On Oct. 8, Dr. James Douglas Simpson joined the Presbyterian College staff as director of church relations. When he began his ministerial journey from his hometown of Motherwell, Lanarkshire in Scotland, Simpson may not have guessed it would have taken him to places like Clinton, S.C. and Roswell, Ga. Regardless, it was a journey he wasn’t sure he wanted to take in the first place.

“It took me a while to wake up to the idea” of joining the ministry, Simpson said. He had never thought about it until his pastor asked him, while in high school, if he had ever considered it. Simpson told him he had not. Instead, he wanted to be a high school history or chemistry teacher.

“I liked the idea of long holidays in the summer,” he said.

After graduating from high school, however, Simpson decided to work at a church to heed his pastor’s advice. A year later, he entered the University of Dundee. In his second year as an undergraduate, Simpson discovered a life in the ministry was his life’s calling. In 1983, he graduated with a bachelor of science degree, which is similar to a liberal arts degree in American colleges.

From Dundee, Simpson went on to the University of Aberdeen. In 1986, he graduated with honors with a bachelor of divinity in systematic theology and church history.

Simpson’s first ministerial role began a year later, when he became parish minister of Newtonhill and Portlethen churches in Aberdeen. He served there from 1987-1996. After serving in the churches for 10 years, Simpson and wife, Janice, were open to going to a church outside Scotland. Although they considered many calls, they stayed until they were called to go to Northminster Presbyterian Church in Roswell, Ga.

“When I saw the advertisement for the position at Newtonhill and Portlethen, I knew I’d go there,” Simpson said. He said he thought the same about the position at Northminster.

Simpson served as pastor and head of staff at the Roswell, Ga., church from 1996 until 2007. While at Northminster, he attended Columbia Theological Seminary, graduating with a doctorate of ministry in 2000.

Simpson began making PC connections during his time at Northminster. Not only did several from his congregation go on to graduate from PC, but so did his predecessor’s son. Further, Simpson’s daughter, Jennifer, chose to go to PC because others showed so much interest in the school and because she wanted a solid Christian education. She graduated earlier this year with a degree in Christian education.

Simpson believes in answering life’s calls, and he believes he was called to serve as director of church relations at PC. He grew to love the school when his daughter was a student and he’s recently had many positive experiences working with college-aged students. While on sabbatical two years ago, he spent three months developing a discourse with students at Montreat and also when he sailed with some on Amistad America.

Now, Simpson sees his role as director of church relations as “a way of helping to support linking churches and the college and supporting young people and giving them a sense of what they can do for God and the world.”

Furthermore, Simpson says, as director of church relations, he plans to “foster, deepen, and widen the relationships between PC and area congregations and represent the college in any way” he can.

Simpson’s family includes, in addition to wife, Janice, and daughter, Jennifer, his son, Jim, a sophomore at George Washington University.

posted by sadyer@presby.edu

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