Rev. Dr. George Hammond is Pastor of Bethel Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Leesburg, VA. Growing up in the New York metro area, George (“Chip”) was raised in a nominal Roman Catholic home but styled himself an atheist from a young age until he was confronted with the gospel of Jesus and committed himself to be His disciple during his freshman year of College at William Paterson University. Almost immediately he became a campus Bible study leader with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, but came to realize how little about his new-found faith he knew and transferred to Nyack College to add the study of the Bible and Theology to his education. Seven years after his conversion he discerned a call to the ministry through the encouragement of the elders of the Church he was then a member of. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Nyack College, with additional study at William Paterson University and Northeastern Bible College; a Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary; and a Doctor of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Among his other writings, Hammond’s doctoral thesis, It Has Not Yet Appeared What We Shall Be; A Reconsideration of the Imago Dei in Light of Those With Severe Cognitive Disabilities was published as a book by P&R in 2017. Dr. Hammond was appointed as Teaching Fellow with the C.S. Lewis Institute, Loudoun Campus in 2016. He has served his community in the role of Senior Chaplain with the Leesburg Police Department, and the regional Church as Chairman of the Candidates and Credentials Committee of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic, Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Dr. Hammond lives in Loudoun County with his wife Donna where they raised their four grown children. When not preaching and teaching, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing drums with a local jazz band, and working with his hands.