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VOLUME 12, NUMBER 2 ~ JULY, 2010 PUBLISHED BY: PRESBYTERY OF THE JAMES ~ 3218 CHAMBERLAYNE AVE., RICHMOND, VA 23227

Branching through Presbytery of the James

Sabbatical: an extension of the Biblical concept Sabbatical leave is as much for the congrega-tion as for the pastor. It is an opportunity for the congregation to reflect on the whole nature and meaning of ministry and the place of the congre-gation in that ministry, to renew and strengthen congregational lay leaders; and to continue to grow in faith through different perspectives and preaching styles which supply preachers may bring. Sabbatical leave for a minister or certified educator is qualitatively different from an aca-demic sabbatical, study leave, or vacation. Sab-batical leave frees the minister/certified educator

from the ongoing pressures of deadlines, pastoral duties, and being constantly on call, and replaces that with a plan that encourages activities such as rest, study, and reflection while allowing for the possibility of seizing the moment when opportu-nities not planned present themselves. A renewed and refreshed pastor would be expected to bring new energy and insight to the life of the congrega-tions. Tom Coye, pastor, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Kilmarnock, returned recently from a sabbatical where he tried to answer the question:

( See Renew & Strengthen—page 8)

POJ Congregations donate over $136,000

The earthquake in Haiti occurred at 4:53 pm on January 12, 2010. The center of the earthquake was about 16 miles away from the capital (Port au-Prince). The magnitude of the earthquake was measured at 7 on the Richter scale. The human loss ranges between 50,000-200,000, the actual count may never be known. A large number of buildings collapsed includ-ing the Presidential Palace. Almost immediately the POJ office began receiving donations from congregations. At press time the amount collected and forwarded to PC(USA) in Louisville is $136,701.90. Over 2,500 hygiene kits were collected and delivered to Church Word Service for shipment to Haiti.

Swift Creek launches electronic giving Electronic giving has been launched by Swift Creek Presbyterian Church in Moseley, Virginia. It is a program that will enable members to make church offerings by having it automatically de-ducted from a checking account, savings account or debit card. Electronic giving is all about convenience for church members and for consistency for the church. It eliminates frequent check writing and helps you stay on track with pledges, even when one is not able to attend services. The church, in turn, benefits from much-needed donation consistency and a reduction in the volume of check and cash contributions that must be handled and manually processed by the church. The program is set up so one can go on-line and setup a password-protected profile through

Electronic giving isn’t coming . . . it’s here!

which one will be able to log in at any time to make donations, change/cancel a recurring dona-tion, plan or view your personal giving history. Electronic giving appeals to many church mem-bers—from longtime worshippers who appreciate

an alternative to frequent check writing to younger members and others who prefer to pay or donate by electronic means whenever possible. Following are frequently asked questions about

(See Electronic Giving—page 8)

Overbrook After School In the Spirit

Overbrook After School In the Spirit is a Christian ministry of Overbrook Presbyterian Church. The program goals are to provide chil-dren of Lakeside and surrounding areas with a safe, nurturing environment and to enhance emo-tional, spiritual and scholastic growth. OASIS began in September, 2007, as an after school program. It continued to care for children during the summer as an all day program for chil-dren ages 4-21. The large range of age is there to accommodate any special needs child that may need care and has exceeded the usual age cap of 12. OASIS offers after school care when school is in session and all-day care for times when school is closed. OASIS is unique to after-school programs: • It teaches children about God, his love, his

life on earth, his principles, his grace and his word. The staff uses scripture to resolve con-flicts and to determine consequences when discipline is needed.

• It provides a time for supervised homework. Staff members check each child’s homework for correctness and completion. Any work that is not correct is given back to the child to try again. If the child still does not find the

(See Oasis—page 8)

2 ~ The Vine ~ July, 2010

SEVENTY-FIFTH STATED MEETING Presbytery of the James ~ June 15, 2010 held at First Baptist Church, Chase City

hosted by: First Presbyterian Church, Chase City; Thyne Memorial Presbyterian Church, Chase City and Wylliesburg Presbyterian Church, Wylliesburg

Published by Presbytery of the James, 3218 Chamberlayne Ave., Richmond, VA 23227. Editorial Rights Reserved. Articles without by-lines are written by the editor. The Vine is a publication mailed free to members of Presbytery of the James congregations. Submissions, corrections, letters or requests for additional copies should be sent to: Clifton Edwards, Editor; Presbytery of the James; 3218 Chamberlayne Avenue., Richmond, VA 23227 or email: cliftonedwards@comcast.net.

June 16, 2010 Dear Friends: The Presbytery of the James met for its 75th Stated Meeting on Tuesday, June

15, 2010 at First Baptist Church, Chase City, VA. The meeting was hosted by the three congregations in that area. First Baptist Church was originally the Presbyterian Church so there was a nice sense of history in our meeting. It was a good day to worship, learn, and do the Lord’s work. The gracious members and ministers of the three congregations showed wonderful south-ern hospitality and warmth in hosting our meeting. The meeting concluded at 12:30 and fellowship and lunch followed.

Attendance: Of the 233 minister members 96, (41%) were present; of the 233

elder commissioners eligible to attend, 116 (50%) were present; 69 of the 112 congregations of the Presbytery (61%) were represented. There were also 4 people from various boards and committees, 2 Certified Educator/Elder Educators, and 43 registered visitors.

PEOPLE We welcomed the following ministers into the presbytery or recog-nized changes in ministries:

Rev. Diana Brawley from Cayuga-Syracuse to a validated call as Pastoral Counselor with the Pastoral Counseling Services of Central Virginia.

Rev. Andrew Meyers from Lake Michigan Presbytery as Pastor, Laurel Church, Richmond, VA

Rev. Sandi Shaner, POJ, from Designated Pastor to Permanent Pastor, Salem Church.

Rev. Ed Satterfield from Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) to Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care, Third Church, Richmond.

Examined and enrolled as candidates:

Virginia Taylor-Troutman (Ginter Park) Crystal Varner (Three Chopt)

Actions of the Presbytery: Adopted the June 15, 2010 docket. Approved the minutes of the February 20, 2010 Stated Meeting. Approved Rev. Kelly Kaufman as Member at Large, February 14, 2010. Approved Rev. Hal Hankins’ release from ordained office, effective February

11, 2010. Approved the position of Pastoral Counselor with the Pastoral Counseling Ser-

vices of Central Virginia as a validated ministry. Approved the position of PRN Chaplain with Bon Secours Richmond Health

Systems as a validated ministry. Approved Rev. Hunter Hill to become Honorably Retired effective 6/1/2010. Approved Rev. Dick Sommers be elected as Pastor Emeritus of River Road

Church. Approved Rev. Corey Widmer to become an Evangelist for the East End Mis-

sion in Church Hill. Approved Rev. Dan Roberts to become Honorably Retired effective 5/31/2010. Approved Rev. Graham Patterson to become Honorably Retired effective

3/31/2010. Approved the 2009 Member-at-Large Report, 2009 Validated Ministers Report,

and the 2010 Changes in Terms of Call. Approved the Disaster Response Team Proposal, in order that churches might

have guidance in response to catastrophes. Approved the Presbytery Meeting Task Group’s Report and recommendations.

Appointed a Presbytery General Presbyter/Stated Clerk Search Committee consisting of Rev. Mary Kay Collins, Rev. Clay Macaulay, Rev. Patrick Dennis, Elder Gene Rosen (Fairfield); Elder Bill Scott (All Souls); Rev. Willie Woodson, Rev. Dan Hale, and Elder John Hirschman (Crestwood).

Celebrated the awarding of a Sam and Helen Walton Grant to the Christian

Arabic Church for outstanding new church development work. The grant is $50,000.

Elected persons to various board and committees:

Members at Large on the following Teams in a transition role for the re-

mainder of 2010 and beginning new term in 2011.

Persons to serve as regional representatives on various Teams.

Approved 2011 Minimum Compensation Criteria to remain the same as

2010 Minimum Compensation Criteria.

NEXT MEETING: The 76th Stated Meeting of the Presbytery will be hosted by St. Giles

Church, Richmond, VA, on Saturday, October 16, 2010

H. Carson Rhyne, Jr., Stated Clerk

Dist/Class

Committee M/E/L Nominee Church/Valid

7 2011 Com On Prep for Min M Janet James Gayton Kirk

8 2011 Com on Min M Nathan Dell HR

Class Team M/L Nominee Church/Valid

2013 Communication & Coord, Mod L Mary Baril 1st Richmond

2013 Communication & Coord. VMod M John Storey Madison

2013 Mission & Service, Mod L Charles Holmes Chester

2012 Mission & Service, V. Mod M Dixie Brachlow Fairfield

2013 Leadership Connections, Mod L Rick Hinchberger Salisbury

2013 Leadership Connections, V-Mod M Nancy Summerlin Brett-Reed

Region/ Class

Team

M/

Nominee

Church/Val

B 2012 Communication & Coord M Allen Fisher Fredericksburg

C 2011 Communication & Coord L Wilma Andrews Christ

D 2011 Communication & Coord L Susan Andrews St. Giles

A 2012 Mission & Service M Tony Lin Prov Gum Spring

B 2012 Mission & Service L Peggie Rosen Fairfield

D 2011 Mission & Service M Brint Keyes

A 2012 Leadership Connections M Tim McConnell Meadows

112 CONGREGATIONS

WORKING TOGETHER

The Vine ~ July, 2010 ~ 3

Without fanfare, without pride, but with tre-mendous courage, Flo Sthreshley has intriguingly recounted her many blessings in each chapter of the book. Her testimony powerfully displays what God has done through this remarkable agent. Having visited some of the Congo mission sta-tions where she and Charlie worked, and having written books about Presbyterian co-workers there, it was of special interest to me to supple-ment my knowledge with her first-hand insights. One of the treats for readers is her account of co-lonial and post-colonial conditions: confrontation with disease, home burnings, tropical snakes and native uprisings.

Bill Phipps, Emeritus Professor of Religion and Philosophy

Flo and Charlie Sthreshley brought good news to the people of the Congo. The were the best of what we think of as missionaries: instead of im-posing their own culture, they offered the Congo-lese the gift of education; instead of looking down on them, they loved them, instead of living lives of privilege, they shared in their lot, bringing up three children amidst the people they served. May their story live on to give us hope.

Katerina K. Whitley, author of Speaking for Ourselves:

Voices of Biblical Women

Without fanfare, without pride, but with tremendous courage

Tim McCallister, Associate Office of Mission Program Grants General Assembly Mission Council Dear Reverend Yacoub,

It gives us a great deal of pleasure to inform you that the your congregation has been selected as a 2010 recipient of the Sam & Helen R. Walton Award for New Church Development (awards made in 2010 are allocations of 2009 income). This award fund was established by the Waltons to encourage the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in its commitment to new church develop-ment. The General Assembly makes these awards through the Evangelism & Church Growth Area. The amount of $50,000 will be awarded to those church developments selected. The use of the $50,000 is to be determined by the NCD Steer-ing Committee or Session if the church has been organized using the attached guidelines approved by the Mission Development Resources Committee. The Waltons' intent was to support new church development with a preference that the award is spent for site purchase, hoping that defraying initial capital costs would relieve some of the financial burden from a newly forming congrega-tion. You will want to consider the Waltons' intent and preference as the Steering Committee or Session makes decisions about the use of this award. May God continue to bless the ministry to which you have been called. The Sam and Helen R. Walton Award is presented to four churches per year. Christian Arabic Church was selected as one of the four to be honored out of a possible 11,000 congregations. Rev. Yacoub has built a strong and viable congregation over the past few years. Worship Service attendance often exceeds 180. This is a strong New Church Development that is growing every day by leading Ara-bic members to know the love of Jesus Christ.

By Rev. Rebekah Johns Some exciting steps have been taken with the

Acts 16.5 Initiative! The “fire” that has been started here in our Presbytery is beginning to spread among pastors and congregations. In Feb-ruary we met at River Road Presbyterian Church for a one-day seminar; then we met in April at Laurel Church for a half-day workshop. Now, over the summer months, we are organizing the churches who have signed up into cluster groups which will meet together for prayer, sharing, ac-countability, and encouragement for the duration of the Initiative.

Our next meeting is planned for Thursday, September 23rd at Camp Hanover from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. - and for congregations who are still discerning if this opportunity is right for you, NO it’s not too late to sign up. But do so as soon as possible, so that we can plug you into a cluster group this summer.

Also, here is a new option with the Acts 16.5 Initiative. We have worked out an arrangement to form geographical cluster groups of three to four pastors around the Presbytery. These “Pastor Clusters” would meet on a regular basis (generally monthly) and would be invited to the twice-a-year seminars which Acts 16:5 provides for the churches who have fully committed to the Initiative. Each of the “Pastor Clusters” would then be encouraged to form vision teams within their congregations. Each of the pastors in a clus-ter would participate at a cost of $30-40 per month per person. The materials at the seminars would also be available at cost. This plan would be for twelve months, after which time the pastor and the session would then decide to participate fully, or not.

We strongly believe the Acts 16.5 Initiative offers the spiritual support and practical process by which each congregation and each pastor may work together to discern what God wills and the Spirit inspires for the effectiveness of your church’s ministry. That’s why we are offering this new way of doing things for one year.

So, consider this new option, and as Septem-ber approaches, let us know how we can help you and your congregation become that “fire starter” God is seeking to ignite. As in the words the Writer to the Hebrews echoed from the Psalmist: “He makes his servants flames of fire” (Heb.1.7).

Co-Moderators, Rebekah Johns (Revreb@hughes.net) Ayars Lore (Balore@cox.net)

$50,000 awarded to Christian Arabic Church

Organizing pastor Fakhri Yacoub

4 ~ The Vine ~ July, 2010

The Vine ~ July, 2010 ~ 5

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. -- VoltaireVoltaire 6 ~ The Vine ~ July, 2010

Market Ethics Explained By Douglas A. Hicks, Parish Associate Richmond Second

Resurrection Concert

On Saturday evening, April 24, 2010, Concord Presbyterian Church, a small 70-member congregation in Rawlings, Virginia, held its third annual Resurrection Concert in support of Madeline’s House (local home for abused women and children) and raised over $5,200. Emily Marshall, Director of Madeline’s House told the audience of the vital work that is being done to protect women and children who flee from abusive and even life-threatening situations. The Concord choir, under the direction of Theresa Elder, along with in-vited singers from local churches joined in for the concert. The efforts of all involved have been richly rewarded. The audience left with smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts, as all felt the presence of the Spirit.

Trinity dedicates labyrinth

The Prayer Labyrinth at Trinity Presbyterian Church, known as a classical design dating back four to five thousand years. The first documented use of a labyrinth in Christian history dates back to 324 A.D. when Christians placed a labyrinth on the floor of their church in Algiers, North Africa. Since that time labyrinths have been prayed, studied, danced, traced, designed and built as Christians have sought to use this spiritual tool in public worship and private prayer. There is no uniform teaching in Christian his-tory regarding the use of the labyrinth. However, in writings and drawings certain themes do ap-pear: The most obvious is the centrality of the cross in design; during Lent and Holy Week it is walking the VIO Dolorosa; the importance of moving away from evil towards spiritual matur-ity; for those unable to make the journey/pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the concept of walking the labyrinth to receive the promises and blessings associated with the New Jerusalem as it is de-scribed in the book of Revelation is frequently found.

Groundbreaking for Kirk Hall (inset) Ground breaking (June 6, 2010) for addition to South Plains Presbyterian church., with the help of Stephen Taylor,

age 2 1/2. Kirk Hall will have classrooms and offices.

The Springs Flow On By Fred A. Holbrook, D.Min Executive Director

The Historic Hotel at Massanetta Springs is 100 years old. In celebration of this milestone of minis-try, a history of the center was compiled. As the springs flow on, it is the prayer of the Centennial Committee that God will warm the hearts of all who read these words and bless Massanetta with another rich century of vital ministry and mission.

Presbyterian Women Presbytery of the James women gathered at Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center in Harrisonburg, VA, June 10-13. There were 264 in attendance. The PW POJ was the inviting Presbytery with Beth Coltrain and Linda Gueringer Co-chairs and Liz Snead, Communications Coordinator. One of the highlights of the Gathering was the Centennial Tea to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the historic hotel. As seen in the picture, some dressed in 1910 attire! With the other attendees, we prepared 10,026 packets of food for Stop Hunger Now and received an offering that will pay to package 10,000 more packets. We were told that each packet will feed 8 people. The meals that we packaged will go to the Ivory Coast to feed young school girls. It may be their only meal for the day. Other highlights of the Gathering were: Keynote speaker, Sharon Moore, New Castle Presbytery, The Rev. Dr. Louise Lawson John-son, our Bible Study Leader and author of the Suggestions for Leaders section of our 2010-11 Horizon Bible study book, Journeys Through Revelation: Apocalyptic Hope for Today, who prepared use for teaching and studying Reve-

lations and the Rev. Dr. Unzu Lee, PW Leadership Development who was our Worship Leader. Seventeen different workshops were offered. Each year a devotional booklet based on the Horizon Bible study is provided to each attendee. This year nine clergy women in the POJ contributed. The Cents-Ability contributions received at each meal will be given to the POJ to support hunger programs in our presbytery.

Hicks lays out the staggering array of ethical ques-tions facing consumers and producers today, and then offers clear insight (drawn from the Bible as well as classic economists and theologians) into practical ways to discern and carry principles of justice and equality into government policies and everyday market decisions.

We’re Launched! The Vision Plan

Learning never exhausts the mind. Learning never exhausts the mind. -- Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da Vinci

most volunteers want to work. The members of the South Plains Mis-sion Crafters and Benevolence Soci-ety (the name is topic for an article in itself) prefer nee-dles to hammers. So, they create a “Home Sweet Habi-tat” counted cross

stitch sampler for each new Habitat homeowner in their area. (Find the directions at http://

Habitat for Humanity Habitat For Humanity seeks to eliminate poverty

housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.

That is a huge mis-sion statement! Not only does Habitat intend to eliminate poverty housing, but it aims for a change of heart and mind. It aims for peo-ple to view decent hous-ing as a matter of con-science. The two goals are deeply interrelated. All the work needed to eliminate poverty hous-ing will require a change of conscience. And, working on eliminating poverty housing tends to change one’s conscience. So, it is not surprising that many POJ congregations are deeply involved with Habitat For Humanity working toward both of these goals.

The first image that comes to mind when Habitat is mentioned is that of volunteers working with partner families on building a house. POJ congregations are builders. But, building a house requires lots of behind the scenes planning and of course money. That is why you will find POJ congregations involved with their local Habitat affiliates in a variety of ways. Actually, the build-ing may be the easiest job to get done.

A few larger congregations have sponsored a house on their own providing the money to buy the materials and the labor to build the house. Too many to list here join with neighboring faith communities to sponsor a house. The churches of District One have sponsored a house a year for thirteen years. Christian churches work together on “apostle builds.” “Interfaith builds” build bridges between faith communities as well as houses for families. Some smaller congregations partner with a large local business with the busi-ness providing more of the funding and the con-gregation providing more of the volunteer labor. Fredericksburg Church recently covered expenses for a home renovation project that had run over what a grant provided.

POJ congregations also provide space in their buildings. Orange Presbyterian provides the Or-ange County HFH with office space. Covenant Church, Petersburg, allows the Tri Cities HFH Family Selection Committee to meet in their facil-ity (“that involved 4 meetings during the last 2 weeks” according to the Tri Cities Executive Di-rector).

Traveling work camps also need space. Last summer First, Charlottesville, hosted a Bike and Build team, providing sleeping space with show-ers and access to the kitchen for cooking. They even packed lunches each day for a week. Since so many groups want to do mission trips, any con-gregation with showers has a golden opportunity to support others as they serve.

Camp Hanover even gets into the act. The year round staff spent a team-building day work-ing together on a local Habitat house. Director Bob Pryor says they really did learn to work to-gether better and that they had “a very good day.” Many affiliates would welcome church staffs to work on week days rather than on Saturdays when

By Rev. H. Carson Rhyne, Jr. Beginning at the February, 2008, presbytery

meeting, the Presbytery of the James began a dis-cernment process to seek what God is calling us to do and be as a presbytery. It was clear that the structures of that day were not working. We were not able to find people with passion about the work of the presbytery. We had just sold the pres-bytery office building and park. We had just moved to a new location and we were ready for a new day.

Beginning in 2008, we explored and at-tempted to discern God’s leadership in our lives. Out of that experience, we have developed a new vision, “Called to be MISSIONAL, CONNEC-TIONAL, and in COMMUNCIATION.” From this vision, we have created a new structure which has some of the old and some of the new.

Old: Constitutional Committees: because our Book of Order requires certain obligations of

each presbytery, we will continue with the man-dated Constitutional requirements of a presbytery: Committee on Nominations, Committee on Rep-resentation, Committee on Ministry, Committee on Preparation for Ministry, Permanent Judicial Commission. These groups will continue to be staffed by persons from the six Nominating Re-gions.

New: Beyond the required Constitutional mandates, the presbytery is free to discern how God would want us to respond to the mission and opportunities before us. We have elected to have three teams to oversee the various purpose groups

of the presbytery. Leadership for these teams was elected at the June 15, 2010, presbytery meeting. The teams are: Communication and Coordina-tion, Mission and Service, Leadership Connec-tions. Each team will oversee a group of purpose groups that will focus on various ministries of the presbytery.

Purpose Groups: Instead of having mandated subcommittees under each Team, we will have Purpose Groups which will be composed of at least three persons who feel a calling to serve. A purpose group would have to be in line with our vision and appropriately lodged under one of the three teams. Purpose groups are formed by indi-viduals, groups of people, congregations, net-works of congregations, or a combination of these.

There are three types of purpose groups: 1)Recognition (where the presbytery acknowledges their existence and enables them to network with others) 2) Staff Support (where the presbytery will provide staff support for the work of the pur-pose group, publicity, meeting logistics, etc.) Funded (where a purpose group request funds from the presbytery budget and that is considered, recommended, or denied) 3) Purpose Groups be-gin with the application process which can be found on the presbytery’s website: www.presbyteryoftheajmes.org.

We have several purpose groups already forming…older adult ministries, Haiti, and cam-pus ministries and Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Funding will cease December 31, 2010, for all current POJ budgeted items. Consti-tutional Committees will be funded in 2011 as per normal budgeting process. Other ministries will have to develop a purpose group and request funding to continue in 2011.

With the adoption of the new Presbytery man-ual at the June 15, 2010, Presbytery meeting, we are launched into our new mission and ministry. It is an exciting time. Everything is not worked out. There is much to be developed as we live into our new relationship with one another. However, it is clear that God is working a new day in our lives and our congregations. Come, join the new day and new way of being faithful disciples of Jesus Christ!

southplainspc.org/Text2010/Ministr ies/Presbyterian%20Women.htm).

And, those are just ways congregations work as congregations. Individual Presbyteri-ans live out their faith on Boards of Directors, Family Selection Committees, Family Support Committees, and endless workdays. Dwight Nave even reverses the usual work/volunteer set up working fulltime as Executive Director of the Tri-Cities HFH while volunteering as Parish Associate of Covenant, Petersburg.

Together all this action is slowly but surely eliminating poverty housing in central Virginia and making decent shelter a matter of con-science among Presbyterians.

by Carolyn Brown

The Vine ~ July, 2010 ~ 7

CONSTITUTIONAL COMMITTEES

Committee on Ministry

Committee on Preparation for Ministry

Permanent Judicial Commission

Committee on Nominations

Committee on Representation

8 ~ The Vine ~ July, 2010

trained participants in the outreach ministries. If the mission was reaching souls, for instance, par-ticipants were very good on welcoming newcom-ers and helping integrate them into the church’s life. If their outreach was more in the vein of, say, mission trips, there was training for the partici-pants several months ahead of time. They dis-cussed what they were going to do, how they were going to do it, and why they were doing it. The last was especially telling for it grounded them in the biblical, theological and practical rea-sons for the trip.

Steve Hartman, pastor, Third Presbyterian Church, Richmond, took a sabbatical from May 1-July 31, 2009.

“My goal was to strengthen the soul of my leadership. Ministry is very demanding, as we all know, and life is very busy. A minister can easily begin to be carried along by the powerful current of this river of busyness and activity. Yet, to be most effective a minister must set aside time for reflection and attentiveness to God.”

“For me a benefit of sabbatical was in allow-ing me to spend uninterrupted time practicing at-tentiveness to God (and to what was going on in-side of me) through the spiritual discipline of soli-tude, silence and study. As a result, I was able to return to my ministry renewed spiritually and with new habits that would help me continue to be able to be more attentive to God, to others, and to what was going on within in me.”

To renew and strengthen congregational lay leadership

How are healthy, vital American churches ad-dressing the needs, demands and challenges of the early 21st century? The following insights were gleaned from a combination of books on the subject and visits to (and interviews with) nine recommended churches. Each insight was demonstrated in most, though not always each, of the congregations vis-ited.

Worship that connects to God I began the study wondering if worship style determined effective congregations. Specifically are churches with contemporary services more likely to attract worshipers and meet their spiritual needs than those who do not? My studies tended to make me think not. Rather it is the spirit with which the worship is conducted that seems to make the difference. Evidently a large portion of those who attend worship these days are inter-ested in having some kind of experience with God. Worship leaders who understand this con-cept plan well-designed services that offer numer-ous avenues for worship to sense the presence of the holy. Among the qualities that all of the effective services (whether traditional, contemporary or blended) seemed to offer were these:

1. Friendly to children 2. Experiential 3. Newcomer sensitive 4. Interactive 5. Communal

Outreach that is intentional All the churches practiced outreach to some

degree. Some were more focused on reaching souls and meeting spiritual needs. Others saw mission more as addressing the physical needs of individuals in society at large. The common thread was pronounced intentionality. They worked hard to define their outreach efforts and to make them theologically consistent with their un-derstanding of the church’s purpose. They also

(Continued from page 1)

By Gary D. Larochelle Providence Forge Presbyterian Church was recently pre-sented with a beautiful and unique work of art from one of its congregation members. Ed Batkins, a member of the church since 2005, came before the PFPC session with a drawing he made of the church with hopes of displaying it at the church’s 75th anniversary celebration held on De-cember 6, 2009. Locally renowned as an artist of unparal-leled ability, Ed had worked on his drawing for two months, basing it on a photograph taken by Melinda Hodges, PFPC’s pastor’s wife. His drawing elicited sponta-neous applause from the session and was immediately hung in the parlor for all to see. With Ed’s permission, a church committee is considering ways to use the artwork as part of its fundraising efforts for a new church building. Ideas such as framed copies of the drawing, greeting cards, and numerous other options are being considered.

Electronic Giving Continued from page 1)

correct answer the concept is reviewed again. Individual tutoring is available when neces-sary.

• If parents are unable to pay for childcare the children may continue to come. The parent is counseled and tuition fees are adjusted to ac-commodate the family’s needs until the prob-lem has been resolved.

• Parents are encouraged to come to church and are provided with a Bible if necessary.

OASIS qualifies to receive free meals from the Virginia Food Banks program, Kid’s Café, and would like to participate in this program. Sev-eral adjustments need to be made to the kitchen area in order to obtain the Virginia Department’s certificate to serve food. Money restraints are pre-venting the food program from moving forward.

(Continued from page 1)

the program: • What is Electronic Giving and how does it work? Contributions are transferred automatically from your checking account, savings account, or debit card to the church’s bank account via the Auto-mated Clearing House network, the same network already used by families to make mortgage and utility payments or to receive payroll earnings and Social Security income. You set up and control the amount and timing of your contributions . • What are the major advantages of Electronic

Giving? Electronic giving provides you a convenience by eliminating frequent check writing and helps you to stay on track with your pledge even when you are unable to attend services. The church benefits from much-needed donation consistency and a reduction in the volume of check and cash contri-butions that must be handled and manually proc-essed in the church. • How frequently can I make contributions? You can set up your giving for either regular weekly or monthly contributions. You can also elect to make a one-time donation. • Are contributions limited to certain days of the

week or month? For regular weekly contributions, your contribu-tion will be made on Mondays. For regular monthly contributions, your contribution will be made on the first business day of the month. For one-time donations, you can make your contribu-tion on any day. • Can I cancel or change a recurring or one-time

contribution after I have set it up? Yes, you can cancel or change it at any time. The only exception to this is if your next scheduled contribution has already been sent for processing (usually two business days prior to your next con-tribution date.) • What will I put in the offering plate now dur-

ing the service? The ushers will have laminated, re-usable “I give electronically” cards for you to place in the offer-ing plate during the service. • How will I keep track of regular weekly or

monthly contributions in my check register? Since your contribution is made at a pre-established time, you simply record it in your check register on the appropriate date. • What can I use to prove I made a contribution? You will still receive a quarterly giving statement from the church that will include your online giv-ing. In addition, your bank statement will show an itemized list of electronic transactions that can be used as proof of your contributions. • Is Electronic Giving secure? Yes. To process electronic donations the church uses Vanco Services, LLC—an established com-pany that safely processes contributions for more than 10,000 churches and non-profit organiza-tions. • How much will this cost me or the church? It costs you nothing. The church incurs a small transaction fee for automatic contributions from checking and savings accounts and higher fees when a debit card is used.