A Season of Discernment

Ruling Elder & Young Adult Advisory Delegate applications needed for the 2024 General Assembly

The Committee on Representation is accepting all applications for the 226th General Assembly but is especially seeking Ruling Elder Commissioners and Young Adult Advisory Delegates (YAADs). The 226th General Assembly will hold committee meetings online June 25-27, 2024, and the Plenary Business Meeting in person in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 29-July 4, 2024. Ruling Elder and YAAD applications require a Session endorsement.

Application deadline extended to Wednesday, Oct. 4.

Small Church Conference news

Join the Presbytery of West Virginia for the 2023 Small Church Conference: Ministry in the Wilderness from 9:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7 at Elk Hills Presbyterian Church in Charleston. Rev. Dr. Judi Slater will be the keynote presenter, speaking on “A Journey of Faith,” plus there will be workshops. There is no cost to attend, and lunch will be provided. Registration by Saturday is encouraged, but walks-ins will be welcomed. Additionally, the conference's worship service will be streamed via the Elk Hills Presbyterian Church Facebook page. Worship is 10-10:45 a.m. and will be available on their Facebook page after that. All are welcome to join for this service. More information will follow next week.

Registration deadline is Monday for communion training for Ruling Elders

Oct. 15, 3-5 p.m., on Zoom

As the presbytery seeks to fulfill a responsibility for “authorizing and training specific ruling elders to administer or preside at the Lord’s Supper when it deems it necessary to meet the needs for the administration of the Sacrament.” (G-3.0301b), it will offer this free training event. All sessions, particularly those whose churches do not have pastoral leadership, are invited to send ruling elders; participants must be approved by the church’s session prior to the event. There is a preliminary assignment including reading sections of the 2023-2025 Book of Order, so participants must have a copy. To register, submit your name, church, email, phone number, and date of session approval to attend this training to susan_sharp_campbell@hotmail.com. If you have any questions, contact Susan at this email address or 304-667-9428.

Peyton Ballard is new WVMAW Executive Director

As September ends, so does Joan Stewart’s 18 years as Executive Director of West Virginia Ministry of Advocacy and Workcamps (WVMAW). On the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 24 at Summersville Presbyterian Church, the organization hosted a service of worship and celebration as the Executive Director mantle was passed from Joan to Peyton Ballard. Peyton, who is an elder at Summersville Presbyterian, owns his own consulting company, Ballard Consulting Group. You can reach him at 304-619-9734 or peyton@ballardconsultinggroup.com and you can find WVMAW online at www.wvministry.org. Click for a brief history of WVMAW.  

News from the Presbytery's Treasurer

• 2024 PWV Budget
• Board of Pensions: New Medicare Advantage plan replaces Medicare Supplement
• Church Financial Leadership Grants available

• Selecting 2024 Board of Pensions benefits
• 2023 Special Offerings

Kanawha United Presbyterian in downtown Charleston seeks part-time Music/Choral Director

Kanawha United Presbyterian Church, located at 1009 Virginia St. E. in Charleston, is looking for a part-time Music/Choral Director who will work with the church's accomplished choir and alongside its Principal Organist Johan Botes. Read about the opportunity and how to apply at kanawhachurch.org/we-are-hiring-music-choral-director.

Carpenter Ants concert benefitting Hope for the Children

On Oct. 8, from 3-5 p.m., West Virginia musicians The Carpenter Ants will perform at Charleston Town Center on the West Virginia Hall of Fame Stage as a benefit for Hope for the Children in Charleston's sister city of Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. Hope for the Children is a mission of the First Presbyterian Church of Charleston. There is no cost to attend the concert, and all profits received will go to the mission.

Click for a flyer that includes the schedule

Healthy Boundary Training event scheduled for Oct. 27

All pastoral leaders – Ministers of Word and Sacrament (including Honorably Retired ministers serving, preaching, or working with congregations), Certified Christian Educators, Commissioned Pastors, ministers of other denominations serving our congregations, lay pastors, and persons on the Pulpit Supply List – are required to complete a Healthy Boundary Training workshop every five years. The next event will be Oct. 27, held via Zoom and led by Sky Kershner, retired director of KPCC Counseling, Charleston, and Assistant Professor, WVU School of Medicine. There is no cost to attend. All pastoral leaders who are new to the Presbytery and those who have not completed a Healthy Boundary Training workshop after 2019 need to attend. Questions can be directed to Maureen Wright at statedclerk@wvpresbytery.org. Call 304-744-7634 or email office@wvpresbytery.org to register.

Loss, Grief, and Nostalgia in Congregational Life is final Expanding Your Ministry Toolbox course of 2023

Oct. 28, 9:30-4:30, on Zoom

In many of our churches we look back at how things were, be it to the 1950s where our churches were full or to 2019 pre-pandemic, and pray, hope, wish that we could go back to the way things were when people flocked into our sanctuaries and gathered for our programs. We sense the loss of people, programs, finances, and more, and we grieve. In this course, Michael Girlinghouse, the interim chaplain for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will lead participants in exploring how congregations can work through their grief as we mourn the “used-to-be’s” and embrace God’s new future by “remembering forward.” Registration deadline is Oct. 16. Cost is $40.

Unfrozen, Unstuck, Unfazed is the theme for the Fall Youth Retreat Nov. 10-12 at Bluestone Camp & Retreat

The Fall Youth Retreat is for those in grades 6-12 and the adults who work with them. It will feature keynote presenter Anne Russ, a Presbyterian pastor who has been a small church pastor, keynote speaker including 2023 Montreat Youth Conferences, music leader, and workshop presenter. The retreat will explore ways to practice our faith so that it enables us to withstand the pain and pressures of those times when life is hard. Complete information, including a brochure and registration details, is here.

Church officer preparation course

Nov. 12 and 19, 2-5 p.m., on Zoom

To assist pastors and moderators with the period of study and preparation the Book of Order describes in G-2.0402 for newly elected Ruling Elders and Deacons, Susan Sharp Campbell will offer this two-part course, of which participants are expected to participate in both sessions. While some of the content may overlap, this will be a new plan from previous years. All participants will need to have a copy of the 2023-2025 PCUSA Book of Order during the course. Participants can register individually or as a session; registration deadline is Nov. 2.

Another Presby Prep begins in January 2024

Presby Prep is the first year of the presbytery’s Authorized Lay Preacher/Commissioned Pastor Preparation Program. It's also an opportunity to become more knowledgeable about what it means to be Presbyterian and part of the Reformed family of churches. Presby Prep consists of 8 courses, one a month from January – May and September – November, all on Zoom. Each course is 3 hours long and offered on Thursday evenings or Saturday mornings, so you can choose the most convenient time to attend each month. Each course also has an assignment to be completed in advance. The registration deadline to participate in all 8 courses is Nov. 30. Note that in order for Presby Prep to take place in 2024, there must be at least 8 people registered by Nov. 30; otherwise, it will take place in 2025.