The Reverend Lorenzo R. Small was named Lead Pastor for First Presbyterian Church Battle Creek beginning April 9, 2023. He replaces the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Carlson who retired from ministry October 2020.

Reverend Small was born in Norfolk, Virginia and grew up in North Carolina, the oldest of four children. He is a 1998 graduate of North Carolina A & T State University where he studied Finance. Following graduation, he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where he worked for a number of years in the corporate world (for such companies as 3M Corporation and Eli Lilly). While there, he felt the call to the ministry. He served as a Baptist minister and later was ordained and installed as pastor of Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church of Lancaster, SC. He is a graduate of Union Presbytery Seminary (Charlotte, NC) and a board member of the Foundation for Reformed Theology and Presbyterian Heritage Center. Reverend Small comes to us from First United Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, NC.

He is happily married to his lovely wife, Alexis. They are the proud parents of three sons: Antray, Lorenzo Jr. and Alexander.