Rob Sparks IV

Fairview Pastor

Rev. Robert Sparks spent his formative years in Decatur, Alabama and was nurtured in faith and confirmed at First Presbyterian Church.

Rob moved to Danville, Kentucky to attend Centre College (a Presbyterian institution). He graduated in 1991 with a B.A. in Economics. That year he moved to Lexington, Kentucky and transferred his letter to Maxwell Street Presbyterian (his grandparents' church and the church in which he was baptized). That congregation has a strong commitment to urban missions and it was volunteering there that he felt the first strings of call to ordained ministry. He entered Columbia Seminary in Decatur, Georgia in 1994.

He graduated from Columbia with an Mdiv in 1998 after spending mission time abroad in Malawi, Africa and independent study in Glasgow, Scotland. He was ordained at Maxwell Street in 1999.

He served two Presbyterian churches in Columbus, Georgia; First (Youth Director) and Morningside (Interim Pastor). He left Columbus to serve on staff at First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, and to be near his fiancée, Louise. They wed in 2002. Both used to be avid readers, enjoyed cycling, attending the cinema, visiting museums and galleries but all of that has been put on hold indefinitely after the birth of their two sons, Robert, now aged-seven, and Gibson, aged-five. They attend a lot of soccer games.

Installed in 2005, Rob is now in his seventh year as pastor of historic Fairview Presbyterian Church.