Issue 275 | January 9, 2025

Visit our website
Contact us
Click on an underlined title to go to the full article or link

A Word from our Transitional General Presbyter

On Monday, the 2025 Presbytery committee chairs met with the Moderator, Leadership Team chair, and staff. We began our time together by looking at the Epiphany story from Matthew 2:1-12 reflecting on leadership, especially bold leaders who serve with extravagant generosity. The conversation reminded me of two things. First, the church or liturgical year begins with Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. While not ordinarily a character in manger scenes or in the “who’s who” of Jesus’ birth, the Holy Spirit is present in this amazing story of God reaching out to redeem God’s people. Second, Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany mark the start of something new in the story of God’s people.

Pastor 2025 Medical Cost Grant Application

The Presbytery has established a fund to match 50% of the increase a church sustains for enrollment of child, spouse, or family coverage. Calculated as the difference between 2024 Pastor’s Participation Plan cost and 2025 Congregational Pastors Package or Transitional Pastor’s Package cost due to enrollment of child, spouse, or family. Please send the completed form by January 15 to Presbytery of WV, Attn: Treasurer, PO Box 11720, Charleston, WV 25339 or email to treasurer@wvpresbytery.org or fill out an online application at https://forms.gle/CAM2fmmFmqR96QjP8.

2024 Session Record Reviews

The Session Record Review events for 2024 records will be held quarterly in person and online. Clerks of Session (or a representative) will need to attend an event by October 2025. The events are:

  • February 2 – Village Chapel Presbyterian Church, 3 PM
  • February 3 – Zoom event, 7 PM
  • April 6 – Greater Bridgeport/Clarksburg Area in-person event, 3 PM
  • April 7 – Zoom event, 7 PM
  • August – Greater Lewisburg Area in-person event & Zoom event, dates TBD
  • October – Greater Huntington Area in-person event & Zoom event, dates TBD

The event checklists are on the website and are available by clicking here for in-person and here for electronic. Please use the correct form for the type of event you attend. If you have any questions, contact the Presbytery office or Stated Clerk Maureen Wright.

2025 Presbytery Directory information due Feb. 10

Has your church sent in its 2025 directory information to the Presbytery office? If not, please do so by MONDAY, FEB. 10! You can fill out this form, then email it to office@wvpresbytery.org or mail it to Presbytery of WV, PO Box 11720, Charleston, WV 25339. If your information has not changed from 2024, please let us know that, so we can confirm it is correct. It is important that we get this information, so we can keep the directory up-to-date. Thank you!

News from the Presbytery's Treasurer

  • 2025 Per Capita
  • 2025 Shared Mission Pledge Request
  • Year-end checklist
  • 2025 IRS standard mileage


  • 2025 Special Offerings Calendar
  • Church treasurers and finance committees

Expanding Your Ministry Toolbox courses in 2025

The Nurture Committee is again offering several “Expanding Your Ministry Toolbox Courses” in 2025. The purpose of these courses is to offer continuing education opportunities for pastors, educators, preachers, elders, deacons, and congregation members that are local, relatively inexpensive, and for building up the body of Christ. The Leadership Development Coordinating Team has sought to respond to input received and has made some changes for 2025, including that Zoom courses will only be 3 hours long.

The schedule for 2025 is as follows. 

  • “Get Better Dealing with Difficult People” with Sarah Moore-Nokes, Saturday, Jan.18, 9 AM – noon, on Zoom. See article below for more.
  • “Pastoral Care with the Dying and Their Loved Ones” with Kathryn Willoughby Weed, Associate for Ministry to Older Adults for the presbytery, Saturday, March 1, 9 AM – noon, on Zoom. (Reminder: Pastoral Care is not just done by the pastor. W-5.0204 in our Book of Order states: All members are called to take part in the ministry of pastoral care.)
  • “Preaching the Bible for Our Times” with Karoline Lewis, Saturday, Oct.18, 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM, in Charleston and on Zoom.

Registration information will be sent 6-8 weeks in advance of each course. The registration deadline is a week in advance. 

Get Better at Dealing with Difficult People

9 AM - noon, Jan. 18, on Zoom

As you’ve spent time with family and friends over the holidays, have you found yourself in the presence of those you would describe as “difficult?” As you serve in your church family, are there some you struggle with, see as challenging to deal with? Are there people in your workplace whom you wonder if you’re from the same planet? Then this Expanding Your Ministry Toolbox course is for you! Sarah Moore-Nokes will lead participants in looking at power dynamics, social capital, decision making and strategies for navigating challenging situations and dealing with difficult people. The registration deadline is Friday, Jan. 10. Cost per person is $20, due with registration. Questions? Contact Susan Sharp Campbell at susan_sharp_campbell@hotmail.com or 304-667-9428. 

Church officer training

Feb. 16 and 23, 2-5 PM, on Zoom

This two-part course for newly-elected Ruling Elders and Deacons will be taught by Susan Sharp Campbell, Associate for Educational Ministry. These two sessions will build on and connect with each other, so participants are expected to participate in both. There is no cost to attend, but you do need to register by Feb. 7 in order to receive the Zoom link and advance assignment. All participants will need a copy of the 2023-2025 PCUSA Book of Order. Participants may register as individuals, or whole sessions may register and participate together. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Sharp Campbell at 304-667-9428 or susan_sharp_campbell@hotmail.com.

2025 ECCA Retreat: "Be still, and know that I am God" - A Retreat on the Psalms

Feb. 17-18 at St. John XXIII Pastoral Center, Charleston

This year’s ECCA Retreat - for Christian Educators, Ministers of Word and Sacrament, Commissioned Pastors, Authorized Lay Preachers, and their spouses - will feature Tyler Mayfield, Professor of Old Testament at Louisville Seminary, who will lead participants in exploring how we might teach and preach the psalms of Israel’s faith, and our faith, to speak to our lives today. It will run from lunch Monday through lunch Tuesday, with content sessions Monday afternoon and evening and Tuesday morning. The registration deadline is Feb. 7. Cost, including housing and meals, is $120/person, with a discount for the second person from the same church. There is also a commuter rate of $90/person, which includes the retreat and 3 meals. If you have questions, please contact Susan Sharp Campbell at susan_sharp_campbell@hotmail.com or 304-667-9428.

Presbyterian Youth Triennium

July 28-31, 2025 in Louisville, KY

This national gathering of thousands of Presbyterian youth will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center with housing at nearby Triennium-designated hotels. The Presbytery is planning to take a delegation of youth and adults. Eligible youth must currently be in grades 8-12, and adults need to be at least 25 years old. At this point, we are in need of 1 female adult and 2 male adults. The cost for youth will be $375. Because this cost is heavily supplemented by McClintic funds of the Presbytery, there are no additional scholarships available through the Presbytery. Churches are encouraged to assist youth who may be interested with registration costs. The cost for the adults will be covered for the 3 listed above; if other adults are interested, it may be possible for them to attend at the full cost. Get information and a registration form here. Please contact Susan Sharp Campbell, Associate for Educational Ministry (304-667-9428 or susan_sharp_campbell@hotmail.com) for more information or with any questions.

News from our Congregations & Partners

715xmqCP4NL image

First Presbyterian Morgantown to discuss Rev. Jimmie Hawkins book in advance of his visit

On Feb. 9 at 2:30 PM, First Presbyterian Church of Morgantown will host a visit by Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, the PC(USA) advocacy director. In preparation for that visit, the church is hosting a five-week book study on his book, Unbroken and Unbowed: A History of Black Protest in America. There is an in-person opportunity for discussion at 10:30 AM Wednesdays, beginning Jan. 15, at the church, 456 Spruce St. in Morgantown, and an online opportunity on Zoom at 7 PM Thursdays, beginning Jan. 16. Each week will discuss a section of the book. Register here to participate.

Rev. Virginia Anne Bush Derr

August 3, 1932 – November 25, 2024

Virginia died of heart failure at age 92 in Rockport, Mass. In the early 2000s, she lived in Charleston, where she provided spiritual direction at the West Virginia Institute for Spirituality and served as pastor at Comfort Presbyterian Church. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at the First Congregational Church of Rockport on Saturday, January 18 at 1 PM; participate online here. Memorial donations may be made to Neighbors in Need, which supports social justice ministries in the United States, and the Northeast Association of the UCC, which maintains a scholarship fund for seminary students preparing for ministry with concern for social justice (make checks out to Northeast Association UCC, 21 Church St., Winchester, MA 01890). 

Mission trip to Alaska planned? Learn more about the state from a PWV pastor!

Rev. Bob Carter and his wife, Gladys, spent 30 years in Alaska in various native villages and rural commercial fishing towns where he served as a Presbyterian pastor. If your church is sending a work group or VBS team to Alaska this summer and would like a presentation on what life is like in our 49th state, please feel free to contact Bob and Gladys, who live in Greenville, at 304-832-6808 or revseakayak@gmail.com.

PCUSA rolls out new website

The new PC(USA) website, pcusa.org, which launched in early December, features an enhanced user experience with improved navigation, a faster and more robust search function and easy-to-access links to the information users need when they need it.

QUICK LINKS

Westminster Foundation of West Virginia


X Share This Email
LinkedIn Share This Email