Salem Matters

News of What Matters This Week in Salem Presbytery

Please Join The Mt. Vernon  Presbyterian ChurchFamily

For our 155th Church Anniversary Worship Service

Sunday, November 2, 2025,   11. a.m.  

435 Carson Road, Cleveland, N.C.  (Physical address)

PO Box 359, Woodleaf N. C. (Mailing Address)

Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church, Woodleaf, N. C.,  will celebrate its 155th Church Anniversary on Sunday, November 2, 2025, with  Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett preaching the Anniversary Service. Lunch will be served by Wideman’s Catering, immediately following the11 a.m. service.

Dr. Moffett is Immediate Past President and Executive Director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, Louisville, KY, where she supervised over 300. She now serves as the President and CEO of the Baptist Women’s Educational Convention, Inc. – an  organization designed to empower women of faith and support Simmons College of Kentucky – Louisville’s only HBCU.

A native of Oakland, California; Dr. Moffett has spent 33 years in pastoral ministry, including positions as senior pastor at St. James Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, associate pastor at Elmwood United Presbyterian Church in New Jersey, and solo pastor at Elmwood Presbyterian Church in Oakland, her birthplace.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ON NOVEMBER 2.

Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett

October 27, 2025

TO:

Minister members and CREs of Salem Presbytery

Ruling elder commissioners elected by Sessions of Salem churches

Church educators, musicians, and other staff

Corresponding Members (PCUSA clergy in other Presbyteries, or ministers in other

Christian denominations)

Friends and Guests of the Presbytery

FROM:   David Vaughan, Interim Stated Clerk

RE: Registration for November 15, 2025 (Saturday) Presbytery Meeting

I know you are looking forward to our upcoming meeting of Salem Presbytery! Pre-registration is now open for the 9:00am, November 15, 2025 Presbytery meeting. You will find the link to register below. Please read carefully this entire email.

1. Location: The Presbytery will meet at First Presbyterian Church in Statesville. Check-in begins at 8am. Worship begins at 9am. The church is located at 125 North Meeting Street, Statesville 28677. Volunteers will be onsite to direct your parking.

2. Note to all: please forward this email to the ruling elder commissioner(s) elected by your Session as commissioner(s) for this meeting. Only those elected elders should register as "Ruling Elder (elected for this meeting)." All other elders who will attend should register as a visitor/guest.

3. Lunch: Choose a lunch option. In lieu of paying for lunch, the Statesville congregation will accept generous contributions to the Presbytery’s Hunger Fund. Bring cash or a check payable to FPC Statesville.  Thursday, November 6 at Noon is the deadline to guarantee a meal.

4. Childcare needs must be requested on the registration form by November 6 in order for arrangements to be made.

5. The packet for this meeting of Presbytery will be posted by November 7 on the Presbytery website.

   
   

We are grateful for the hospitality and kindness of the entire church family, leadership, and staff of First Statesville. The Presbytery officers and staff send many good wishes to you all. We are looking forward to seeing you soon!

PLEASE REGISTER HERE – November 15, 2025 Presbytery Meeting Registration

Readers Needed for Spring Ordination Exams

Salem Presbytery is asked to provide three ruling elders and three teaching elders to serve as ordination exam readers during the week of May 4–8, 2026. If you are interested in serving or would like to learn more about what’s involved, please contact Courtney Montoya (cmontoya@highlandpres.org). By serving as a reader, you play a vital role in shaping and supporting those called to ministry.

To all clergy who live or serve in Parish B

We're excited to announce the date for our upcoming cook-out at Kathryn and Austin Campbell's home on Saturday, November 1, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at 510 Hobbs Road, Greensboro. Please bring your preferred meat to grill, along with a side dish or dessert to share. The Campbells will provide the grill, plates, napkins, utensils, condiments, toppings (if needed), and a selection of sodas, beers, ciders, and wines. If you have a favorite beverage, feel free to bring it along! Just a quick note: if you’re bringing hot dogs or burgers, please remember to bring your own buns if you want them. To help us coordinate, please click this link to share what you will be bringing. This event is open to all families and little ones.  Looking forward to a fun evening together!

Position Opening at John Calvin Presbyterian, Salisbury

John Calvin Presbyterian Church is seeking a full-time pastor.  For more information, please contact the PNC members at sammieshinshaw@gmail.com or millssabra@gmail.com

You can als find us in the PCUSA Church Leadership Connection (CLC), MDP ID 12152

Position Opening at Speedwell Presbyterian, Reidsville

Speedwell Presbyterian Church in Reidsville is presently searching for a half-time Stated Supply Pastor.

For more information and a Job Description, click HERE.

Position Opening at Logan Presbyterian, Scotts

Please refer to the link below to the Job Description for the position of Transitional Pastor at Logan Presbyterian in Scotts, NC

To view the Job Description click HERE.

Madison Presbyterian Church has a large conference table to give away! Contact the church for more information or if you are interested.

November 10-11, 2025

Union Presbyterian Seminary, Charlotte

Application Deadline - September 29, 2025

Conference Details:

• Dates: Wednesday, November 19 (Noon) – Friday, November 21 (Noon)

• Location: Fourth Presbyterian Church, Michigan Avenue, Chicago

• Registration Fee: $295 (includes a cruise dinner on Thursday, Nov. 20)

October Prayers for:

Rosa Miranda  PMA Associate for Hispanic/Latino-a Intercultural Congregational Support

Please Hold the Following in Your Prayers

• The people of Jamaica and other Caribbean islands as they face the destruction from Hurricane Melissa.



We will list these prayer requests for two weeks unless we are notified that they are to be continued. You may submit prayer requests through the link below.

Submit Prayer Requests Here

Ordination Anniversaries

Please pass along congratulations to the following who are celebrating anniversaries of their ordinations:

• Buck Cochran ordained October 22, 2002

• George Lashley ordained October 23, 1988

• Amanda Horan ordained October 23, 2022

• Allison Simmons ordained October 27, 2019

• Christopher Speaks ordained October 27, 2024

• Amanda Anderson ordained October 30, 2005  (20th in 2025)

Call to Action: Fundamental Rights and Kingdom Shalom

When all the prisoners of the land are crushed underfoot, when human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High, when one’s case is subverted—does the Lord not see it?

Lamentations 3:34-36

In the past few months, our current administration has repeatedly violated the fundamental rights (i.e., due process, speech, assembly, conscience, etc.) of American citizens and non-citizens, all while expanding the reach of executive power. The infringement of rights, manipulation of law, and the dangerous expansion of executive power are threats to a just social order and communal peace.

The ongoing assault is not evenly distributed. Our Latinx members, friends, and neighbors are racially profiled and cruelly denied their rights to due process and freedom from arbitrary search and seizure. Many have been detained in facilities that lack basic necessities and are intentionally denied access to appropriate legal counsel. Others have been unlawfully deported and imprisoned in other countries. Academic institutions have been targeted by crackdowns on free speech and denied freedom of assembly and protest. Public servants have been arbitrarily fired for their political views or for lawfully doing their jobs. The result is a concerted effort to penalize persons in a manner and magnitude that violates the democratic norms we as Presbyterians hold dear in church life and in politics. It undermines the shalom we are called to promote.

Civil rights are fundamental to citizenship and protecting them promotes the dignity and sacred value of all people. Just rule guarantees and promotes freedoms for all citizens and is an essential part of this-worldly shalom. Fundamental rights serve as a witness to the fullness of life we anticipate from Christ’s return. In 2002, the General Assembly explicitly drew a connection between fundamental rights and the dignity humans carry by virtue of their sacred value. In the Resolution on Restoring Justice we determined, “Our contemporary conceptions of equality and human rights are deeply indebted to biblical affirmations of the inherent worth of every human being as a person created in the divine image and due unmerited regard or respect.

The Church is called to be a prophetic witness and to advocate for shalom (peace). As followers of Jesus Christ and members of the Presbyterian Church (USA), we are called to promote shalom in our nation and our communities. Shalom, as it comes to us from the biblical witness, is more than the absence of conflict, strife, or violence. Rather, it is the wholeness, justice, and social healing that God bestowed upon the world at creation and to which God promises to usher in the final reconciliation of all things. It is the Church’s responsibility to continually reaffirm this commitment to equality and dignity.

Action Call

In response, the PC(USA) calls upon our political leaders to protect the rights of all persons and organizations. This includes the right to due process, protected free speech, freedom from discrimination, and protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

We call upon you, the Church, to:

1. Lament the harm and degradation against our neighbors and communities and to organize in communities across the country to provide assistance to those impacted.

2. Educate community members on their rights and to demand accountability from elected leaders.

3. Contact your local and national officials to decry the threats to fundamental freedoms and to urge them to secure the rights and dignity of citizens and non-citizens alike.

4. Demand accountability hearings from Administration officials responsible for ongoing violations of human rights.

We have a Christian responsibility to advocate for justice and to lift a prophetic voice for the victimized and marginalized.  Jesus calls us to love our neighbors, ensure that all persons in our communities are treated fairly, and honor the image of God we see in one another [Gen. 1:26-27].

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