Rev. Lawrence Russell DeLong

Senior Pastor / Head of Staff

Larry DeLong was born and raised in Old Forge, New York, a small resort community in the Adirondack Mountains, and grew up in the only Protestant church in town, Niccolls Memorial Presbyterian.  While studying music at Hamilton College, he heard God’s call to ministry, and received his Master of Divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1983.  After ordination (in his childhood church), he served congregations across the United States, and, as a United States Navy Chaplain, servicemen and women around the world.  While in the Navy, he did post-graduate work in Religious Education and Spiritual Development at Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California.

He comes from a long line of Presbyterians on both sides of the family, which he says “goes a long way toward explaining why Romans 8:28 (“All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose”) is my favorite verse of Scripture.”

 Larry, his wife, Valerie (a United States Army Chaplain) and their eight-year-olds, Sadie and Seth, are delighted to call Green Valley their permanent home!