Home
 Calendar
 Christian Education
 Collierville Presbyterian
   Day School
 CPC Photo Gallery
 Current Events
 Frequently Asked
   Questions
 Map to Church
 Prayer Request
 Presbyterian Women
 Purpose & Vision
 Sermons

Other Resources

 CPC Online Store
 Online Bible
 Book of Confessions
 Book of Order
 Presbyterians Today Magazine

About Our Pastor

Dr. Warner F. Davis -
Statement of Faith

I was born on November 19, 1946 in Lexington, Kentucky. At the time of my birth, my parents were preparing to serve as Methodist missionaries in the Belgian Congo, a country now known as The Democratic Republic of the Congo. And so, at the age of three, I, with my parents and sister, landed at the station of Dingele.

My boyhood, while interspersed with furloughs to the united States, was mostly spent in Africa. I count myself fortunate for the vocational choice my parents made. Growing up in an environment where adults lived their lives in response to a calling, there stirred within me the beginnings of an awareness that would eventually lead to an encounter with the One Who calls.

It took a while to figure out the cause to which a person is called is much greater than the kingdom of self. Ironically, the spiritually pivotal moment of my life occurred four years after my graduation from seminary.

I had attended Asbury College (1963-67) and Asbury Seminary (1967-71)-- two Wesleyan institutions in Wilmore, Kentucky. Following graduation from seminary, I was able to begin pastoral ministry in Florida, due partly to the influence of a family friend who was a respected leader in Florida United Methodist Conference. My term in "the sunshine state" was short-lived because, as I see it now, there was no strong connection between what I did and a sense of purpose rooted deeper than personal preferences.

I had been attracted to Florida by the fantasy of pastoring "Surfside Methodist" with a flourishing ministry on the beach. This, it turned out, was not enough to sustain me. Especially, since the Bishop saw fit to place me in a town seventy miles away form the closest beach, where I lived in a garage apartment with an alligator and water moccasin infested lake adjoining my backyard.

Leaving Florida, I returned to Kentucky. For the next two years I went from job to job in search of my niche. The turning point came when I was reading a spiritual biography which, at one point, spoke to me with peculiar force.

It had to do with a life-directing question to which I had given little thought. Up to that time, the dominating question was, What do I want? Suddenly, through reading someone's spiritual journey, I was confronted with an alternative which the heart of me sensed offered the promise of authentic life. It came home to me that the central question is not, What do I want? Rather it is, What is wanted of me? Making this my chief point of reference, I embarked on a brand new life that continues to be charged with meaning to this day. It is life lived as answer to calling.

Following the epiphany, I took steps to re-enter the pastoral ministry because of what I perceived to be God's leading. Drawn to Presbyterianism, I began a three-year process of preparation for ordination through the oversight of Transylvania Presbytery. In September of 1978, I was ordained teaching elder in Wilmore Presbyterian Church where I served as Pastor for nine years. This time was complemented with enrollment in an advanced degree program at Columbia Theological Seminary culminating in the earning of a Doctor of Ministry in May, 1984.

The summer of 1987, I left Wilmore to accept a call to be Pastor of Stony Point Presbyterian Church in Stony Point, New York. My nine-year pastorate there was a season of remarkable congregational growth. Adding to its joy was the wonderful serendipity of falling in love with Tingting Yan and having life graced with a beautiful daughter as well as a beautiful wife.

My pastorate at Stony Point was followed by a 16-month stint as Organizing Pastor of a New Church Development in the same region. While the project did not materialize as anticipated, I regard those months as a time of great spiritual growth. I believe God¹s hand was at work through this difficult period shaping me for the next phase of ministry.

And now the calling to serve as Pastor of Collierville Presbyterian Church. I began this assignment August 1, 1998. Thirteen years later, I believe more than ever this is where God wants me and Tingting to be. It is wonderful to be a part of a loving church concerned with greater outreach in Tennessee¹s fastest growing community.