D-1THE PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

COMMITTEE ON MINISTRYREV. MARK RAMSEY, CHAIR

OCTOBER 25, 2014

FIRST SECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY, AN ADMINISTRATIVECOMMISSION, OR A TASK FORCE THAT REQUIRE ACTION BY PRESBYTERY:

I. RECOMMEND FOR COMMISSIONING BY THE PRESBYTERY AS LAY PASTOR:A. JOHN WALTER BATES

From: Elder, Hickory First Presbyterian ChurchCommissioned Lay Pastor GraduateAs: Commissioned Lay Pastor, Hickory First Presbyterian ChurchEffective: October 25, 2014(The commissioning is to include permission to celebrate the Sacraments.)(See COM Attachment 1 for Biography and Statement of Faith.)

CA II. RECOMMEND TO PRESBYTERY THE VALIDATION OF MINISTRY FOR:A. William Buchanan, as Executive Director of Asheville Youth Mission, through October

25, 2015.B. Joan Martin, as Chaplain, Covenant Village, Inc., through October 25, 2015.C. Lynn Michie, as Chaplain, Swannanoa Correctional Center for Women, through October

25, 2015.D. Cynthia Strickler, as Director of the Dunamis Fellowship, Int., Vice President and Dean

of Faculty, Dunamis Institute, Presbyterian Reformed Ministries, Int., through October25, 2015.

CA III. RECOMMEND TO PRESBYTERY THE TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP:A. R. Carter Blaisdell

To: EPC, Presbytery of the Mid-AtlanticEffective: October 25, 2014

B. John E. EllingtonTo: EPC, Presbytery of the Mid-AtlanticEffective: October 25, 2014

SECOND SECTION

The Book of Order provides that the Committee on Ministry may be given authority by the Presbyteryto find in order calls issued by churches, to approve and present calls for service of ministers, toapprove the examination of ministers transferring from other Presbyteries, required by G-11.0402and G11.0502g, to dissolve the pastoral relationship in cases where the congregation and pastor concur, to dismiss ministers to other Presbyteries, and to approve administrative commissions to ordain/install with the provision that such actions be reported at the next stated meeting of thePresbytery. (G-11.0502h) This permission was granted to our Committee on Ministry; therefore, thefollowing actions are to be simply admitted to the record.

D-2I. APPROVED THE EXAMINATION AND TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP TO THE

PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA:A. SUSAN BALFOUR

From: Peaks PresbyteryAs: Member-at-LargeEffective: October 7, 2014(See COM Attachment 2 for Biography and Statement of Faith.)

B. JAMES W. DALEFrom: Baltimore PresbyteryAs: Honorably RetiredEffective: October 7, 2014(See COM Attachment 3 for Biography and Statement of Faith.)

C. NOAH T. MCINTEEFrom: Western New York PresbyteryAs: Member-at-LargeEffective: October 7, 2014 (See COM Attachment 4 for Biography and Statement of Faith.)

II. APPROVED TRANSITIONAL PASTOR RELATIONSHIPS:A. Ira Kennerly and Sylva First Presbyterian Church

Effective: September 9, 2014 - February 8, 2015B. Bryan Hovey and Mount Holly First Presbyterian Church

Extended: September 1, 2014 - August 31, 2015

III. APPROVED STATED PASTOR RELATIONSHIPS:A. Albert D. Shaw and Duncan’s Creek Presbyterian Church

Extended: August 11, 2014 - August 10, 2015B. James M. Cockerham and Sweetwater Presbyterian Church

Effective: September 7, 2014 - December 31, 2014C. Wendell Ligon and Morrison Presbyterian Church

Extended: September 1, 2014 - August 31, 2015D. Elizabeth Sigmon and Olney Presbyterian Church

Extended: September 22, 2014 - September 21, 2015E. Bill Whiteside and Vians Valley Presbyterian Church

Effective: October 1, 2014 - September 30, 2015F. Laura Long and Clinchfield Presbyterian Church

Extended: November 1, 2014 - October 31, 2015

IV. APPROVED COMMISSIONED LAY PASTOR RELATIONSHIPS:A. Jim Taylor and Newdale Presbyterian Church

Extended: July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2015B. Bobby Justus and Newdale Presbyterian Church

Extended: July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2015C. Jim Taylor and Grassy Creek Presbyterian Church

Extended: July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2015D. Bobby Justus and Grassy Creek Presbyterian Church

Extended: July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2015E. John Hall and Micaville Presbyterian Church

Effective: August 1, 2014 - July 31, 2015

D-3F. Elizabeth Hall and Micaville Presbyterian Church

Effective: August 1, 2014 - July 31, 2015G. Roger Wise and Fletcher Presbyterian Church

Extended: August 1, 2014 - July 31, 2015H. Randy Patterson and Dixon Presbyterian Church

Extended: September 6, 2014 - September 5, 2015I. Betty W. Shaw and Duncan’s Creek Presbyterian Church

Extended: August 11, 2014 - August 10, 2015J. Randy Patterson and Dixon Presbyterian Church

Extended: September 6, 2014 - September 5, 2015K. John W. Bates and Hickory First Presbyterian Church

Effective: October 1, 2014 - September 30, 2015

V. APPROVED AS MODERATORS:A. Franklin First Presbyterian Church and Hunter ColemanB. Sweetwater Presbyterian Church and Jim CockerhamC. Sylva First Presbyterian Church and Ike KennerlyD. Hendersonville First Presbyterian Church and Cam Murchison

VI. APPROVED PERMISSION TO LABOR OUTSIDE THE BOUNDS OF THEPRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA:A. Margaret P. Lauterer

In: Holston PresbyteryAs: Transitional Pastor, Watauga Avenue Presbyterian Church, Johnson City, TNEffective: October 1, 2014

VII. APPROVED PERMISSION TO LABOR INSIDE THE BOUNDS OF THEPRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA:A. Katherine Cashwell

From: National Capital PresbyteryAs: Associate Director for Conferencing, Montreat Conference CenterEffective: July 21, 2014

VIII. APPROVED THE TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP:A. Sara Varnado

To: Central Florida PresbyteryAs: Member-at-LargeEffective: December 3, 2013

IX. APPROVED THE DISSOLUTION OF PASTORAL RELATIONSHIP:A. Mark R. Burnham and Asheville First Presbyterian Church

Effective: December 31, 2015 (with the possibility of continuing support through July 1, 2015)

B. Kimberly L. Justice and Franklin First Presbyterian ChurchEffective: November 17, 2014

D-4X. APPROVED PASTOR NOMINATING COMMITTEES:

A. Sweetwater Presbyterian ChurchB. Asheville First Presbyterian Church

XI. APPROVED MINISTRY INFORMATION FORM:A. Sylva First Presbyterian Church

XII. APPROVED THE REQUEST FOR HONORABLE RETIREMENT:A. Jerry Beavers

Effective: October 1, 2014

XIII. APPROVED MOVING TO MEMBER-AT-LARGEA. Kimberly Justice

XIV APPROVED PASTOR EMERITUS DESIGNATION:A. Jerry Bron and Southminster Presbyterian Church

XV. APPROVED ORDINATION/INSTALLATION COMMISSIONS:

A. Approve the Administrative Commission for the installation of Keith Andrew Grogg asPastor of the Montreat Presbyterian Church on Sunday, August 24, 2014 at 3:00 p.m.

Name Responsibility on Commission Min/Eld.Bobbi White Moderator/Preside MinisterJim Henderson Propound the Constitutional Questions ElderMark Ramsey Preach the Sermon MinisterMarylyn Huff Propound Questions to Congregation ElderPete Peery Charge the Congregation MinisterEsta Jarrett Lead in Worship Minister

GuestsDean Thompson Charge the Minister MinisterVeronica Cannon Call to Confession MinisterClara Hare-Grogg Lead in Worship ElderJohn Hare-Grogg Lead in Worship ElderDavid Smith Lead in Worship Inquirer

B. Approve the Administrative Commission for the ordination/installation of JosephWilliam Taber, IV, as Pastor of the Lowell Presbyterian Church on Friday, August 8,2014 at 3:00 p.m.

Name Responsibility on Commission Min/Eld.Kevin Frederick Moderator/Preside MinisterJim Henderson Propound Constitutional Questions ElderCourtney Anderson Propound Questions to Congregation ElderEd Forsyth Charge the Minister MinisterEdyth Pruitt Charge the Congregation MinisterBert Sigmon Lead in Worship Elder

D-5Ken Humphreys Lead in Worship Elder

GuestMorgan Hay Preach the Sermon Minister

C. Approve the Administrative Commission for the installation of R. Curtis Fussell, III andEmily L. Wilmarth as Co-Pastors of the Highlands First Presbyterian Church on Sunday,September 21, 2014.

Name Responsibility on CommissionTerry Hanna Moderator/Preside MinisterJim Henderson Propound Constitutional Questions ElderBobbi White Preach the Sermon MinisterCardy White Propound Questions to Congregation ElderBob Tuttle Charge the Ministers MinisterDon Mullen Charge the Congregation MinisterAnn Greenlee Lead in Worship Elder

COM ATTACHMENT 1

Mini-Biography of John Walter Bates

I was born 24 September 1939 in Bainbridge, Georgia. My family attended the First

Baptist Church of Bainbridge where I was baptized around 1951. I attended Decatur County

schools and graduated from Bainbridge High School in 1957, and then enrolled at the Georgia

Institute of Technology to graduate in 1962 with the degree Bachelor of Civil Engineering. While

at Georgia Tech I met Harriet Smith, a native of Hickory, North Carolina who was attending

Agnes Scott College, and we were married 1 July 1961. I was employed by the (then) State

Highway Department of Georgia from March 1962 through January 1971 in the highway

engineering training program and then in the Division of Highway Planning where I worked in

urban area and regional and statewide planning studies, and then as the manager of planning

and operations research. During this time I completed the Master of Business Administration

degree with a major in economics at (then) Georgia State College of Business Administration. In

early 1971 I joined the staff of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority and was involved

in preparing the final plan to take to referendum for funding. Until resigning in 1982 I was

involved in planning, research, and marketing programs for the Authority, and was also enrolled

in the graduate school of business administration at Georgia State University, completing the

Ph.D. in Business Administration (Land Economics and Urban Affairs) in 1981. In March 1982 I

joined the business administration faculty at Georgia Southwestern State College (now

University) in Americus, Georgia. At GSW I taught undergraduate and graduate courses in

several disciplines, established a community development research unit which I directed and

served as Dean of the School of Business Administration from 1996-1998. I resigned at the rank

of Professor effective 31 December 1999 and was awarded Professor Emeritus status the

following year.

Harriet and I have two children, Andrew (1969) and Robin (1971). Andrew is married to

Kimberly and has two sons: Jacob and Samuel. They live in Lousiville KY where Andrew is a

program manager with the Louisville-Jefferson County Department of Human Services. He is also

a LTC (ARTY) in the Kentucky Army National Guard. Robin is married to Jonathan Murphy and

lives in Lynchburg VA where she is a member of the English faculty at Lynchburg College.

Although I was raised in the Baptist Church (SBC) I was not satisfied with the constant

emphasis in the church on conversion; I felt that there should be something more. Harriet was

Presbyterian and while dating we occasionally attended Presbyterian churches, especially after

her pastor from Hickory relocated to Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. I felt comfortable

and at home with the balance of education, nurture, and faith development along with

evangelism which I found in the Presbyterian Church and after we were married and I completed

my undergraduate degree and began working in Atlanta, we joined Central Presbyterian. We

remained on the rolls at Central until 1971, although our attendance became sporadic, especially

after we moved to suburban Clarkston. When I moved to MARTA we had Andrew with Robin on

the way and we relocated to Stone Mountain. We visited and were very comfortable with a

relatively new church in that area: Memorial Drive Presbyterian. We joined and became very

active. Harriet and I were both Sunday School teachers (adult, teens and children), I was

ordained as Deacon and Elder, serving as Chairman of the Board of Deacons; and Harriet served

at President of the Women of the Church and on the Presbytery Woman’s Council, and was

ordained Deacon. I became very involved with both stewardship and communion, under the

mentorship of Dr. Bob Ramey, who later left Memorial Drive to join the faculty of Columbia

Seminary.

In 1982 we decided to make a major life and career change, leaving Atlanta and moving

to Americus and Georgia Southwestern College. My graduate studies were undertaken for

COM ATTACHMENT 1

professional development as a highway planner/engineer/researcher and then in the new arena

of public transport planning/research/marketing. However, after twenty years in the profession I

found that my satisfaction was coming much more from the research, training and staff

development aspects of my work than from the administrative/managerial functions. After

counseling with the Presbyterian Career Development Center located in conjunction with

Columbia Seminary I decided to look into academia. We chose Georgia Southwestern and

Americus.

In Americus we became members and involved in the First Presbyterian Church of

Americus (PCUSA). I served as a deacon and elder, and also as a lay reader. Harriet was

involved in the Presbyterian Women’s programs and served on the PW Council and as Moderator.

I served on the stewardship committee and chaired one annual program. We also were

responsible for communion preparation for several years and served as church historians. I

chaired the Financial Advisory Committee for three years and established endowment and funds

management policies. After I retired from GSW I had time to become more involved on the

Presbytery level and served on Flint River Presbytery’s stewardship and overtures and resolutions

committees, and later was asked to serve on Presbytery Council and as Moderator of Presbytery.

After my term as moderator ended I felt a need for further involvement and study, so I

investigated the Presbytery lay pastor training program. While I felt no specific call to service at

that time, I did feel a call to preparation. I began the program in 2007 and completed the two

year program in 2009. Actually, after it became clear that our children seemed to be

permanently settled in Kentucky and Virginia, and we no longer had strong family and career ties

to south Georgia, although strong and persisting personal ones, we decided to move to Hickory,

Harriet’s childhood home, which was about half-way to the children and would not require a “cold

start” in a place which we did not know. We decided to wait until I had completed the lay pastor

training program, and moved to Hickory in May 2009, the day after the Presbytery of Southwest

Georgia approved my certification as a lay preacher.

In Hickory we promptly joined the First Presbyterian Church where we had been married

in 1961 (Harriet rejoining and me becoming a member after 50 years of visiting) and became

involved of the work and worship of that congregation. Harriet is a member of the Heritage and

Worship Committee and I have been involved in adult Sunday School teaching. We managed

communion preparation for three years. In 2012 I again felt the urge to study and sought

permission to attend selected classed offered by the PWNC School for the Laity. Such was

granted and I enrolled in the Old Testament class in the fall of 2012 and the Theology and

Preaching classes in the fall of 2013. During this time I began to feel what I believe to be a call

to service, particularly in serving communion, teaching and, if needed, preaching. I expressed

my interest to Presbytery Staff and the combination of the program completed in Flint River

Presbytery and the courses from School for the Laity in PWNC were considered to satisfy the

preparation requirement. I then spoke with my pastor, Whit Malone and he encouraged me to

seek a call to assist in serving communion, teaching, and preaching at First Presbyterian Church

of Hickory.

John W. Bates

16 June 2014

Rev. Susan Balfour COM ATTACHMENT 2

Biography and Statement of Faith

1

There is only one God, who is the living God. God is immanent and transcendent, our Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer. God’s goodness may be witnessed by the faithful in the beauty and intricacy, the physical laws and wondrous diversity of Creation. God’s self-revelation is also in Holy Scripture and the incarnation of Christ. God is active in relationship with us, faithfully remaining in covenant with them. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people. Jesus Christ embodies the restored Image of God in humanity. The crucified Christ is the Redeemer of all humanity, the risen Christ our hope and assurance of redemption and reconciliation to God. Jesus Christ is our Judge and wields his power over death to extend eternal life to those who believe in him. The Holy Spirit guides us in our reconciliation with God. The Spirit intercedes with God on our behalf and prompts us to an imitation of Christ and obedience to God. Humanity was created in God’s image. In humanity’s tendency to turn away from God and claim dominion over life, sin has entered the world; sin is unfaithfulness to and separation from God, evidenced in our failure to submit to God in emulation of Christ’s obedience. Sin leads to the distortion of the Image of God in humanity. Yet God does not abandon humanity, and thus pursues us with goodness, seeking to return us to our full humanity and enjoy a genuine relationship with God. To inspire and encourage repentance in humanity, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to remove the barrier between God and humanity resulting from sin, and to reconcile us to God. Until our redemption is complete, humanity is subject to a condition in which sin and its wages constitute a constant reality. Only through Christ may humanity cherish any hope of escaping sin in the human condition, and finding life eternal. Sin is both personal and communal in nature, reaping consequences likewise personal and communal. The personal consequences of sin constitute a separation from God and worldly suffering. The communal consequences of sin constitute the perpetuation of suffering at large. Sin is detrimental to personal well-being, the well-being of our neighbors, and the community as a whole. Yet sin is not so great that God cannot defeat it; even in our sinful state, Christ’s redemptive work still reaches us through its haze. Humanity is responsible to God for its behavior. Humanity has been endowed with the capacity to alter its surroundings, exploit resources, and seek social justice for the common good. Therefore, humanity also carries a heavy responsibility to care for Creation and Created, the world and all that is in it. The church is the Body of Christ, and its members live together in cooperation. In the church, individuals worship God and receive God's grace through proclamation of the Word and celebration of the Sacraments. Herein, God’s people find sustenance and replenishment, and participate in God’s redemptive activity in the world.

Rev. Susan Balfour COM ATTACHMENT 2

Biography and Statement of Faith

2

Susan Elizabeth Balfour was born in Miami and raised in the ranch and farmland west of Ft. Lauderdale. From an early age, Susan was very active in her church, participating in various worship and outreach activities, as well as serving on her first committee at the age of twelve. In high school, Susan first felt the call to ministry, and began to look ahead to attending seminary. She attended college at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, majoring in pscychology and religious studies; four years after graduating cum laude, she entered seminary at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education. Susan’s parents, Bob and Sandra, live in North Carolina. Susan’s father has retired twice, and currently divides his time between his part-time job as a resort security guard and planning mission trips for his church. Susan’s mother stays active by volunteering at the local hospital, participating in her Daughters of the American Revolution chapter, and assisting in worship planning. Susan’s sister Julie also lives in North Carolina, along with her three children. She is a stay-at-home mom, making sure that her children are active in extra-curricular activities. Susan greatly enjoys the time she spends with her family, and has been fortunate to learn a wide variety of life lessons and values from them. Susan is well-traveled and an avid reader. She has traveled to 35 states (19 on a cross-country road trip), and thirteen countries. Her reading list includes ethics, theology, memoirs, historical fiction, and literature. When she is not reading, Susan takes pleasure in photography, hiking, and horseback riding.

James W Dale COM ATTACHMENT 3

Statement of Faith

I believe in God, maker of heaven and earth (NC 1.1, AC 21, HC 4.023), and maker of us

in the image of God, male and female (WC 6.023, ShC 7.010, LC 7.127, C67 9.17, BSF 10.3).

The heart of God is love, and the love of God comes to us in creation and redemption. The

sovereign love of God over the universe (WC 6.012, C67 9.15, BSF 10.3) includes the power to

create through the processes of nature as modern science has discovered, as well as to empower

us to till and keep the creation for the benefit of all creatures. To do otherwise is to mock the

God of love who creates.

I believe in Jesus Christ, the sole son of God, born of a human mother (NC 1.2, AC 2.2,

SC 3.06, 2H 5.059, 5.064, WC 6.043-6.044, LC 7.181), fully human and fully divine (NC 1.2,

AC 2.2, SC 3.06-3.07, HC 4.047-4.048, 2H 5.066, C67 9.08, BSF 10.2). Jesus lived the life we

are called to live, healing the sick, eating with sinners, challenging authorities when they

overreached. Jesus suffered and died unjustly. God raised him from death, and he ascended to

abide at God’s right hand until God completes the work of creating.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the giver and renewer of life (NC 1.3, AC 2.3, 2H 5.016-

5.017, WC 6.051-6.052, 6.183-6.184, C67 9.20, BSF 10.4), holy comforter and holy

discomforter. The Spirit comes from God, and is an inseparable part of the godhead. The Spirit is

mystery.

This one God in three persons, Parent, Son, and Spirit, both models and fulfills the

essence of living in relationship. The eternal dance of creation and re-creation of the trinity

shows us how to live with each other in mutual love and honoring, and completes for us the

fullness we can only hope to glimpse from time to time.

I believe in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church (NC 1.3). The church is one

whether we like it or not; it is set apart to mediate God’s presence in the world; it is worldwide;

and it is God’s messenger, sent to carry in word and deed the good news of God’s justice and

mercy (DB 8.17). The sacraments are God’s gifts to draw us into that fellowship, rooted in the

fellowship of the Spirit.

I accept the scriptures as God’s faithful word to us, not a bludgeon, setting out the grace

and justice the Holy One of Israel intends for and among us.

Key: 2H = Second Helvetic Confession; AC = Apostles Creed; BSF = Brief Statement of Faith; C67 = Confession

of 1967; DB = Declaration of Barmen; LC = Larger Catechism; NC - Nicene Creed; SC = Scots Confession; ShC =

Shorter Catechism; WC = Westminster Confession of Faith

James W Dale

Brief Autobiography

At the age of about 12 I recall standing on the front steps of my home church in

Columbia, TN, waiting for my parents to stop talking and go home. My father’s longest friend

came up from behind and put a hand on my shoulder. “Jamie, did you ever think about going

into ministry?” he said. “No, sir,” I said audibly. To myself I said, “Have you lost your mind?”

Ten years later, a year after graduating from the University of Virginia, I could no longer avoid

the question and entered Union Presbyterian Seminary in 1976.

Seminary was a liberating and formative experience. I found an environment that

combined intellect and faith. An important aspect of those years was an intern year in Zaire.

My first call in 1980 was as Associate Pastor of Whitehaven Church in Memphis, TN.

They were great people who did not want to face the reality of the changing neighborhood. I met

and married my wife, Anne, during those years.

In 1985 we moved to New Haven, CT. While doing further study at Yale, I served as

Stated Supply for Babcock Church in Ashaway, RI.

In 1987 I accepted a call to Springfield Church in Sykesville, MD. Our daughter, Elinor,

was born three months after the move. For eight years we worked to stabilize and grow the

congregation. Membership almost doubled and the church paid off outstanding debts.

Without warning in July 1995 I got a call from Ken Goodpasture at Union Seminary

asking if I might be willing to consider becoming Director of Admissions. As it turned out, we

moved to Richmond in September. That was an exciting year for a new Director of Admissions.

The seminary made the front page of The Presbyterian Layman two or three times. Over my ten

year tenure Union merged with Presbyterian School of Christian Education, which required

melding two admissions systems; and the board created a new campus in Charlotte, which

required a new recruitment effort. Overall enrollment grew, and the percentage of racial ethnic

students increased from about 8% to about 20% in Richmond.

In 2005 I accepted a call to Brown Memorial Woodbrook Church in Baltimore. The

large issue there was an unhealthy relationship between the church and the preschool it sponsors.

When I left, the relationship appeared to have transformed.

Now I’m officially retired since January 2014, expecting to flunk at some point. Anne

and I moved in June to Montreat while we build a house in Black Mountain.

1. Brief Biography / Faith Journey Rev. Noah McInteeI'd like to start with my current place in ministry but I don't know how to describe it. The

PC(USA) lacks the syntax and the language to talk about it. This is no complaint or criticism but rather a word of caution that I've learned to offer because I've been personal witness to the slow motion brain break that happens when I say what I'm doing now.

I moved to Franklin, NC in August 2014 after being offered the job to be the founding and head brewer for Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. It's not a church and I haven't filled out paperwork for it to be a validated ministry. I'm not retired (not by a long ways) and I'm not seeking a called and installed position in ministry. I am seeking to transfer my membership into this Presbytery in order to continue to work non-traditional, tentmaker ministry and as requested, to lead traditional, professional ministry.

This move comes after living in Buffalo, NY for a couple years while working with a non-denominational church plant. Part of the DNA of that church was having no paid staff. They also, incidentally, had no one over 45 years old in the church and we met at a brewpub downtown. When I initially talked with leadership in that church, they expressed a desire to have me come aboard their leadership team and bring a contrasting, perhaps “classic,” approach to ministry while still in basic agreement about the needs and realities of a missionally focused church plant. In return, they helped me get a job at the brewpub where they gathered on Sundays. It was a chance to go from amateur homebrewer to professional, and from professional minister to... not unprofessional, but at least unpaid. During this time I brought and gained many experiences with non-traditional, bi-vocational, and tent-maker styles of ministry. Our family started a vibrant home church that saw many celebrations of faith and I helped shepherd the church plant through a period of self-reflection and growth.

That move in ministry came after a call in Washington Presbytery of Pennsylvania where I served the Presbytery as Minister to Young Adults. In that capacity, I spent my evenings traveling Washington and Greene county working with churches and with groups of people in their 20s and early 30s ('emerging adults' as they are called nowadays). I led a bar ministry and coffee shop ministry both of which are non-traditional but fairly common. I also helped organize and then provide spiritual direction to an intentional community of young adults living together in a ministry house in Waynesburg, PA. Aside from that, I served many churches with various needs I could fill.

Before that, I was a pastor. My first call in ministry was a small church of 100 or so people in Hampton, VA. I was ordained in that Presbytery, Eastern Virginia, after coming out of Salem Presbytery where I was under care of the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, NC. I ended up in Greensboro after looking for a place to settle following my time in seminary at Gordon Conwell in South Hamilton, MA. After finishing two Master's degrees in three years and ending it with a summer wedding to my wife Jennifer, we needed a place to regroup before launching into ministry full time. Greensboro was a nice choice because I had finished college at Guilford and knew enough of the area and the people already.

Now, nearly 7 years into my ordination, I've got three children and countless experiences in faith and ministry. My wife and I are eager to start this next chapter in life where I have established enough of a career outside of paid ministry that I am free to pursue non-paid ministry much more easily. What that ministry will be, I'm not entirely sure about yet.

I feel very strongly that my seminary education and my ordination are not afterthoughts or stepping stones to the kind of ministry I do now. Rather, they are the vital base that informs and sustains me in ministry. Being a head brewer at a local brewery doesn't mean I have left ministry. I am now free to bring my faith, my education, and my years of leadership right to the very place where people have gathered for community and for engagement, all while sipping on pint glasses of conversational lubricant.

I still do engage in traditional forms of ministry as the need and request arises. Since moving to this Presbytery, I've been active in the First Presbyterian Church of Franklin and would happily call them as witnesses to my faith and leadership.

COM ATTACHMENT 4

2. Statement of Faith Rev. Noah McIntee

TheologyThe Triune God has revealed himself to us in the confusing but no less accurate way of being

one God in three persons. As God he rules in soveriegnty over all creation. And yet as a Trinity, he relates to us through the three persons of the Divine Godhead. Our use of highly specialized and technical language is merely our grappling at the utter truth of the fact that God reveals himself as The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each being unique persons within the godhead and yet each affirming that God is One. We say that the three persons are “consubstantial, co- eternal, and coequal; distinct with respect to hypostases, and with respect to order, the one preceding the other yet without any inequality” (2nd Helvetic, ch. 3). And so we struggle to embrace the mystery of how one God can be in three persons.

Christ helps us to know who God is by revealing God to us in himself because Jesus Christ is God. Through Christ our sins are forgiven and we are given new life. Christ took our punishment, the punishment of sin and death, and died on the cross for us. He was raised to life again just as we are now raised to new life in Christ and just as we will one day be raised to life eternal with him. He did this for us because he is one of us, being fully God and fully human.

Though Christ lived and died and lived again so long ago, yet even now his life is communicated to us through the work of the Holy Spirit of whom Christ says “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 ). The Holy Spirit breathes life into each believer and makes us into tabernacles of the Living God.

BibleIn all of our confessions there is barely but one mention of the word “ordinary” outside of the

Westminster Confession and accompanying catechisms. In the Westminster Confession however, we hear of many things being ordinary, whether the perspicuity of the Gospel, the means of providence, the succession of generations, the means of evangelism, the knowledge of the assurance of faith, and also we hear of the ordinary parts of religious worship. The Bible is by no means ordinary, being the inspired word of God which is made alive by the Holy Spirit, and yet it is for us an ordinary means of hearing and understanding the nature, history, and will of God. The Bible is deep and complex, wonderful and clear, enlightening and challenging. It is God's word for us, written that we might hear the Voice of God and see the testament of those that have gone before us.

PolityThe Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic - even if it rarely looks that way. It doesn't look

that way because we see the visible church and not the invisible one. The visible church is made up of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ as part of his kingdom. The visible church, and with it each instance of a visible particular church, is at times more, and at times less, pure. Thankfully, the fact of the particular church being “less pure” gives us plenty of chances to practice for a life of ministry which largely takes place outside the walls of our sanctuaries that we typically call “church.”

As to why I'm a Presbyterian, it is surely only by the grace of God.

SacramentsLastly, and now only briefly, the sacraments. They are signs and symbols, visible reminders of

invisible truths, holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace. As if explaining the Trinity wasn't hard enough, we have that much and more to explain, characterize, and demonstratize the sacraments. For me, the sacraments are a brief moment of liminality in which we see, hold, remember, and experience the grace of the Living God in our lives, in our church, and in our worship.

COM ATTACHMENT 4