Alison Halsey

"When I grow up, I’m going to be a minister!"

 and it stuck.

Born and raised in northern New Jersey, Alison attended Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education. She went on directly to Princeton Theological Seminary to pursue her call to the ordained ministry. She graduated in June 1977 and married her husband, the Reverend Dr. William L. Hathaway the same week. They then packed up their belongings and moved to Buffalo, New York where they each began their ministries.

Alison was called to be the Associate Pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Buffalo and served there for nine years. The family then moved to Lockport, N.Y. and she began a Doctoral Program in Family Ministries at Colgate Rochester Divinity School. Shortly after beginning the program, she was asked to serve as a Stated Supply Minister for Second Presbyterian Church in Lockport. A year later she was asked to also serve as a Protestant Pastor for troubled adolescents at a residential treatment center in Lockport. With two children, two part-time jobs, and a dissertation to complete, life was busy indeed.

Following her graduation from Colgate Rochester, Alison was called to serve as Interim Head of Staff at North Presbyterian Church in Amherst, N.Y. As she neared the end of that two-year call, she received and accepted a call to serve as Head of Staff at University Presbyterian Church in Buffalo. During her five-and-a-half years there, membership increased, the congregation was re-energized, and a number of new programs were born.

In 1999, the family moved to Maryland so that Bill could accept the call as Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church in Annapolis. Alison has been working for New Castle Presbytery, setting the foundation for a new church development on Kent Island. Her last task there will be to hire the organizing pastor for the new congregation.

Alison has also served the larger church in a variety of ways. In Western New York, she chaired:

• the Committee on Preparation for Ministry,
  
• the Committee on Ministry,
  
• the General Council.
  

She served on the Board of Trustees and as Moderator of the Presbytery. Alison has been a delegate to Synod and General Assembly meetings and was moderator of the Synod of the Northeast Permanent Judicial Commission. She has also written curriculum for PC(USA) youth materials.

Alison Halsey’s reaction to First and Franklin Street?

"I look forward to seeing where this new call takes me and I am excited about ministering with you. You have a grand history, a vibrant mission, and an enthusiastic congregation. It will be a joy to be a part of your church family. Thank you for this opportunity."