Rev. Campbell-Maleke returns home for special service on May 14

The First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego has a rich and profound history. Over the course of 2017, the congregation is celebrating its Bi-centennial – 200 years of ministry and mission. One part of the celebration is that the congregation is welcoming several ministers back to preach, people that grew up in the congregation and the surrounding area and are now serving the Church. 

One of these pastors, Rev. Elizabeth Campbell-Maleke, will be coming back home on Sunday, May 14 to preach at the 10 a.m. service.

Rev. Elizabeth Campbell-Maleke grew up in Spencer, N.Y. and graduated with her triplet sisters from S-VE in 2001. Shortly after leaving Spencer for college, her parents moved to Owego, N.Y., her home away from home when she is not in her other home – the Mid-Ohio Valley area of West Virginia, where she serves as a Presbyterian pastor to two congregations (Waverly-Bethel Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Williamstown). 

Rev. Maleke received her BA with Honors in Religion from Davidson College, where she studied intersections of Literature and religion. After serving a year as a L’Arche assistant at L’Arche Daybreak in Toronto, Canada (www.larchedaybreak.com/) and as a Young Adult Volunteer in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in the California Bay Area, she attended San Francisco Theological Seminary in Northern California where she received her Masters degree in Divinity, concentrating in Christian Spirituality, and completed a year of Clinical Pastoral education training at Laguna Honda Hospital. 

Elizabeth is married to Raymond Maleke, who is pursuing ordination in the United Methodist Church and serving two congregations in Parkersburg, West Virginia. They have one son, Caleb. 

This Sunday will be extra sweet for Elizabeth as it is Mother’s Day weekend. She will be preaching and her mother, Diane Campbell, will be helping to lead the liturgy as pulpit assistant. 

The First Presbyterian Union Church is located at the corner of North Avenue and Temple Street in Owego, N.Y.