Co-Pastors Jan and Phil Butin
Co-Pastors Jan and Phil Butin love working hand-in-hand with the FUPC congregation and sharing in preaching that encourages all to embrace our mission statement: “Called to be a light on the hill, we boldly proclaim and serve Christ, the hope of our changing world.” Jan particularly enjoys creative worship planning and leadership, and encouraging and caring for members of the congregation. Phil enjoys mentoring young adults, loving people of various backgrounds and life stages, preparing and training leaders, and teaching. He is active in presbytery, involved with the presbytery’s Honduras outreach, and spent the summer of 2017 on sabbatical in Honduras, visiting and preaching in each Honduran Presbyterian congregation and getting to know each pastor and their families. The Butins began their ministry at FUPC in the Spring of 2010. They moved to Fayetteville from California, where Jan served the Presbytery of the Redwoods and the larger church in various capacities, and Phil served as President and Professor of Theology at San Francisco Theological Seminary. He continues to teach and write about John Calvin, the Trinity, Reformed Theology, Church Unity, and Christian Spirituality and Worship. Phil and Jan have served previous congregations in Kansas, Iowa, North Carolina, and New Mexico. They have a married daughter who serves as a public defense attorney in the Washington, D.C. area, and a married son who is Director of the CRUX Discipleship Program at North Park Seminary in Chicago, and two grandchildren.
Kristi Button, Director of Christian Education
Kristi joined the staff of FUPC in November 2008. She has been working professionally in churches for twenty years and loves the many opportunities to grow in faith she finds at FUPC. Kristi earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in teaching from Trinity University, as well as an M.A. in Christian Education from Union Presbyterian Seminary. Kristi was raised in Fayetteville and enjoys being back in the community after being gone for nearly two decades. She is married and the mother of two sons.
Amanda McDonald, Youth and Young Adult Director
Amanda McDonald is a Springdale native and U of A graduate. She just moved from White Hall, AR, and is excited to be back home! She has 3 children: Ella, Lindley, and Tilman. She is a first-year student at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary; she is pursuing a Master of Divinity. She and the kids spend lots of time at softball fields since both girls play softball. When they aren’t doing sports, they love spending time outside and being together.
Amanda grew up a member of First Presbyterian Church in Springdale, and she was very involved from a young age. While she was in high school, she served on the Presbytery Youth Advisory Team and as a Youth Elder at her church. She has remained active in the Presbytery and is currently serving on the Future of the Church Committee. She currently helps with the youth group and occasionally preaches at First Presbyterian Church in Pine Bluff. She is very excited to spend time meeting everyone and growing the youth and young adult ministry at FUPC!
Cathy Hairston, Director of First School
Cathy is a native of Fayetteville and received a Bachelors Degree in Finance from the University of Arkansas. She has watched First School grow from 46 students and 6 teachers to over 120 students and a staff of 21 teachers. Cathy is married and has two sons.
Isaac Thomas, Director of Music Ministries
Isaac joined the FUPC staff in November 2019. He is a native of Fayetteville and has been directing church choirs for over 30 years throughout Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Upon completion of his studies at Dubuque Theological Seminary, he was commissioned by the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia as a lay pastor in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on July 30, 2017. He comes to us from Second Presbyterian Church (Norfolk, VA) after serving there for six years as Pastor of Music, Outreach, and Technology. Isaac received his education in music at The University of Arkansas and John Brown University with additional studies in conducting, piano, and voice at Texas Wesleyan University and the University of Texas at Arlington. In 2017 he completed the six-week piano course Sharpen Your Artistry through The Juilliard School (New York) under Dr. Michael Shinn (former Chair of Keyboard Studies) and Kevin Ahfat (Juilliard Course Fellow). He is thrilled to be back home in Fayetteville after being away for 20 years.
Stacey Luebker, Financial Administrator
Stacey was born in Ohio, and moved with her family to Jasper, in the middle of Ozarks, in her early years. She earned a B.A. from Arkansas Tech University in 1998, and moved to Northwest Arkansas, working with Lifestyles, then as Regional Director of United Cerebral Palsy of Arkansas until 2010. Over the next ten years, she founded and directed Tots Landing Child Care Center in Elkins, which she sold in 2020. As an on-site Owner/Director, she managed all the finances in addition to her other responsibilities as a business owner. She and her husband Elliot have been married since 2001 and they have two sons, Logan and Lane. Her workdays are normally Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Amy Rossetti, Afternoon Office Manager
Amy is married with two adult children, and has been a member of the church since 2000. She has been involved over the years in vacation bible school, presbyterian women, stewardship, and volunteering in the office. She did a lot of volunteering in the schools when her kids were younger and was an adjunct instructor for the U of A Masters in Operations Management program for seven years.
Amy McCann, Membership Coordinator
Amy McCann has grown up in the Presbyterian Church. She moved to NWA in 2002 to attend the UofA and received a Bachelor’s in HESC with a Child Development emphasis in 2007 and holds several other certifications. After moving to NWA, she quickly became active at FUPC. She joined the staff in 2003 as Childcare Coordinator and held that position for 16 years. She also updated membership for 5 years during that time. She became an Elder at FUPC in 2019, and has always been involved with membership in some way.
She has been the Director of a childcare center in Rogers for the past 13 years, married for 14 years, and has a 12 year old chocolate lab named Nitro. She rejoined the FUPC staff as Membership Coordinator in January 2022.
Christopher Verdery, Audio/Visual Coordinator
Mindy Mock, Childcare Coordinator
Hyun Kim, Organist
Dr. Kim holds degrees in music from the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Cincinnati, the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris, Sung-Shin Women’s University in Korea, and Chung-Ang University in Korea.
She has served Presbyterian churches in music since 1984, and is currently teaching at the UMKC. She has also been a music faculty member at the U of A and universities in Colorado and in Brazil.
Beth Benham, Office Manager
Beth is a native of Fayetteville and a graduate of Northwest Technical Institute. Her work-life has been grounded in supporting others. She cannot imagine doing anything else.
When at home, she enjoys gardening, knitting/crochet, and being with her husband and band of merry fur-babies.
She embraces diversity and inclusion; loves conversations about food; and she hopes to someday be conversational in Spanish.
Xiao Yang, Choir Accompanist
Xiao Yang holds a Master of Music in vocal coaching and accompanying from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Music in piano performance from the University of Arkansas, a Graduate Certificate in piano performance from the University of Central Arkansas, and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from East China Normal University.
She teaches piano at NWACC.