meet the staff
Reverend Amy Busse
Pastor Amy has served United Presbyterian Church for a little over seven years. She has two children, Phoebe, 20 and Zach, 17. She is engaged to Brent Stoker. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Amy has served churches in Rockville, Maryland, Albany, New York, and in different towns in Iowa and Minnesota. Pastor Amy received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications and English Writing from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1988. She received her Masters of Divinity from United Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia in 1995. Between college and seminary, she worked on Music Row in Nashville as an assistant to the Publicist of an international talent and booking agency. She worked as a publicist and director of publicity and public relations in Richmond, Virginia. Although Amy did not grow up Presbyterian, when she walked into the Presbyterian church for the first time in Richmond, she knew she had come home. Amy likes to kickbox, read and watch just about anything on PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery.
John Murphy, Music Director
New York pianist John Patrick Murphy is pursuing a DMA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the Unversity of Oklahoma, where he is a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Alumni Fellow. At OU, John teaches group piano courses and applied lessons to secondary students. He holds a MM in Collaborative Piano from Manhattan School of Music and a dual BM in Piano Performance and Choral Music Education from SUNY Fredonia. This summer John will be performing in the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. John previously served as Associate Music Director at St. Louis de Montfort RCC in Sound Beach, NY, and as Organist at Trinity Episcopal in Fredonia, NY. When not making music, John enjoys playing tennis, racket ball and cooking.