The congregation of the Gilroy Presbyterian Church welcomed an
important addition to the church’s staff last month.
 Trevor Van Laar has become the director of family
ministries.
The congregation of the Gilroy Presbyterian Church welcomed an important addition to the church’s staff last month. Trevor Van Laar has become the director of family ministries.
Van Laar is a native of Ripon in San Joaquin County. He says the valley town was notable for its almond orchards when he was growing up, but now it is becoming a bedroom community for commuters with jobs in Sacramento and Stockton.
He attended California State University, Fresno, where he met his wife, Cynthia, and earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation. While a college student, he attended Northwest Baptist Church and was one of the leaders of a college-age group with more than 100 members.
In 1992, Van Laar began employment with Mt. Hermon, the well-known Christian Camps and Conference Center in Felton. In 2001, he and Cynthia moved to the Santa Cruz mountains when he began full-time work as the assistant director of junior high programs. In that capacity he often directed a staff of 45 responsible for some 1,500 youth during summers. He was also in charge of weekend camps during other seasons of the year: budget, staff, marketing, program and maintenance.
More recently, Van Laar has spent time helping establish a new venture for Mt. Hermon: a water sports camp at Lake San Antonio near Paso Robles. While still in the development stage, he has high expectations for its success.Â
He has also been engaged in studying for a M.A. Div. degree at Western Seminary in Los Gatos, a program he is about midway through.   Van Laar feels that “God has brought me to Gilroy” to minister to the congregation of GPC, the church his wife attended as a youth.
The director of family ministries has numerous responsibilities: supervising all children’s, junior and senior high programs while “promoting Christian discipleship among the church family.” He will recruit teachers and other staff, provide training and support for volunteers, and get additional resources as necessary.
The church seems very healthy with programs running well, he says. He feels educational, spiritual and recreational activities will all be important areas of his focus. Van Laar wants people to discover that “it’s fun to be a Christian, being together as a community.”
Van Laar has been living in Gilroy for only a month, but loves it so far. He and Cynthia, a speech therapist at Santa Cruz’s Dominican Hospital, have two daughters (Mackenzie, 3, and Emma, 18 months) with another child due soon.
The new minister’s goals are:
n See Gilroy Presbyterian Church grow;
n See more people interested in sharing the Good News of Jesus;
n See more lives changed for Christ.
Trevor Van Laar can be contacted by calling (408) 842-3000 or via e-mail at tr****@********es.org.
