Meet Our Staff Members
The Pastor and Staff at Central Presbyterian are committed to work together in an amazing ministry.

Rev. Ann Aichinger
Pastor
Cell: (828) 446-8699
Office: (276) 669-3157
Home: (276) 285-3651
Email: ann.cpc@bvu.net
Ann is a child of Central. Her father, George Fitzgerald, was pastor here from her fifth grade through college.
Ann went to Agnes Scott College and then onto Princeton Seminary. She met her husband, Frank while in post graduate work at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. She served churches in Paducah, KY and Jefferson, SC before she was married, and then served together with her husband at Grace, Fort Myers, FL, Middletown, Media PA, and as organizing evangelist for New Vision Church, Conover, NC. While serving at Central, Frank passed away, at which point Ann was asked to become the pastor of the church.
Ann has one son, Chauncey who is married to Laura, and four grandchildren. She also has five cats (3 are feral brothers she tamed).

Josie Russell
Director of Youth and Young Adults
Social Media Coordinator
Cell: (423) 383-9291
Email: josieannrussell@gmail.com

Robert Campbelle
Music Director-Traditional Service
Home: 276-623-3050

Joy Smith-Briggs
Organist
Home: (423) 878-2919
Email: gvbjoyb@btes.tv
Joy joined the Central staff as organist in September, 2011. She started her organ career in a small Baptist church in her native Easton, PA. As a teenager, she played the piano in a tent for a Moravian congregation that was starting a new ministry in her neighborhood. She later became the organist/choir director at that church.
A graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, IN, she has a degree in Secondary Education with a concentration in Spanish. While working for the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) in Indianapolis, IN, she met her husband, Guy, a faculty member and administrator at UVA-Wise, who took her from her beloved flatlands and cornfields of IN to the mountains of SW VA where she became a ‘mountain woman’. She retired as director of Family Crisis Support Services, a domestic violence and sexual assault program in Norton, VA.
Joy has served as organist in Episcopal, Lutheran, Christian Scientist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches in PA, IN, KY, VA and TN. She comes to us from Sinking Spring Presbyterian in Abingdon, VA. Joy holds a Colleague of the American Guild of Organists (CAGO) certificate, which requires extensive study and playing of specific repertory, all of which is judged and graded by independent AGO adjudicators.
Her interests include her 4 children, 6 grands and 2 greats, all of whom live scattered about the country, so she spends her time gardening, searching out antiques and spending time at the best organ in Bristol, TN/VA. She considers herself greatly blessed to be a part of the CPC church family.
The household includes her husband, Guy, 4 cats and one Golden Retriever

Office Manager Lynn Gilbert Office Manager Lynn resides in Abingdon. She moved to Virginia two years ago to help care for her parents and she continues to care for her mother. She is married to David Gilbert, the pastor of Tazewell Presbyterian Church. Between them, they have four children and four grandchildren. Office Phone: 276-669-3157 Send Email

Mary Moffatt
Finance Director
Office: (276) 669-3157
Kitchen Coordinator Sumer Lowry

Michelle Blankenship
APPLE Academy Director
Office: (276) 669-9328
Email: applepreschool@yahoo.com
Michelle is a lifelong resident of Bristol, where she lives with her husband Jason, and youngest son, Preston. They also have an adult son, Nathan that lives nearby in Kingsport. Michelle’s journey with APPLE began over 20 years ago when Nathan started in the infant room. She knew at that point that APPLE was a special place that her family enjoyed being a part of. Both of her children attended APPLE. They loved the program and were very well prepared when it was time for them to begin kindergarten. Michelle joined the APPLE teaching staff in 2014 as an assistant in the Nursery 2’s classroom and after a short period of time, moved upstairs as lead teacher in the Preschool 2’s. She also held the lead teacher role in the Preschool 3’s classroom while completing her education in Early Childhood Development. She cherishes the valuable relationships that she has made with the children, APPLE families and staff and is looking forward to continuing to lead the program into the future.