Pastor Philip Rice, Jeff Bowman, Tommy Musselman, John Stoke and Wes Lee
Leadership at Lebanon
Pastor Philip Rice
Philip
Rice has been serving as the pastor of Lebanon Presbyterian Church since August 2023.
He
was born and raised in Warrenton, VA, the youngest of six kids, all of whom
served in the military between 1999-2015. Philip enlisted in the Marine Corps
at age 17. During his time in the Marines, he was discipled by military
chaplains, Ken Counts and Patrick Joyner.
In 2016, his pastor, Grant Beachy, encouraged Philip to pursue
vocational ministry. While working as a
defense contractor, he earned a BS from Liberty University in Biblical and
Theological Studies. He studied Greek at Covenant Theological Seminary before
transferring to Reformed Theological Seminary in D.C. where he continues to
study while working as a pastor.
Philip
married Brenda in 2012 and they have six children: Judah, Hosea, Miriam,
Zipporah, Michaiah, and Shiphrah. (Extra points if you know where these names
are found in the Bible)
Philip enjoys sailing, reading fiction, bee keeping, and brewing mead. More than that, he has a deeply held belief in the sufficiency, inerrancy, and goodness of scripture and a passion for teaching and preaching through large sections of the Bible.
Contact Pastor Philip at philip.k.rice@gmail.com
Our Elders
Jeff Bowman, Tommy Musselman, John Stoke and Wes Lee currently serve as our Elders. They are committed to seeking God's Purpose and Vision for our church.
They lead our congregation with servant hearts and we are so thankful that they have answered God's call on their lives as they seek to serve Him here at Lebanon.
Jeff Bowman - Elder
Jeff has been involved in leading worship at Lebanon Presbyterian Church for over 30 years. He has also worked with youth and taught Sunday School.
He was born and raised in Vienna, VA. Jeff came to the Charlottesville area as a 1st year student at UVA and has been at home here since. He works as a database developer for Christian Aid Mission, an international indigenous missions board.
Jeff met his wife, Elizabeth, through the Christian fellowship in school, and together they raised their five children in Western Albemarle County, and praise God for their five (current count) grandchildren.
In addition to music, Jeff enjoys hiking, car touring, rail-trail biking, reading (C.S. Lewis & Tolkien) to grandkids, astronomy, and parkway sunsets. He longs to see people corporately and individually relishing a restored relationship with their Creator, Savior, and Lord.
Tommy Musselman - Elder
Tommy came to Lebanon Presbyterian Church in 2000 and has been serving as an Elder since 2004.
Soon after he was born in North Carolina, Tommy’s family moved to Greenwood, VA, where his father served as Lebanon’s pastor during much of the 1970s. They moved to Atlanta, Georgia during his middle and high school years.
In 1995, Tommy graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a B.S. in History. After graduation, he served as a Surface Warfare Officer on both a destroyer and an aircraft carrier. Since 2005, Tommy has owned and operated a real estate investment company with his brother-in-law.
By God’s grace, Tommy met his wife Leah on a blind date while in college. Tommy and Leah have been married since 1995 and have three sons: Thomas, Andrew, and David.
Tommy enjoys spending time with family, traveling, skiing, and just about anything outdoors.
John Stoke - Elder
John and his family have been at Lebanon Presbyterian Church since 2008.
John was born outside of Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, where nobody ‘fixes’ dinner (because it isn’t broken). Brought up in the Roman Catholic tradition, he was attracted to the reformed church in young adulthood because of its deep reverence for, knowledge of, and ever-probing curiosity about, what God says is true. (See Matthew 5:21-48 and Luke 7:1-13 for Jesus’ take on the relative value of God’s Word vs. human tradition.)
After a wonderful career devoted to the public understanding of the cosmos, he enjoys inspiring appreciation and worship of the creator of all things, and of His astounding intentions.
John considers his wife of 3+ decades, Serrell, to be his best feature. They have four wonderful grown children: Rosalie, LilyKathryn, Teddy, and Samuel.
When not occupied with other matters, John is happiest when tending to his family’s half-acre parcel of paradise in Crozet, per his heavenly father’s intent for the first man (Genesis 2:15).
Wes Lee - Elder
Wes and his family came to Lebanon Presbyterian Church in 1995; he serves as part of the worship team, playing organ and piano for worship services.
He was born and raised in Fredericksburg, VA, the second oldest in a family of six children. Growing up, Wes attended a small country Baptist church in Fauquier County near his grandparents’ home, every time the church doors were open—Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and Wednesday nights. While in high school, he played the organ for worship services there. Wes came to appreciate and embrace a reformed faith in his 3rd year at UVA when introduced to Trinity PCA under the teaching of Skip Ryan.
After graduation, he taught high school sciences for several years before taking a job at Merck & Company, Inc. in Elkton, VA where he worked for 30 years in various Quality Operations roles.
Wes met his wife, Karen, at Massanetta Springs, Presbyterian Conference Center near Harrisonburg, VA in 1978 and they were married in 1980. God blessed them with three children, all grown and two grandsons, all of whom they enjoy!
Creativity abounds as Wes enjoys home improvement projects, gardening, fixing mechanical things (except cars) for himself and others, refinishing furniture (restoring to new life), and traveling to tropical paradises with Karen.
