Administrative Assistant
Karen Porter

I was born and raised in Rockland County, New York - just north of the New Jersey border. I am the youngest of five children. Two of my sisters live in Hudson, Florida and one in North Carolina. My brother pastors a large church in the Seattle, Washington area.

I grew up in an American Baptist church, where I particularly enjoyed singing in the choir and teaching Sunday School. I am still using my love of music as a member of the Worship Team at Good News Christian Fellowship (Reformed Church in America) in New Port Richey. I have been blessed to be part of their praise band and a worship leader on several occasions.

I moved to Hudson, Florida in November of 1999 to help care for my ailing parents. My mom died on December 10, 2003, and my Dad on March 28, 2005.

My husband and I met as members of a marching band in the early 1970's. We began dating in 1975 and were married in March of 1977. We have no children, but deeply enjoy spoiling our 19-year-old, 18-lb. cat, Smokey, and our nieces and nephews (and church kids) as often as possible. We also enjoy spending time with my family, most often while playing board games.

I began working as an Administrative Assistant in the Presbytery office on February 23, 2004. For 4 years prior to that I thoroughly enjoyed working as the Secretary of First Presbyterian Church in Dade City.

You have probably seen my name most often associated with Presbytery’s E-Newsletter and Hurricane Relief Bulletins. I work closely with Mary McKey and Susan Snedeker-Meier on these publications.

I have been given the responsibility of updates to the Presbytery’s website and have enjoyed this wonderful learning opportunity. Weekly updates are made to the "Prayer Concerns" page, and you'll find news about pastoral changes within our churches on the "People News" page. There is also a "Bulletin Board" page which is updated quite often with announcements, advertisements, etc. for our churches, as well as a page on our wonderful Resource Center and a Directory of our Churches. Check them all out...you'll be glad you did!!

Among my other tasks, I work closely with Stated Clerk, Norm Hatter, to be sure updated information on pastors is sent to the Office of the General Assembly and help ensure physical files are updated as required. I also prepare the annual Memorial ("Necrology") Report that is included in the first Stated Presbytery Meeting each year.

I oversee the annual Statistical Reports for our congregations (mostly done on-line), and will gladly help answer questions as needed. Please don't hesitate to let me know if I can be of service to you in this area of your ministry.