The General Assembly host committee has announced worship speakers for the 42nd Assembly. They are:
Raymond A. Cortese, a native of Miami, Fla., was the organizing pastor of Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church (SRPC) in Lecanto, Fla., where he continues to serve as pastor. An integral part of the SRPC ministry is Seven Rivers Christian School, now in its 26th year. Cortese holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Belhaven College, studied at Reformed Theological Seminary, and received his Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary.
He and his wife, Diane, have four children and four grandchildren.
Dr. Derek W.H. Thomas, a native of Wales, is the senior minister at First Presbyterian Church (ARP) in Columbia, S.C. He is also the professor of systematic and historical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Atlanta), and editorial director for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. He previously served as the Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson) theology department chairman and the minister of teaching at First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Jackson, Miss. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the University of Wales, a Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson), and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wales (Lampeter). He was ordained in the Evangelical Church of Ireland and served Stranmillis Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Belfast for 17 years before moving to the United States. He has published more than 20 books and contributed to many others.
Dr. Thomas and his wife, Rosemary, have two grown children and two grandchildren.
Rev. Bill Sim a native of Korea, was the organizing pastor of New Church of Atlanta and has been senior pastor there since 1997. After immigrating to the United States with family at age 15, he grew up in Houston, Texas, where he became a Christian.
He currently serves as the stated clerk of the Korean Southeastern Presbytery and as chief administrator for the Coalition of Korean [PCA] Churches. He holds a B.A. degree from Central Bible College and a Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary. His passion is to see a church-planting movement within the PCA’s Korean-language presbyteries.
Sim and his wife, Grace, have two grown children.