Our Staff

Rev. Dr. Charlie Lee

Pastor and Head of Staff

Charlie has served as Pastor at Starmount Presbyterian Church since Feb. 2018. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. After his time there, he served as the full-time program director for a Christian Camp & Retreat Center in Oxford, NC called Camp Oak Hill. He then attended Wake Forest University Divinity School (M. Div. 2005). In 2016, Charlie received his Doctorate of Ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL. Before coming to Starmount, Charlie was Associate Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, NC. During his time there he served in the areas of youth ministry, missions, growth, worship, and administration. He also served in the position of Interim Head of Staff. Charlie is blessed with a wonderful family, including his wife Lindsay, and their two children, Jackson & Eliza. Their family is also not complete without mention of their two dogs, Lacey & Finch.

Scott Lawson

Parish Associate

Scott Lawson's ministry has included managing a non-profit organization, teaching at the university level, consulting with non-profits and leading congregations in the U.S. and Hong Kong. He was ordained to ministry in the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1994. After living and working in Asia for 16 years, he now calls Burlington home. Scott's wife, Marybeth, is a pastor for a wonderful Presbyterian church in Whitsett and his daughter Grace works in New York City as a fashion designer. Scott takes pleasure in riding his bike up long climbs in the mountains of western North Carolina, where he and Marybeth have a retreat home.

Program Staff

Cindy Lee

Preschool Director & Director of Children’s Ministry

Cindy has been part of the Starmount Staff for over 9 years. She started as a lead teacher and then took the Preschool Director’s position in 2009. This year, she also became our Director of Children & Youth Ministries. She has been married for 20 years to Scott and they have one daughter, Meghan. She loves spending time with family and friends and, in her spare time, enjoys playing tennis and doing crafts, especially stamping cards.

Laura Roberson Hadas

Director of Youth and Refugee Ministry

Laura grew up in Greensboro and graduated from Grimsley High School in 2013. She then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she graduated in 2017 with degrees in Geography and Sociology. She volunteered with Young Life for five years and served as the Youth Intern at First Baptist Church in Greensboro before arriving at Starmount. She is currently a seminary student at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, NC. She enjoys time with her family and friends, crafting and watching sports, especially the Tar Heels!

Mary Jane Conger

Librarian

Mary Jane grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Mary Baldwin College with a major in history. She went on to attend the University of Virginia earning a MA in modern Chinese and Japanese history. She worked at College of William and Mary Library where she determined she wanted a career in library science. That led her to UNC-Chapel Hill and a MS in Library Science. Her first and only professional position was at UNCG, first as Serials Cataloger, then Serials and Electronic Resources Cataloger and for the last ten years head of the Cataloging Dept. She retired in 2015.
Mary Jane joined Starmount in October 1977 and George Carpenter and Ben West recruited her to help with the church library the following year. In addition to serving as librarian, she has served as a deacon and an elder. She has been on the Christian Education/Faith Formation Committee for over 35 years and taught many Bible study and Sunday school classes. In connection with the North Carolina chapter of the Church and Synagogue Library Association (CSLA), Mary Jane has occasionally has consulted with churches who are interested in setting up a parish library or to revitalize an existing library. CSLA recognized her as the 1999 Outstanding Congregational Librarian. On the home front, Mary Jane served as a foster parent to 13 foster children over 14 years. With her 13th foster child, she felt God’s call to adopt Melissa when she was 7½. Melissa and Mary Jane enjoy the company of an active and endearing beagle named Earl.

Music Staff

Sarah Downey

Director of Music

Sarah is a two-time graduate of the UNCG School of Music, with Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Education. Sarah grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina where her family were active members at First Presbyterian Church. After college, Sarah stayed in Greensboro where she began teaching high school Chorus in Guilford and Randolph County Schools. Sarah and her wife Catherine, also a music educator, live in Lindley Park with their three rescue dogs Scout, Piper, and Oliver. Sarah considers her musical taste eclectic, loving choral music, musical theater, and folk/acoustic equally, and liking and appreciating (almost) every style of music. She tries to visit NYC regularly to see new Broadway shows and goes to see her favorite singers in concert as much as possible. She also enjoys staying active by taking classes at the local Pure Barre studio and walking her dogs as much as possible.

Michael Parker

Organist

Michael received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and his Master of Music degree from Indiana University. He has performed throughout the U.S. as a collaborative pianist with many instrumentalists and singers, having appeared in recital with such artists as violinist James Buswell and Metropolitan Opera leading tenors Marcus Haddock and Johan Botha. Michael also holds a faculty position at Guilford College, where he teaches piano. He has previously held positions at Greensboro College and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In addition to his activities as a pianist and teacher, Michael has previously served as artistic director of the Alamance Chorale, and as organist/choirmaster of a number of churches. Currently, he is the organist for Starmount Presbyterian Church, where he accompanies the choir, plays for services and for special music provided by frequent guest instrumental and singing soloists.

Administrative Staff

Lynne Kirsch

Church Business Administrator

Anne Cullinan

Office Administration & Operations Manager

Annette Black

Administrative Assistant

Custodial Staff

Y'Mem

Custodian