Rev. Wallace W. Bubar became the Pastor
of Overbrook on November 1, 2008.
Wallace
was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas and attended Baylor University,
where he majored in Religion and Philosophy. He graduated summa cum
laude in 1995, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa honor society.
Wallace received a Master of Arts degree
from the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he studied with
Martin Marty and concentrated in American religious history. He then
spent one year as an exchange student at the Universität-Göttingen
in Germany, pursuing the study of Reformed theology.
In 2001, Wallace earned his Master of Divinity
degree from Emory University, where he focused on worship and preaching,
studying the latter with Tom Long. He received several awards at Emory,
including the John W. Rustin Award for Outstanding Preaching. A highlight
of his seminary experience was the opportunity to take a course with
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was a visiting professor there at the time.
Wallace was ordained in August 2001 in
the American Baptist Churches USA, a mainline Protestant denomination
similar in theology and outlook to the Presbyterian Church (USA). From
2001 to 2008, he served as Pastor of First Baptist Church of Iowa City,
an historic downtown congregation located directly across the street
from the University of Iowa campus.
Attracted to the Presbyterian Church (USA)
because of our Reformed theological heritage, our connectional polity,
and our ecumenical witness, Wallace recently made the transition into
the PC(USA).
Throughout his career, Wallace has been
very active in ecumenical activities, especially in the areas of liturgy
and church music, as well as in advocacy for social justice, peacemaking,
and greater inclusiveness within the church. Wallace is married to Gabriele
Albrecht, originally from Hildesheim, Germany, and they have a daughter,
Magdalena.