The Power of Yet

Greetings!

I am excited to be among you and serve the presbyteries and congregations in this region of God’s world as your Synod Executive & Stated Clerk. I am almost four months into this role and I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of fantastic people and worship in beautiful places all over South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

The banner photo of this enews, of the Llama comes from a coloring poster that I shared at the most recent Synod Meeting. I asked commissioners, corresponding members and guests to help by adding color as a reminder of our calling TOGETHER to the ministry of the Synod of South Atlantic. I asked them to color the poster as a symbol of the connected, vibrant ministry yet to come.

Photo Courtesy of Pat Nordbrock

We're Going to Cuba!

by Pat Nordbrock

Fifteen travelers from Peace River Presbytery are heading to Cuba in May! Our Presbytery has a partnership with the Cuban Presbytery of Matanzas, and under that umbrella, five of our Southwest Florida churches have paired with Cuban congregations in church-to-church partnerships.

Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary Celebrates Eight Years of Reinvention to Promote Justice

Now in its eighth year of reinvention, JCSTS is building an educational platform that is affordable and accessible to diverse audiences regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, or orientation. JCSTS' programs are designed to promote justice across the various sectors of society. 

JCSTS' primary audiences today are:

• African Americans of faith who are looking to ground their faith in the liberative traditions of the historic Black Church.
• persons of various ethnicities currently in some form of service to the church (ordained and non-ordained) who are searching for new competencies to help them further their ministries in today’s cultural environment.
• people of good will in need of an educational experience that will help them engage their faith in the public sphere.
• activists, organizers, and other justice workers attempting to deepen their understanding of the intersection of faith and justice.
• everyday people attempting to process today's societal strife through a theological lens.
• persons who found their first programmatic experience with JCSTS so rewarding they came back for more (repeat customers).
• small groups who find JCSTS' Foundations Series a suitable small group study resource.

All JCSTS programming is built on a competency-based educational model. Competency-based education is a methodology focusing on the critical skills, or competencies, needed for effective performance in today’s world. Competency-based education generally is seen as an alternative to more traditional approaches in which students may or may not acquire proficiency in a given course or academic subject before they earn course credit. 

From PC(U.S.A.)

Ruling Elders & Deacons - a webinar for you, "Reclaiming Our Calling" takes place via Zoom on April 27th from 7pm - 8:30pm. Participants will join Rachel & Matt Rhodes to learn more about both the theoretical and practical realities of caring for each other in the church and the important role church leaders service within that.  

This webinar will be recorded and Korean and Spanish versions will be made available. Registration deadline is April 19th.  

For more information and to register, follow this link to the PC(USA) Leader Formation website.

St. Augustine Presbytery is currently seeking a Lead Presbyter: Our presbytery is well suited for our Lead Presbyter to thrive as our leader. If you feel led to nominate yourself or someone else that you think would be a great fit, please send that information along to search committee chair Bryant Anderson. This position as Lead Presbyter would be a great entry point into the world of middle governing body ministry. View the CLC version of the MIF here.

Presbytery of Charleston-Atlantic is seeking a Transitional General Presbytery and Stated Clerk. MIF here.