The Reverend Jack Cabaness
Pastor Jack was born forty years ago in El Paso, Texas, and grew up there as
the only child of a college chemistry professor father and an elementary school teacher mother.
He have felt the calling to pastoral ministry from my earliest years. Brought up in the Churches of Christ, he made a commitment to be a disciple of Jesus and was baptized at the age of ten. He preached his first sermon just a few months later. This was at his grandmother's urging, but quickly caught the bug himself. He was very active in his congregation's youth group, and he often preached brief, devotional sermons on Wednesday nights. Jack became involved in high school speech and debate in order to prepare for a preaching ministry, but around
this time he began harboring doubts about many of the doctrinal tenets of the Churches of Christ. In college and law school he tried out different churches and different worship styles before finally finding a home in the Reformed tradition and the Presbyterian Church (USA). He strongly resonated with the Reformed doctrine of the priority of God's grace--that "we love because God first loved us." And he greatly admired Presbyterian polity, with its provision for elders and ministers working together at all levels of church government. Once he had found a home in the Presbyterian family, the sense of being called into full-time pastoral ministry emerged stronger than ever.
From his parents--both of them teachers--he inherited a passion for education that he has carried over into the teaching ministry of the church. Jack strives to craft sermons that appeal to both the heart and the head, and he enjoys teaching Bible, theology, and church history. He also firmly believes that "faith is more caught than taught," and he has sought to encourage opportunities for people of all ages in the church to work, play, study, pray, sing, eat, and laugh together. Through the years he has lead and participated in several youth and intergenerational trips to places such as Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, South Dakota, Chicago, Boston, and Iona, Scotland.
In April 2007 he met the love of my life, Emma, and they were married on February 23, 2008. Emma has been immersed in the faith from her earliest days, and she is an invaluable partner to him in life and in ministry. She has a rich and varied background as a church mission worker, consultant in international development, a stock broker, and as a manager of a highly renowned summer chamber music festival in Craftsbury, Vermont.
He enjoys reading, journaling, hiking, swimming, cross-country skiing, watching movies, playing marathon games of hearts, and spending time with my wife Emma, who keeps me laughing.
Education:
B.A., magna cum laude, History, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1991.
University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas. Attended: 1991-1993.
Master of Divinity, Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School
of Christian Education, (Union-PSCE), Richmond, Virginia, 1999.
Master of Arts in Christian Education, Union-PSCE, 1999.
Doctor of Ministry in Preaching, McCormick Theological Seminary,
Chicago, Illinois. He is currently enrolled in the ACTS (Association
of Chicago Theological Schools) Doctor of Ministry in Preaching
program, and he anticipates graduating from this program in May 2012.
Churches Served
Pastor, East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church, Craftsbury, Vermont, 2003-
2009.
Associate Pastor for Children, Youth, and their Families, Second
Presbyterian Church, Kansas City, Missouri, 2000-2003.
Interim Director of Christian Education, Williamsburg (Virginia)
Presbyterian Church, 1999-2000.