Youth Director and is responsible for the middle, high school, and college aged youth programs. She is a recent graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary where she earned a Master of Divinity Degree. Prior to seminary, Alice worked with college students in Beijing. She received her BA in International Studies from Trinity College in Hartford, CT in 2004.
In her free time, Alice enjoys running, cooking, and tutoring. She lives with her husband Adam, and cats Simon, Liza Jane, in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in NW D.C. Adam serves as a very active youth advisor and youth Sunday school teacher.
Samuel Baker was born in the Midwest but raised in Miami, Florida. The church-musician seed was sown at an early age as each Sunday he faithfully watched the organist finish the postlude and yearned for the time when his legs would be long enough to reach the pedals and begin organ lessons. He began playing church services at age eleven, continued organ and piano lessons and studied clarinet, conducting and music theory through high school. Eventually he graduated from Drake University with a Bachelor of Music degree and Southern Methodist University with a Master of Sacred Music degree. His major teachers include Carl Staplin, Robert Anderson, Lloyd Pfautsch, and Jane Marshall.
Since moving to Washington, DC in 1986, he has held positions at the National Presbyterian Church, Church of the Epiphany, and All Souls Episcopal Church. He currently serves as Director of Music and Organist of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House. In his free time, Sam enjoys travel, architecture, cooking, and Felix, his German shorthaired pointer. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Harbour Square Cooperative where he lives, and on the Board of Directors of the DC American Guild of Organists Foundation.
Welcome to our seminary intern Sarah Palsma. She is originally from Syracuse, NY and earned her undergraduate degree in Religion and History from Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. Sarah has spent the last few summers in the Adirondack Mountains working on staff at Camp Fowler, a Reformed Church in America camp located in upstate NY. She is currently earning her Master of Divinity degree from Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI. Sarah will be with us at the Meeting House from June 2 to August 17. For fun, Sarah enjoys theater, music, reading, hiking, and of course history. She is also very excited to be spending her summer in the heartland of American history.
323 South Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 