Rev. Eunice ("Junior") McGarrahan was elected Associate Pastor of NPC on July 9, 2006.
Junior came to NPC from Vienna Presbyterian Church, Vienna, VA, where she served as Interim Associate Pastor.
Junior grew up in south Florida, where her father served as a Presbyterian pastor in congregations in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Key West. It was as a "preacher's kid" that her life in the church began to take shape.
She attended Wheaton College in Illinois and graduated in 1967 with a B.A. in History. She and Dick met at Wheaton and were married during their senior year. Following graduation, she and Dick, then a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, began 22 years of Army life together. Wherever they were posted, Junior led middle and high school youth groups, taught Sunday School, and established and led neighborhood small group Bible studies. She also served on the club leadership teams or the adult support committees of Young Life in the many of the places where they were assigned. Seeing a need for more consistent youth ministry to the dependents of military personnel, she and Dick were co-founders of Military Community Youth Ministries, which began as a joint venture between Young Life and Youth for Christ.
In 1982, the McGarrahans were transferred to the Washington, D.C. area and began attending The National Presbyterian Church. They quickly became members and served as co-deans of NPC's All Church Retreat in 1985. Junior was a teacher for our Bethel Bible program and in our adult Sunday school program. In 1986, she was called to be NPC's acting youth director and served in that capacity until they were transferred. Upon return to the D.C. area, she was asked to serve as the interim youth director for National. It was during this time that she began to discern her call to ordained ministry.
When Dick's work took him to Louisville, KY, she entered Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where she graduated in 1995 with a Master of Divinity degree and was named Outstanding Graduate of her class. She then continued her theological studies at LPTS, studying with Dr. Darrell Guder, who has served as a continuing mentor. She was awarded a Master of Theology degree in missiology in 1997. She is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and anticipates receiving her degree in December 2007.
In 1997, she was called to the staff of the Office of Theology and Worship, a ministry of the General Assembly in Louisville, KY. While serving there, she developed the structures and materials for The Company of Pastors, a resource that encourages pastors in the basic spiritual practices of prayer, Bible reading, and reflection on the confessions of our church. She also organized convocations and conferences on various theological issues. During her time in Louisville, she commuted home to D.C. on the weekends and served as a Parish Associate at NPC, teaching a Saturday morning women's Bible study and leading in worship. Eventually, Dick and Junior settled in Louisville (and Dick did the commuting) and Junior served as a pastoral assistant at Calvin Presbyterian Church, where she preached, led in worship, and worked in the youth and college ministries. In 2002, National called her from the Office of Theology and Worship to serve as Interim Associate Pastor for Nurture. She served in that role until October 2005 when Vienna Presbyterian Church called her to an interim pastoral position. At Vienna, she has been responsible for adult spiritual development, developing a small group ministry and writing group curriculum which is tied in to the sermon series. She also worked closely with the confirmation class.
Junior has been in ministry (full-time volunteer, lay professional, and ordained) for almost 40 years and continues to find great joy in the work to which the Lord calls her. She is particularly passionate about helping people discover that they can meet Jesus in the pages of scripture and the fellowship of believers. She wants those who believe in Jesus to learn to follow him in the direction of their calling in the ministries of the church, knowing that they will quickly learn that as they serve, they will grow deeply in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Junior and Dick live in Alexandria, VA, and are refreshed by the daily drive along the George Washington Parkway. They have one son, Sean, who lives in Arlington, VA, who is also a member of NPC. Dick works for Northrop Grumman Information Technologies. In addition to his B.S. in Mathematics from Wheaton College, he has an M.S. in Operations Research/Systems Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He, with Junior, serves as a Director Emeritus on the Board of Military Community Youth Ministries.