The event is free and open to the public, but admission tickets are required. Tickets may be reserved by calling the event sponsor, Fiction Addiction, at 864-675-0540, stopping by the store at 1020A Woodruff Rd., or by emailing us at [email protected].

A mismatched team of seven hit the road in an Econoline church van on a mission to find a new pastor. They don't agree on much other than the stops at Hardee's for coffee and a biscuit. But they stick to the call, trying to slip undetected into worship services across the Southeast--all in hopes of stealing a preacher for their congregation.

Each member is wrestling to balance their own busy life and personal struggles. And they're trying to keep their issues to themselves. Forced to spend countless hours together, these very different personalities from different generations begin to bond. And their lives are profoundly changed as they love and support each other through the difficulties in each of their lives.

Tim Owens was born in Greenville, North Carolina, in 1959 but moved around a bit as the son of a Southern Baptist preacher, living in Southport, Granite Falls, Shallotte, and Holden Beach (all in North Carolina). He graduated from The Citadel with a B.S. in Biology, Clemson University with a M.S. in Environmental Engineering, and the University of Cincinnati with a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. He was a National Research Council Post-doctoral Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In the middle of all that he married the incomparable Ruth Aiken. They have four beautiful children, a girl and three boys, and live in Summerville, South Carolina. He is a partner in an environmental engineering firm in Charleston, SC.

He and Ruth also have a small farm near Ehrhardt, South Carolina, where they try to spend every free moment pretending to be farmers. His wife, Ruth, says God lives there. She has a big zinnia patch next to the woods that keeps her busy, and his three boys enjoy playing in the adjacent swamp and taking pictures of just about everything. His daughter, though, is a city girl.

Tim is an inventor and holds several patents in disparate fields such as golf ball design and air pollution control. He tinkers with wooden boats (built his own 20' center console), old tractors (rebuilt a 1948 Ford 8N), and anything that breaks around the house (a bona fide tightwad). He designed, along with another engineer, a water treatment system for remote villages in developing countries and spent over a year installing these systems in some out of the way parts of the world, like Honduras and Mozambique.

He is a Presbyterian Elder (PCUSA) and a Scoutmaster. Tim has many reasons to know that life is all about God's grace.

Those who cannot make the signing can reserve a personalized copy of The Search Committee by contacting Fiction Addiction in advance at 864-675-0540 or at [email protected].

(Image provided by Fiction Addiction)

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