Woodland Presbyterian Church is giving thanks for more than five years of collaborative ministry with The Hub and Ministry Architects, led faithfully by Rev. Mark DeVries! As Mark prepares for retirement and our partnership with MA comes to an end, we are excited to welcome Adrian White as Woodland’s temporary, part-time pastor starting January 1, 2023. Read the letter from the Woodland Session:
Greetings!
As we enter the Season of Advent God has great things in store for us at Woodland Presbyterian Church.
Earlier this year the Session prayed extensively for direction about the future of our beloved congregation. In reviewing our changing circumstances and limited resources, the Session worked with the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee to create a part-time temporary pastor position to provide consistent leadership in worship and a primary contact to you for pastoral care. We received strong interest from candidates throughout Middle Tennessee and beyond who were interested in serving the Woodland Presbyterian congregation through this next phase of our journey. The Session interviewed several strong candidates and ultimately extended a job offer to Adrian White. We are pleased that they accepted this job offer and will soon transition from Ministry Architects into this new role as the part-time temporary pastor at Woodland as of January 1st, 2023.
Please congratulate Adrian!
The Session has worked with Ministry Architects for several years now to ensure that the work and ministry of Woodland Presbyterian Church has continued and flourished following the retirement of Reverend John McCullough. Our dear friend Mark Devries has given generously of his time and talents in leading the Ministry Architects Hub team. Mark is transitioning into retirement from his role with Ministry Architects, and therefore the Session is making plans to ensure the continuity of our many ministries at Woodland after our contract with Ministry Architects ends at the end of this calendar year. We are so grateful to Mark and to the many Hubbers who have worshipped with and served our congregation over these last few years.
Please plan to join us for a celebration of Mark and the Ministry Architects Hub team members this coming Sunday, December 11th following our worship service.
The Session enters into this season of Advent with hearts filled with thanksgiving for the Woodland congregation that has given of your time, talents and treasure to sustain our beloved community of faith. With God’s grace we have made it through a pandemic and emerged more connected than ever. Our new class of Session members looks forward to serving alongside you in this exciting new year to bring good news to the Nashville community.
Blessings to each of you and your loved ones.
Yours in ministry,
The Woodland Session
Eliza Blades, Tom Eldridge, Barbara Fay, Dean Frederick, Cliff Mundy, Mark Taylor, Brett Withers, and Melinda Sanders, Moderator
