Paul A. Leggett, Pastor
The Reverend Paul A. Leggett grew up in the neighboring town of Bloomfield, New Jersey. He graduated from Syracuse University 
with honors and holds the M.Div. and Th.M. degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary. He received his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. His dissertation, “Against the Swastika,” dealt with Nazi film propaganda and the Confessing Church movement.
After serving two churches in Philadelphia, the Reverend Dr. Leggett went to Costa Rica, Central America, as a missionary. He taught for a period of four years at the Latin American Biblical Seminary in San José, Costa Rica. Following that he continued his work in missions with both the Program Agency and the General Assembly Mission Council of the former United Presbyterian Church (now the Presbyterian Church (USA)).
In 1981 Dr. Leggett was called to return to New Jersey to pastor the church where he had grown up. In addition to his work in the local church he has been a Visiting Lecturer at Vassar College, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary, New York, and New York Theological Seminary. He served as Moderator of the Presbytery of Newark in 1989 and 1993, and Commissioner to General Assembly in 1989. He was also elected Vice-Moderator of the Special Committee to revise the newest Presbyterian confession, the “Brief Statement of Faith.” Dr. Leggett has been a commissioner to the Synod of the Northeast on five separate occasions and was a candidate for Moderator in 1994. He has twice received Outstanding Service Awards from Newark Presbytery. In 1991 he chaired the Ministers’ Committee for the Northern New Jersey Billy Graham Crusade. He has also served as president of the Montclair Rotary Club and the Montclair Clergy Association. In 1984 he received the Margot M. Studer Award for service to community, business and state from Montclair State College. In 1996 he became a Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary International. He has been named to Who’s Who in Religion, Who’s Who in the East, and Who’s Who in America.
Dr. Leggett is the author of numerous articles that have appeared in such journals as Christianity Today, Focus on Film, Eternity, Sojourners, Theology Matters, and the Spanish publication Signos de Vida (Signs of Life). He is the author of Terence Fisher: Horror, Myth and Religion, published by MacFarland Press, Inc. (see the sidebar at right). In addition to watching films, Dr. Leggett’s hobbies include jogging, watching sports, and collecting comic books and classic mysteries. He is an avid Sherlock Holmes fan.
He is married to the former Beth Petrie who spent ten years with CBS Radio in New York City and who presently works with the Essex Fells, New Jersey, school system. They have two daughters and a son.
