Lowell B. Sykes

Upon graduating from Port Jefferson High School on Long Island, New York, Lowell Sykes attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, where he received a B. A. degree with a major in history.  While at Wheaton he met fellow student Barbara Powell (deceased 2011).  They married in 1955, and one year later moved to Decatur, Georgia, where Lowell enrolled at Columbia Theological Seminary.   Both as a part of his studies and upon receiving a master’s degree in theology, Lowell served for four years at a Presbyterian Church in Madison County, Georgia.

 Over the next 13 years, Lowell’s work as a minister took the family to two more Georgia communities—Dahlonega (four years), followed by Augusta (nine years).  They left Georgia in 1974, when Lowell accepted a call to serve as minister at Rivermont Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he remained until retirement in 1999.   Always eager to learn, Lowell received a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1992 from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois.

Lowell has three children.  Son Lowell, Jr. (Laddie) and his wife Gina live in Mechanicsville, Virginia.  Another son, Powell and wife Kathy, resides in Burlington, North Carolina; daughter Mary Beth Marcum and husband Alan call Cookeville, Tennessee, home.  Nine grandchildren and eight great grandchildren round out his family.

One thing that Lowell brings with him to Westminster Canterbury is an extended history with the organization.  Soon after its founding in 1975, he served on the Board of Trustees until 1993.  Today, Lowell spends his time studying, providing part-time preaching here and there, and mentoring young pastors over the entire United States.