We have been blessed for nearly seven years to have Pastor Jon Heeringa ministering in our midst, equipping us for ministry through preaching, leadership, teaching and pastoral care. Week in and week out, he gives his time and energy to helping us become a vibrantly growing church mobilized for ministry. Being a pastor comes with particular challenges, especially emotionally and spiritually, and so it is good for those in ministry to take periods of intentional rest every so often.
Category Archives: People
Jon’s sabbatical this summer
Meet First Pres’ newest leadership candidates
The congregation has approved these covenant partners to serve in leadership roles at First Pres.
Grow in Your Faith and Marriage
We are excited to offer a United Marriage class to couples who want to make their marriages even better. What makes this class different from anything you’ve probably ever experienced is that the material and the classroom dynamics motivate couples to do far more than complete assignments.
Meet Michael Bright, our 45 Club student intern
Michael Bright joined our Wednesday-night ministry team as an intern this fall. He has been working with the 45 Club kids (grades 4 and 5). We asked him some questions so we could get to know him.
Meet the newest candidates for church leadership
Meet the elder and trustee nominees who will be elected in August to begin service in 2019.
5 new elders being installed in January
Five new elders will be installed on the church’s session, or governing body, in January.
Meet Betsy Dishman, our new director of children’s and family ministries
First Presbyterian Church has hired Betsy Dishman as its new Director of Children and Family Ministries, and she begins work in November.
7 new covenant partners join First Presbyterian
Welcome to our newest covenant partners, who were recently welcomed into our First Presbyterian Church fellowship. We look forward to their partnership with us.
Slideshow: Block Party in the Burg with JMU
The weekend before classes started at James Madison University, thousands of freshmen headed downtown for Block Party in the Burg. We set up food, activities and information in our parking lot on Court Square. Here are some photos from our time meeting students.
Meet some of your newly elected church leaders
Each year, we nominate and elect a new group of people to serve as elders on the Session, which oversees the church. These elders-elect will be trained during the next few months and will be examined by the Session in December. Once approved, the newest additions to Session will then be installed to begin work in January. We have three groups of elders that make up the session, with each group serving three-year terms. Most of these new elders will be part of the Class of 2020.