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Member Spotlights at Community Presbyterian Church |
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Member Spotlights at Community Presbyterian Church |
James Woodruff Cunningham
A.K.A. Woody! |
For Woody's spotlight here on the webpage, I decided to do it question and answer form. I didn't want to have to leave out any of Woody's answers!
What is your name?~~ James
Woodruff Cunningham
Where were you born?~~ Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh
Where do you live now?~~ Ben Avon
Tell us about your family: ~~ I live with my 11 year old son, Casey. I have one younger brother. My dad lives in Indiana, PA.
Tell us about your pets~~ I have two cats. Merlin and Shadow are 13 and 3. Merlin is a cat of great self-assurance and pride. Shadow is criminally insane.
How long have you been a church member?~~ I was brought up in the Saltsburg U.P. Church. I joined CPCBA the same week as the Woodland Church fire.
What committees/offices have you held or participated in?~~ I was ordained as an elder as a teenager and chaired our church's "Faith and Action" Committee. At CPCBA, I have served full terms a both elder and deacon. My committee assignments were Worship and Comfort & Joy. I'm now on the Christian Education Committee. I was also on Choir Director Search Committee once or twice.
What are your favorite church activities to participate in?~~ Prayer Group, Choir, Session, Women's Association Sales. Oh, heck, all of them!
What is your favorite thing about CPCBA? Oh, come on now. Where do I begin?
What has been your biggest spiritual influence? Among many wonderful influences (parents, grandparents, Sunday school teachers, three different Sessions), first place goes to Brent Dugan and his Wednesday morning prayer group.
Do you have a favorite bible passage? Psalm 27
Favorite prayer? When I think before I speak (which does happen occasionally), I usually pray that I say nothing that will hurt or embarrass my God, my listeners, or myself. I take great comfort in "not my will Lord but yours be done".
Favorite hymn? The Church's One Foundation.
Are there any programs/activities you would like to see offered at CPCBA? We should try the Alpha Program, I hear it is good!
What other community groups are you involved in (or have been in the past)? Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts.
What is your educational background? The Kiski School and the University of Pittsburgh, B.A. in History, 1983.
What do you do for a living? Many people wonder about this. If often do so myself. I have taught history in a private school, broadcast classical music and old a thing or two. I am not a free-lance tour guide and public speaker. Pittsburgh, Civil War History and Ghost Stories a specialty.
What are your hobbies? "When I have money I buy books. When I have extra money I buy food and clothes" ~Erasmus~ Does this mean my hobbies include pompous quotation? My favorite "hobby" is reading to Casey. We just began "The Return of The King" by J.R.R. Tolkien.
What are some of your favorite movies? Zelig (Woody Allen's roaring 20's "documentary"), Topsy-Turvy (Gilbert and Sullivan create "Mikado"), Big Trouble in Little China (John Carpenter and Kurt Russell have fun- a guilty pleasure and I watch it every time it's on), The Quiet Man (makes me applaud like a Protestant), Ginga Din (the greatest adventure- buddy. Based upon Kipling movie ever!), To Be or Not to Be (Jack Benny).
How about songs/groups/musicians? Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Haydn's String Quartet Op76 No3 and anything by The Mills Brothers.
What are your favorite TV shows? I like virtually all TV. I watch anything- except Oprah. And Rosie. And Survivor. And Fear Factor. And anything involving dating. And PBS pledge shows (though the money begging in between is better than the programs).
What is the last book you read? Lincoln's War Cabinet by Burton J. Hendrick
What authors are your favorites? Beyond the history that I spend a lot of time reading, I also enjoy a lot of genre fiction.
Mystery/Detective:
Max Allen Collins and Stuart Kaminsky
Historical Novels: Bernard Cornwell, Alexander Kent,
Owen Parry
Humor: P.G. Wodehouse, S.J. Perelman, Tom Sharpe*
Literature: Shakespeare, Dickens, and Patrick O'Brian
Horror and Ghosts: Brian Lumley* and Stephen King's
early stuff.
*NOT for the easily offended, frightened, repulsed, etc.
Do you have a favorite quote or poem? Thousands. My favorite poets are Tennyson, E.A. Robinson and Kipling. The section in Locksley Hall beginning w/ "For I dipped into the future far as human eye could see".
Thanks Woody for allowing us to get to know you better! If you
see Woody, let him know you enjoyed reading about him. If you
would like to volunteer yourself for a spotlight, please e-mail
me at houser@nb.net,
or call me at 412-732-9599.
Thanks, Susan Houser
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