General Information

Job Title:

Solo Pastor

Job Description:

NAME OF CHURCH:

Story Memorial Presbyterian

ADDRESS:

174 Shady Lane

Marion, North Carolina 28752

NAME OF PULPIT COMMITTEE CONTACT PERSON:

Gene Seals, RE, PNC Chair

MAILING ADDRESS:

PO Box 2692

Morganton, NC 28680

TELEPHONE: 828-460-7511

EMAIL: [email protected]

III. Story Memorial Data

TYPE OF COMMUNITY

Small Town

Rural

TYPE OF CHURCH

Non-PCA Church with Solo Pastor

SIZE CHURCH

About 70 members currently

TYPE OF POSITION VACANT

Pastor (Solo)

CONGREGATIONAL INFORMATION

Average Attendance

# of Adults over 65 __38____

# of Adults under 65 __23___

# of Teens __1___

Number of Children __7___

MANSE: Story does not provide a manse, but short term use of the mission house is possible while permanent housing is being sought.

PROGRAMS AND OUTREACH

• Sunday Morning Service
• Sunday School
• Sunday night service
• Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting
• Ladies Circles – monthly
• Mens' Breakfast – about monthly
• Mission Conference yearly on hold since Covid

Congregational Priorities

The Congregation's Priorities for This Minister Are The Following:

WORSHIP LEADERSHIP: Pastor and Session work to develop a rich worship life, educating the congregation for meaningful participation.

PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD: The word of God is preached with urgency and conviction, bringing it to bear on the changing needs of individuals, the community, and the world. High priority of pastor's time placed on sermon preparation.

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT OF MEMBERS: Pastor shares members' struggles regarding the Christian faith, with opportunity provided for individuals and groups to reflect on beliefs, concerns, doubts regarding Christian understanding of the spiritual dimensions of life.

VISITATION: Church officers and pastor develop and carry out a systematic plan for visitation of the entire congregation with special attention to prospective members and those with special needs. These special needs include those who are hospitalized or in emergency situations.: Those in hospitals or emergency situations are regularly visited; network developed to keep pastor and others informed of crisis situations; needs of ill or bereaved are met.

EVANGELISM: Pastor and congregation share faith in Christ as personal Savior in total lifestyle; seek to lead others within and outside the Church to accept Jesus Christ; congregation is informed, trained, helped to establish effective evangelism programs for the church. Evangelism includes involvement in local community problems and activities. Concern for identifying social problems in the community; work done with groups seeking solutions. Time and skills committed to community groups. Information and encouragement provided which enable members to become informed and involved.

CONGREGATIONAL COMMUNICATION: Two-way communication encouraged, information gathered and shared that will assist problem solving and decision making; varying opinions elicited, and all encouraged to listen to opposing points of view.

Final Comments

As was noted in the introductory section, Story Presbyterian Church has left the PCA. This does not mean that we have abandoned the Westminster Standards or the Presbyterian style of worship and life. Currently, we are pursuing affiliation with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.

There are at least two implications of our current situation for an applicant. First, we do require that a pastor affirm the system of doctrine of the Westminster Confession and two Catechisms. Some flexibility towards the specifics of an instrument of church government may be necessary.

Second, we are prepared to hire a suitable candidate this time with salary provisions consistent with that of a called pastor. However, some aspects of "job security" of a called pastor will not be available until we have made a decision about our new affiliation.

Position Qualifications:

Pastor Criteria Desired

YEARS OF MINISTRY EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

We are open to a recent seminary graduate. However, if there is no post seminary ordained experience, we would expect evidence of active ministry activities during and before seminary.

Marital Status: Married

Pastoral Ministry Strengths or Experience Desired

The six primary pastoral ministry strengths or experience that the congregation expects for this position.:

• Preaching
• Teaching
• Worship Leadership
• Youth Work
• Ministry to Seniors
• Pastoral Visitation

Application Deadline

Job Type:

Full Time

Salary Range:

$55k-$70k

General Information

Church/Organization Name

Story Memorial Presbyterian Church

Contact Name & Contact Info

Industry

Church

Denomination

Presbyterian - Other

City, State

Marion, NC

Description of Organization

Introducing Story Memorial Presbyterian Church

Marion, North Carolina

Story Memorial is one of four churches founded by James Story, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Marion. Pastor Story established these churches while pastoring a much larger congregation and never owning an automobile. He developed a Bible study, primarily composed of the Elliott family in west Marion, to gather this congregation. Our original building, which now includes fellowship hall and some Sunday School rooms, is shown below.

.

As the PCUS, commonly known as the southern Presbyterian church, began to lose its theological moorings, a number of teaching elders and a larger number of ruling elders begin trying to reclaim the denomination for the historic Christian faith as summarized in the Westminster Confession and the two Westminster Catechisms. Finally, in 1973, pastor Red Yeargin and our long serving clerk of session Jack Lonon joined like-minded church leaders of PCUS congregations at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama to form a new denomination. One early name of the denomination was Continuing Presbyterian, reflecting that their efforts were not toward something new but rather a maintenance of the historic faith.

Beyond being merely history, this step in 1973 continues to define the nature d character of Story. We are definitely and proudly Presbyterian. In the tradition of the Westminster Standards, and we embrace much of the theology of great Southern Presbyterian teachers such as Dabney and Thornwell However, and affirm the acknowledgment of sin in opposing civil rights in the past. We are sufficiently comfortable as Presbyterians that we are not attracted to any extreme positions, such as those sometimes characterized as "thoroughly Reformed." Nor do we have patience for some more recent trends such as "new perspectives."

For some time we have we have become increasingly concerned about tendencies in this presbytery. In the past years tension rose to the point that Story voted to leave the PCA, of which we were one of the founders. We became the third of the original six congregations of Western Carolina/Highlands presbytery to leave. A serious applicant for this position can contact the PNC, which also contains theentire session of Story, for more detailed information.

We have moved on in technology and physical plant. Our new building, which provides our sanctuary, and more classrooms, is shown to the above. Also, we do provide a conference room, and offices for pastor, secretary and other staff that may be needed in our Church Office, which was once our manse. We do not provide a manse now.

Church Office

We stand firmly in the Southern Presbyterian tradition of collegial leadership. The pastor only has administrative function as part of the session. Anyone who feels that he is called to be the supreme authority of the congregation will not be comfortable here.

The Presbyterian tradition values an educated ministry. We do expect a minister to have completed a three-year professional program beyond his undergraduate degree. We do expect a minister to have profited from that instruction and to be able to underpin his sermons, and his life, with his knowledge of such subjects as Hebrew Old Testament, Greek New Testament, church history and systematic theology as well as an in-depth knowledge of English Bible. However, the congregation will not respond well to a lecture in Hebrew grammar offered as a sermon.

We do expect a minister to be appropriately involved in this community as he lives among us. Such involvement will be the basis of appropriate outreach and evangelism. We do feel that our congregation has sufficient needs that a solo pastor has only a moderate amount of time for formal community engagement. However, we would not want his engagement in the community to distract from his priority, which is preaching the Word and shepherding the congregation.

This congregation has a number of current and retired public school teachers and other educators who have worked for years in the public school system. In general, we have found our local school system work workable. Moreover, there is overwhelming data that private schools, who can select, and reject, candidates for matriculation do not exceed public schools, that are committed to educating all students, in even such fundamental achievement areas as basic reading and math. We have had families that choose to homeschool. That choice is respected, but any attempt to argue that homeschooling or private schools are to be preferred to public schools will not be well received. In fact, a prospective minister's having a wife who is a public school teacher or other staff would be seen as a definite plus.

Story Memorial is located in the city of Marion, a small town with a population of 7,717 per the 2020 census. It is the county seat of McDowell County, a rural and small-town county with 44,717 residents, again per the 2020 census, within its 445 square miles. It is included in the Asheville-Waynesville-Brevard, NC Combined Statistical Area. Nevertheless, the reader is cautioned that Marion has a much more small town/rural atmosphere than does Asheville, and it is too far from that city to be considered suburban Asheville.

If your background is in an urban area, a small town with its warmth, and probably a taste of nosiness, may be an adjustment. However, we believe that if you come here to love this congregation and the town of which it is a part and to immerse yourself in both congregation and town, will find yourself warmly welcomed and hardily loved back.

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