West Virginia pastor dies in apparent homicide

                McCalla, whose wife Pam is stated supply pastor at Eleanor (W.V.) Presbyterian Church, had just finished serving breakfast at the Cabell-Lincoln Workcamp south of Huntington, according to camp director Rick Wilson. The camp is a Presbyterian-sponsored project and works in the area to rebuild and improve housing.
               “We are just devastated,” Wilson said.
               “The whole presbytery is shocked,” said Gay Mothershed, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of West Virginia. “Mark was a gifted minister with a special connection to youth and the outdoors. He has been an active member of the Committee on Ministry and has served as a mentor to other pastors.”
               Mothershed continued, “We also feel the arms of the entire denomination surrounding not only Pam and the family, but our whole presbytery as we try to make sense of this tragedy.”
               “It is at times like these – when senseless things happen – that we are most thankful for God’s grace.”
               McCalla had been pastor at Highlawn since March 1, 2004. He was ordained on July 31, 1994 and served as pastor of First Church in Corry, Pa., until June of 1996 when he moved to First Church in Franklin, Pa. He moved to Highlawn after serving as a designated pastor at Hoge Memorial in Columbus, Ohio, for two years.
               “This is a tragedy to us,” Charlie Woolcock, an elder at Highlawn told The (Huntington) Herald-Dispatch. “This has broken all of our hearts. Everybody, all they can do is pray for our congregation, our church and, number one, pray for the family.
               “God sent Mark McCalla to Highlawn Presbyterian Church,” he  said. “For us to lose someone that we worked with for four and a half years, it is heartbreaking. It is a shock.”
               Wilson said McCalla, an avid outdoorsman and bicycle rider, had left the work camp about 8:30 a.m. on Thursday and was going to a nearby shooting range and perhaps to ride his bike. He said there has been a rash of robberies at the range at Beech Fork State Park, but it is unclear at this point if robbery was the motive.
               Wayne County Sheriff David Pennington told The Herald-Dispatch, “This is just really in its infancy, and we have a lot of work to do. We’ve got a ton of work to do on this. There are just a lot of unanswered questions right now.”
               McCalla’s body was found by a state forestry official. State police said McCalla apparently died of a single gunshot wound to the head. His body was taken to the state crime lab in South Charleston.
               “He was extremely loving and caring about young people,”Jack Armant, an elder at First Franklin, said. “He could strike up a conversation with almost anybody on the street. They would right away want to attach to him, like him and befriend him.