Is it possible?

Mission Rivers District Newsletter August 2025

Hatching Faith Cohorts hosted the first cohort Kick-Off event on May 3-4, 2025 at Roslyn

Retreat Center. The Kick-Off event aimed to equip church leaders and children with creative

ways to further engage in corporate worship and prayer. The cohort experienced worship

practices led by Jen Bradbury, Mark Burrows, Dr. Hannah Sutton-Adams, and Dr. David Csinos.

You can watch a quick highlight video of the Kick-Off event here: https://youtu.be/n95mnXSIifE

The churches listed below have entered the Hatching Phase of Cohort 1.

● Charity UMC (Coastal VA) Rev. Jay Cottman

● Grace UMC (Coastal VA) Rev. William McClung

● Haygood UMC (Coastal VA) Rev. Douglas Sasser

● Wesley Chapel UMC (Living Waters) Rev. Glenn Riggs

● New Hope UMC (Mission Rivers) Rev. Robin BeMiller

● Bethlehem UMC (Mountain View) Rev. Susan Hughes

● New Life International (Northern VA) Rev. John Obeng

● Fisherville UMC (Valley Ridge) Rev. Peter Choi

Please be in prayer for these churches, their leaders, and their Hatch Teams as they ideate,

discern, and implement their worship experiment over the next 6-8 months. They will receive

micro-grant funding, monthly coaching, and quarterly cohort gatherings from the Hatching Faith

staff to resource and support their initiatives. We invite you to encourage them in their creative

ministries!

The application for Cohort 2 and Cohort 3 opened July 1, 2025 and closes November 1, 2025.

Cohorts 2 and 3 will run simultaneously with their Nesting Phase beginning in January 2026 and

their Kick-Off event in April 2026.

There will be two informational sessions offered via Zoom to answer questions and share more

about Hatching Faith. They will be on Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at 7:30pm and Thursday,

October 16, 2025 at 7:30pm.

Please feel free to send Hannah Bryn (hannahbryn@vaumc.org) any churches that you believe would benefit from participating in this initiative.

● The Hatching Faith seeks to more fully engage Christ’s youngest disciples in worship

and prayer.

● Hatching Faith is a congregational-wide, intergenerational worship experiment, not a

children’s ministry program.

● Hatching Faith encourages churches to reimagine worship as a space of holy

imagination, sacred play, and deeper connection with God.

If you have any questions about the Hatching Faith Initiative, please reach out to Hannah Bryn

hannahbryn@vaumc.org. There are also resources shared on the Hatching Faith webpage.

Thank you for your ongoing support, prayers, and encouragement!

During our Cabinet retreat last month, Lan Wilson, our new Director of Belonging & Advocacy shared this opportunity for those serving in cross-racial and cross-cultural appointments. "Facing the Future" is a conference that will:

engage in spirit-filled worship
Learn practical tools for resilience and leadership
Build community with others in similar ministry contexts

We currently have 65 pastors in Cross-racial/Cross-cultural identified appointments in Virginia and would love to see more moving forward. We understand this is close to the eleventh hour however, I wanted you to have the information should you be interested!

You can find more information around the conference here: https://www.gcorr.org/ftf2025

I would encourage you to seek support from your local churches as well as the funds available to you annually through the Center for Clergy Excellence education funds.

I look forward to serving with you and supporting you in your various ministries.

grace upon grace,

Lindsey

Hello Mission Rivers!

You are all invited to be part of On-Boarding our new DS, Rev. Lindsey Baynham Freeman to the Mission Rivers District. On-Boarding is a unique opportunity for lay and clergy leaders and the DS to learn about each other, discuss hopes and dreams for the district, share concerns, and identify areas for future focus. It is early team building at its best.

There are two clergy sessions scheduled for our district:

Fredericksburg: Tuesday, August 12 at Hillcrest UMC ( 2208 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg, VA 22401) from 9:30am - 11:30am.

Smithfield: Wednesday, August 13 at Trinity Smithfield UMC (201 Cedar St, Smithfield, VA 23430) from 9:30am - 11:30am.

We are also having Laity Sessions the night before from 6:30pm - 8:30pm. We have invited your church leadership from Unity. Please follow up with key leaders to make sure they know about the event.

Both the laity and clergy sessions will be led by certified facilitator Rev. Kathleen Overby Webster. Kathleen has led this process in local church, district, and conference team settings. She was baptized, confirmed and ordained as an elder in the United Methodist Church. She has served small, mid-size, and large congregations across the Virginia Conference and twice as a district superintendent. Her ministry passions are team-building, strategic planning, and leadership development.

We invite you to attend whichever location is more convenient. The session will be geared toward church leadership but all are welcome. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Laity don't need to RSVP for their sessions but Clergy do need to RSVP about the clergy sessions.

Dear Colleagues,

Wesley UMC in Hampton has an opening for a Choir Director, and we would like to advertise this in District and Conference communications channels. I'm attaching the position description here. Applicants can call 757-838-3044 with questions, or email their resume to secretary@wesleyhpt.hrcoxmail.com. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Please let me know if you need any further information.

Thanks so much,

Kerry

Rev. Kerry Greenhill, Pastor

Wesley United Methodist Church

2510 N. Armistead Ave

Hampton, VA 23666

Office: 757-838-3044

Job Description

The Kilmarnock United Methodist Children's Ministry has been an active part of our summer music programs. They are now preparing for their own concert on Sunday, August 3, at the 11 am worship service.

I am attaching three pictures of how Zion has helped in responding to the call for volunteers to help in the rebuild of homes after last year's flooding in NC. Jeff Moore from Seaford Transfer transported the Conference shower trailer to Covenant Community Church east of Asheville for volunteers who are traveling to the area to assist in the rebuilding efforts. One photo is of Bob Philcrantz who is the Conference Disaster Coordinator and Sam, the coordinator of the volunteers from Covenant, and his daughter Liza. Another picture is of Bob connecting the water and other utilities to the trailer for use.

Any churches on the District that would also like to learn more about involvement in disaster responses and activities such as this are always welcome.

David Magruder davidmagruder@vaumc.org

Zion United Methodist Church

2109 Seaford Road

Seaford, Virginia

Chestnut Memorial United Methodist Men Annual Summer Fish Fry

Serving Friday, August 15 from 5:00pm-6:30pm in the fellowship hall for eat-in or take-out.

The Chestnut Circuit Riders will be playing their wonderful music while you eat from 5:00-6:30!

The menu will include Whiting Filetts, freshly-made hush puppies, baked beans, cole slaw, dessert and drink.

The cost will be $15 when ordered in advance by Tuesday 8/12.

Tickets will be available in the Welcome Center after the service on Sundays.

Tickets are also available in the church office, 1024 Harpersville Rd., Newport News 23601.

Walk-ins the day of the fish fry are welcome while supplies last.

The cost for tickets bought after Tuesday 8/12 is $20

LINK FOR REGISTRATION

For the current quadrennium, the Virginia Conference has contracted with Rev. Lindsay Geist, an ordained deacon in the North Georgia Annual Conference and a licensed clinical social worker and therapist. The training will include an online module AND an in-person training. The training will be offered seven times throughout the quadrennium. The dates and locations are below.

Before each in-person training, there will be a two-week window to complete the online module. Instructions will be provided upon completion of the registration process.

The cost will be $100, which supports the price of the online module, materials for the in-person training, and lunches.

Find the dates and locations, and the registration here https://vaumc.org/ethicsvideos/