Meet The Pastor
Pastor Hampton Deck
’m glad you found us! And I hope you will join us for one of the many activities that go on in our congregation. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. both in person in our Sanctuary and on Zoom.
While I am one person among many in this congregation, people usually want to know something about the minister, so let me introduce myself. I have been the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Vallejo since 1995. Before coming here, I was the associate minister in downtown Oakland for 6 years. I grew up in the South, in Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Florida. I studied engineering at Princeton University and worked as an engineer for a natural gas pipeline for 3 years before going to Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. Between my second and final year of seminary I did an internship in Seattle, Washington, where I discovered the first girl I ever asked out in high school happened to be living. She and I started dating in Seattle, got married my final semester of seminary and now have four grown children. In 2009 I received my Doctorate from San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo.
I am a student of the Bible, theology and spirituality. I love to learn and share what I’ve learned with others. My formal title as a Presbyterian minister is “Teaching Elder,” and I take that very seriously. If you look on our website you will see that I teach a Bible Study on Mondays and a class entitle Exploration of the Spiritual Journey on Tuesdays. But if there is another topic you are interested in leaning, I can also begin a new class. If you are interested in learning, this congregation is the place for you!
In my “spare” time I like to take long rides on my bicycle. Every summer I go backpacking in the backcountry of Yosemite. When the kids were younger I coached each them in soccer. In 2015 I had a sabbatical and learned how to make marbled paper, which is an ancient art. Since then I have set up a marbled paper studio in our garage and spend many hours in the evening making marbled paper, which I use to cover journals, datebooks and boxes. If you’ve never seen marbled paper, Google it. It’s beautiful! If you’d like to see some I’ve made, just ask. I also like to read, which I do almost every day.
In 2010 I “discovered” a form of contemplative prayer known as Centering Prayer. I have now practiced this little-known form of prayer daily since 2011. It has transformed my life in many ways. Every morning you can join me on Zoom to practice Centering Prayer. I also lead a class on Centering Prayer on Zoom every Tuesday. Since 2014 I have attended a 10-day silent retreat at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. Because I’m an extrovert, the first silent retreat I attended people in the congregation took bets about whether or not I could remain silent that long! (I can.) I also attend other retreats in the Bay Area periodically. On Thursdays, I drive to Stockton to go into a State Prison to teach
and lead a Centering Prayer group for prisoners. I also serve on a Service Team of Contemplative Outreach International that supports those practicing Centering Prayer in prison and volunteers who enter prisons to lead Centering Prayer groups. If you would like to know more about this ancient, but little-known form of prayer, please ask me.
I would love to meet you and talk with you. I consider getting to know people one of the great gifts of being a minister. If you have questions about our congregation, the Bible, Spirituality, God or want to discuss your life, please give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you!