PFPC Staff
Rev. Crystal Varner Parker
Rev. Crystal Varner Parker is a life-long Richmonder, born at MCV, now VCU Health, which meant she was destined to be a VCU Ram. She is excited to be the Pastor of Providence Forge Presbyterian Church, and has worked in churches and the non-profit sector for over 18 years. Crystal will not shy away from discussing the “why” behind her ten year interlude in non-profits, especially if you’re ready to dig into the topic of sabbath keeping. She is a champion and advocate for public schools, a Girl Scout Leader, and active in supporting her local community.
Crystal is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University (Go Rams!) where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, minor in French. She then went on to attend Union Presbyterian Seminary (then Union-PSCE) to receive her Master of Divinity, where she focused much of her coursework on the Hebrew Bible. As a lover of languages, she has studied deeply or dabbled in 9 languages, but she has her sights on studying more.
Crystal is married to Zach, and they are parents to two girls.
Kristel Lamp
Kristel Lamp grew up in Short Pump, Virginia, and moved to New Kent 11 years ago. Before moving to New Kent, she was a teacher for Henrico County Schools and taught fifth and first grades at Twin Hickory Elementary School in Glen Allen, Virginia. Since leaving teaching, she enjoyed being a stay at home mom to her two daughters. When her girls started school, Kristel began working part time at Providence Forge Presbyterian Church. She has loved getting to know the congregation members, and she enjoys keeping things running smoothly in the office.
Kristel met her husband, Glenn, in high school and they both attended Radford University together. Since then, they have grown their family with their two daughters and their family dog, Willow. In her time away from PFPC, Kristel is usually carting her girls around to extracurricular activities. As a family, they love to be anywhere near water. Bring on summer!
Melody Raef
Melody Raef began working at Providence Forge Presbyterian Church in 1992 and recently celebrated her 30th anniversary being at PFPC! Melody currently teaches at West Point Middle and High School and has been there for 27 years. She conducts four separate choirs at the schools and feels that teaching is her calling! She is also an adjunct professor at Rappahannock Community College where she teaches Music History and Music in Society.
She has been married to her husband David for 29 years this spring and has two grown children, Madison and Samuel.
Mrs. Raef is currently a member of the Virginia Choral Directors Association under the umbrella of the National Association for Music Education as well as the American Choral Directors Association. She feels very blessed to be the Choir Director here at Providence Forge Presbyterian Church and loves making a joyful noise to the Lord!
Cathy Davis
Cathy has been with Sunshine Nursery School for 30 years. She has been married to Vin Davis for 50 years and lived in New Kent since her freshman year at New Kent High School. They have two children. Brian is married to Johanna Davis and have a daughter Ellie. They live in New Kent. Amy is married to Jed Dixon and have two children, Cal and June. They live in Manteo, North Carolina.
Cathy’s hobbies are cooking, gardening and of course Sunshine Nursery School!