Our Pastor

Reverend John Grotz came to the Kirk in March 2020, after serving Mitchells Presbyterian Church in Mitchells, VA for 24 years. Pastor John graduated from the University of Montana in 1984 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He went on to receive his MS in Education from the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, CT in 1986.

He taught middle school math at the Kildonan School in Amenia, NY for two years and then served as a full-time substitute teacher in Montgomery County, MD for two years. He married Cindy in July 1990 and they moved to Durham, NC where he earned his Master’s of Divinity at Duke Divinity School in May 1993. Rev. Grotz was ordained in the Presbyterian Church USA in the Presbytery of James at Mitchells Presbyterian Church in September 1995. He taught middle school math at the Kildonan School in Amenia, NY for two years and then served as a full-time substitute teacher in Montgomery County, MD for two years. He married Cindy in July 1990 and they moved to Durham, NC where he earned his Master’s of Divinity at Duke Divinity School in May 1993. Rev. Grotz was ordained in the Presbyterian Church USA in the Presbytery of James at Mitchells Presbyterian Church in September 1995.

John and Cindy are empty nesters now that their three sons, Stephen, Daniel, and Philip are all adults. Stephen and his wife, Lara, their son, Kamran and their dogs, Nutmeg and Cayenne, live in Charlotte, NC where he is an architect with Ruard Veltman Architecture & Interiors and she is a wastewater engineer with HDR. Daniel lives in Cincinnati, Ohio where he is working on his Master’s degree in organ performance at the Conservatory of the University of Cincinnati. He is also an organ scholar/apprentice at the Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral. Philip attends medical school at the University of Virginia and will start his residency in July 2024.

In their free time, John and Cindy love to hike, bike and travel. Both John and Cindy have lost their moms in the last five years, but they have many wonderful memories of shared vacations, holidays and lovely, everyday moments. Cindy’s dad still lives nearby, in Lake of the Woods so they are able to be a regular part of his life. John and Cindy live in Culpeper, where they have been based since 1995.