Information for ministers, educators, church administrators, clerks, and congregations | | |
▪ Zoom Host Volunteers Needed!
▪ Have a Job Opening to Share?
▪ GA Commissioners Meeting Recording
▪ POJ Fall Dates to Remember
▪ Burkeville Presbyterian Backpack Ministry
▪ Stewardship Campaign Checklist
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▪ Resources for Suicide Prevention Month
▪ September 11 Lament
▪ Pastors & Others Face Deportation
▪ New Events! Calendar Highlights
▪ New Posts! Employment Opportunities
| | Are You a Future POJ Zoom Host? | We are currently looking to expand our list of people who are able and willing to assist in running the Zoom portions of our Presbytery meetings. Primary responsibilities include admitting people into meetings based on registration list, monitoring chat, and helping with screen sharing. If interested, please contact Shannon Hendricks, revswhendricks@gmail.com | GA Commissioner Virtual Meet & Greet Recording Available | | Sharing Job Openings through POJ is Easy! | |
The job description for that open position is finally done! Now what? Follow these easy steps:
- Submit it for publication on the Presbytery of the James Employment Opportunities page (located under the Resources menu heading). Look for the "Submit a Job" button toward the bottom of the page.
- Here, you can enter all the relevant information for your posting.
- Please allow several days for the job to be reviewed by POJ staff, after which it will appear on the Employment Opportunities page as well as in each issue of the weekly Current newsletter.
- Postings will remain in these locations for two months, after which they expire.
- If you'd like the posting removed early or extended beyond two months, just let us know at communications@presbyteryofthejames.org.
| | Upcoming POJ Dates & Deadlines | |
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Deadline: Reports of Teams, Committees, Commissions, Staff for Stated Meeting - Sept. 17
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Deadline: Submit Materials for Oct. COM - Sept. 17
- Pastor Appreciation Month Begins - Oct.1
- Meeting Packet Available Online - Oct. 2
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GA Racial Justice Info Session with Chad Wayner - Oct. 5
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Deadline: CPM Materials - Oct. 6
- Pastor Appreciation Day - Oct. 11
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Deadline: Submit Materials for Nov. COM - Oct. 15
- 124th POJ Meeting with Hamilton Glass (ARC Faith & Art program) - Oct 17
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Deadline: Register for Fall Polity Class - Oct. 28
- Presbyterian Polity Fall Class (Mondays in Nov.) - Nov. 2, 9, 16, 23
| | RVA Artist, Hamilton Glass | | | | Sharing the Love of Jesus Through the Burkeville Presbyterian Weekend Backpack Ministry | | At Burkeville Presbyterian Church, we believe that sharing the love of Jesus means caring for the needs of those around us. This year, our Sunday School Director, Jennifer Bennett, and Church Elder, Nancy Bates, are leading our Weekend Backpack Ministry. | Each Friday for a month, volunteers prepare lunch bags filled with eight snacks to be delivered to children in need, providing them with extra food to enjoy over the weekend. While the bags may seem like a simple gift, they are a tangible reminder to these children and their families that they are seen, valued, and loved. Through this ministry, we pray that the love of Christ shines through every bag we prepare and that our church can be a source of encouragement, compassion, and hope in our community. We are grateful for the opportunity to put our faith into action and serve others as Jesus taught us. | | Stewardship Campaign Checklist Gets Churches Ready for Fall | The below excerpt is from a recent Presbyterian Foundation post by John C. Williams. | |
...remember the annual campaign, and when it comes time for fulfilling those pledges, make it easy to give. Let your members write a check or pay online. You can ask the Presbyterian Foundation to help your church set up an online payment portal. You can also find a variety of resources in the Foundation’s free Stewardship Navigator website here; this includes templates for materials and a year-round calendar for stewardship.
But above all, make it simple, and try to find a theme or hook that will resonate with your church community.
Here’s a checklist to get you started:
1. Meet with your Stewardship and Finance committees, along with your pastor, to review church needs, wants, and dreams for 2027. Consider capital needs from both your long-term plan (new sidewalks on the campus, new signage by the road, new roof) as well as infrastructure replacements (hot water heaters, AC/heat pumps, flooring). Keep reading...
| | Gun Violence Prevention Resources & Training for Clergy & Congregations | |
While we are making progress to reduce gun violence, gun suicide remains at peak levels. Johns Hopkins reports that over 27,000 Americans died by gun suicide in 2024. These were primarily older white men, especially veterans, but increasingly children, youth and people of color.
Preventing gun suicide is a proactive way of looking after the interests of others, particularly those who are in crisis over relationships, employment, addiction, discrimination or bullying, money, mental or physical health.
A lectionary reading for September 27:
Let each of you look not only to your own interests,
but also to the interests of others. Phil. 2:4
Resources to use and to share.
Training in suicide prevention:
| | | | Remembering September 11: A Lament for What was Lost and a Hope for What May Yet Be | The below exerpt is from a recent Presbyterian News Service article from Jihyun Oh and the Office of Public Witness. | | |
On September 11, we remember.
We remember the lives taken in an instant, the families whose lives were forever changed, the first responders who ran toward danger, and the communities that carried grief far beyond the days and weeks that followed. We remember the fear and confusion of that morning, the ways neighbors reached toward one another, and the profound sense that the world had shifted beneath our feet.
And so we lament.
Lament is not simply sadness. In the language of our faith, lament is the courage to bring our grief, anger, confusion and unanswered questions before God. The Psalms teach us that God's people do not need to hide their pain or make peace with what is broken. We cry out because we believe God hears the cry of the wounded. Continue reading...
| | | | Haitian Pastors in Ohio and Many Others Face Deportation with End of Temporary Protective Status | The below excerpts are from a recent Presbyterian News Service article by Layton Williams Berkes. | | |
In Springfield, Ohio, the air is thick with fear and unrest. The Department of Homeland Security has ended Temporary Protected Status for both Haiti and Syria, and Springfield’s 10,000-15,000 Haitian residents are braced for the fallout. Businesses sit empty and closed. Individuals attend immigration appointments where they are fitted with ankle monitors. Others, including two local Haitian pastors, have been detained. Two weeks ago, a 20-year-old college student from the area walked into traffic and was killed in what his family says was a suicide stemming from the loss of TPS.
Haitians in Springfield seem particularly shaken by the detainment of two community pastors, the Revs. Adrien and Dumanom. Adrien was picked up by ICE while getting gas with his wife. He has not lived in Haiti for more than 20 years and has worked for Ohio employers and filed federal taxes since 2021. He is a faith leader with deep roots in the community.
“This is the reality of all these people that they’re picking up— at least the ones I’ve been working with — is they’re not doing anything wrong,” [PC(USA) pastor, the Rev. Kazy] Hinds said. “They’re doing everything that they can to be a law-abiding citizen.” Keep reading.
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Celebration for Rev. Shady Clark, Jr. 50th Pastoral Anniversary
Sep. 27
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Service of Installation for The Rev. Mary Kay Scott
Oct. 4, 11 a.m.
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UPSem INTENTIONAL: Intergen Symposium
Oct. 8-9
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▪ Theological Education/Seminaries Sunday 9/20
▪ International Day of Peace 9/21
▪ Native American Day 9/22
▪ Evangelism Sunday 9/27
▪ Gifts of New Immigrants 9/27
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Traditional Music Director (Lay/Part-Time) – Campbell Memorial Presbyterian Church, Weems, Virginia
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Covenant Pastor (Clergy/Part-Time) – Providence Presbyterian Church (Powhatan), Powhatan, Virginia
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Director of the Pace Center at VCU (Clergy or Lay/Full Time) – Pace Center, Richmond, Virginia
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Building Administrator (Lay/Part-Time) – Forest Hill Community Center of the Presbytery of the James, Richmond, Virginia
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Youth Ministry Team Member Internship (Lay/Part-Time) – Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Virginia
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Children’s Ministry Team Member (Lay/Part-Time) – Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Virginia
| | Nearby Presbyteries and PC(USA) Calls & Jobs | | |
HAVE NEWS TO SHARE WITH THE POJ? We'd love to hear from you!
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Submit an announcement or story to communications@presbyteryofthejames.org with "newsletter" included somewhere in the subject.
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Submissions are due Thursdays at noon for the following week's newsletter. The Current is published most weeks of the year with a couple of breaks during summer and winter.
- Send text (including a link to your website) in the body of your email or as an attachment.
- Attach photos to your email if desired.
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Our Mission
To support leaders, congregations, and ministries in growing followers of Jesus Christ who joyfully live out God’s mission in the world.
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