About Courtney Pittman, Senior Pastor

Rev. Courtney Pittman started as Senior Pastor in October 2023.  She describes herself as “not your typical clergy” and relishes in her Enneagram 8-ness.  A graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary, she has special interests in social justice, women’s issues, and the sacraments of the PC(USA).  Courtney is a strong believer in the “outward church” and being the hands and feet of Christ in this world.  She is married to her college sweetheart, Dewitt, and is the proud momma to two boys, Tripp and Townes.  When she’s not at church, you can usually find her on a run, at the beach, being mom-taxi, or eating pizza of any kind.  Courtney is a self-professed Instacart master and is a staunch believer in the Oxford comma.  She loves true crime podcasts, live music, nonfiction reads, UGA football, and her doggos, Bear and Rowdy.

Contact Courtney:
Courtneypittmanmpc@gmail.com
706.342.2813

Courtney’s letter to Madison Presbyterian Church when her call was announced:

Hi, MPC! My name is Courtney Brown Pittman, and I am humbled to be your Head Pastor.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself…

I was born and raised in Alpharetta, Georgia where I lived with my parents, Mike and Rita, and my only sibling, Kristina.  While my family and I love to visit and have quality family time, we also love avoiding the metro Atlanta traffic as much as possible.  After graduating from Milton High School, I made the big drive up 316 and attended the University of Georgia where I double majored in Advertising and Spanish.  During my sophomore year there, my sorority was partnered with a fraternity for Homecoming.  It was at a float-building event that my now husband, Dewitt, and I met.  It took only a few short months before we started dating and we have been together ever since!  Dewitt is a native of Vidalia, Georgia, and is the oldest of four siblings.  Dewitt’s father, David, and stepmother, Denise, still reside in what Dewitt refers to as “God’s country.”

After graduation from UGA, I followed Dewitt to Augusta where he was already immersed in his studies at the Medical College of Georgia.  In January of 2009, I started graduate school at Augusta State University and subsequently earned a Master of Arts in Teaching in Foreign Language Education.  During that time, I taught high school at Edmund Burke Academy in Waynesboro, Georgia (the Bird Dog Capital of the World!).  The two years I spent there were filled with lots of love, lots of grace, and lots of teenage hormones but I absolutely LOVED it!

Dewitt and I married on June 26, 2010, in Athens, and when he finished medical school, we moved to Columbia, South Carolina (enemy territory for us UGA fans) where Dewitt started his Emergency Medicine residency program.  While there, I taught Spanish at White Knoll High School for three years before we moved to Huntsville, Alabama for Dewitt’s first job.  Moving three states away is stressful and it was made even more stressful by the birth of our oldest, Dewitt “Tripp” Alexander Pittman, III.  By stressful, I mean giving birth on a Thursday in Columbia and moving to Huntsville on Saturday kind of stressful.  Ask me about it sometime… it’s a wild story.

We lived in Huntsville for a year and a half before we realized that we needed babysitters and family support.  In December of 2015, we FINALLY came home to the Athens area and have been here ever since!  We welcomed our second son, Townes Michael Pittman, in November of 2016 and I was a stay-at-home mom with our boys until I started seminary in the wild year of 2020.

When we moved back to Athens, Dewitt and I knew we wanted children to have the faith foundation that we did not have growing up.  We joined the First Presbyterian Church of Athens and were baptized right next to one another in what has become a core memory for me.  Soon, the church became such an important part of our lives that I jumped at the chance to be an elder when asked.  It was through this experience and so many other experiences that I heard the call of God to go to seminary.  So, when God calls, you answer! I started school at Columbia Theological Seminary in June 2020 and have served at First Presbyterian Church of Covington, Emory Johns Creek Hospital, and Presbyterian Village Athens as part of my seminary training.

In my spare time, I enjoy running, swimming, reading, going to concerts, and traveling.  In reality, I don’t get to do those things as much as I would like, but I do spend a great deal of time taking Tripp and Townes to soccer, flag football, golf, and whatever else they have going on. I am so excited to get back to work and to enter the Church as a Teaching Elder.  I firmly believe that ministry and motherhood are holy and sacred callings.  I feel blessed to be able to experience both with each of you and with my family. 

Courtney Brown Pittman Statement of Faith

I believe in the Triune God. I believe that God is the beginning and end of all things. God made humankind in God’s own image to inhabit the earth, to be good stewards of creation, and to love one another. I believe God’s love is beyond anything that humans can understand. As God’s followers, we are to learn and grow by loving our fellow siblings in Christ.

I believe in God among us; God in the faces of people we meet, in the beauty of creation, and in the world around us. I worship the living, breathing God that presents Godself here on earth in all that God intentionally and thoughtfully created.

I believe that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God and was begotten as the living form of God in God’s own image. I believe that Christ is both fully human and fully divine. While on earth, Jesus taught the world of God’s love and gave assurance of salvation. I believe that Jesus Christ was crucified and died on the cross, but conquered sin in his life through his ministry and acts of love.

I believe that the Holy Spirit is the wild child of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the source of mercy, faith, love, and inspiration who dances and moves within us. I believe that the Holy Spirit runs through the veins of all followers of the Trinity and fills them with everlasting grace as they continue on this journey of life.

I believe that the Bible is a book of history, divine revelation, and sublime story written by humankind. While reading the Bible, the historical and socio-political context of the text should be considered as the world behind the text is essential to understanding the word. I believe that the Bible is not to be used as a weapon but is inspired by the Holy Spirit and seeks to express the love and grace of God to all, regardless of race, religion, or sexuality.

I believe in the importance and significance of the sacraments. While we are God’s beloved at birth, I believe that Baptism is an outward display of commitment to God and the Church. It is a visible sign of an invisible grace. Baptism signifies that the journey of faith is to be done together as a Beloved Community of believers who walk alongside each other. I believe that the baptismal waters are ordinary, yet holy, and represent a covenant between the baptized and the Redeemer.

I believe that the Lord’s Supper is a way to give thanks to God and to remember God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ. I believe that all are welcome to the Lord’s Table.

I believe that the Church is a movement. It is not four walls and a table. Instead, the Church is God's faithful action in the world that seeks to spread the perfect love of Christ to imperfect people. The Church is to be an inclusive community of different individuals from different backgrounds at different points in their faith journeys. The Church is about celebration- the celebration of the Triune God and the celebration of one another.