St. Davids, PA: Eastern University is pleased to announce Rev. Dr. Tony Sundermeier as the May 2024 commencement speaker.  Tony Sundermeier is the Senior Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, a thriving 2,000-member congregation located in Midtown. Tony is known for his theologically rich and relevant preaching, his advocacy and congregation’s ministry for over a thousand people each year who are experiencing homelessness and the working poor, his success in fundraising and capital campaigns, and his innovative leadership for congregational renewal in the 21st Century.

A native Philadelphian, Tony attended Eastern University (Eastern College back then) from 1993-1997, graduating with a B.A. in Theology and Youth Ministry. He remembers his time at Eastern with profound gratitude for the personal growth, intellectual inspiration, and vocational clarity he experienced during his undergraduate years. Tony earned his M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary (2003) and his doctorate in Missional Leadership from Missio Seminary in Philadelphia (2010).

He has been married to Rev. Dr. Katie Sundermeier since 2000. Katie is a part-time pastor on FPC Atlanta’s staff and the Executive Director of The Samaritan Counseling Center of Atlanta, a non-profit that provides affordable and accessible spiritually integrated mental health care. They have two sons, Jonny (21) a junior at Rhodes College (Memphis, TN), and Luke (16) a sophomore at Pace Academy (Atlanta, GA).

After growing up Roman Catholic, Tony became a Presbyterian at Wayne Presbyterian Church. He was introduced to the church through a summer internship while at Eastern. He eventually served on staff at Wayne Pres as the High School Youth Director (1998-2000). Tony and Katie served in a one-year full-time internship at the American Protestant Church in Bonn, Germany before completing their master’s degrees at Princeton Seminary. Tony was called as the Associate Pastor for Preaching and Teaching at Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Chester, PA (2003-2009). He was then called to serve as the Lead Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, PA (2009-2014).

Tony currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Presbyterian Homes of Georgia and as a board member for Midtown Alliance in Atlanta. Previously he served as a trustee on the boards of Agnes Scott College, Piedmont Park Conservancy, the Gospel and Our Culture Network, and Columbia Theological Seminary. He enjoys traveling with his family, spending time in the mountains of Western North Carolina, cooking, golf, and rooting for the four professional sports teams from Philadelphia.