An Introduction to Our New Head of Staff Woods Church has called as its next Head of Staff, the Reverend JC Austin, who will take up his position on August 27, 2024. JC’s call was approved by the congregation following a candidating sermon on June 16, 2024, and we look forward to his move to Maryland and his leadership at Woods. JC is a lifelong Presbyterian, and comes to us with an impressive array of experience. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1998, and at the conclusion of his studies, was awarded the Graduate Study Fellowship in Parish Pulpit Ministry, which allowed him to select a location to pursue further education. JC elected to study in Cape Town, South Africa, studying the work of the theological dimensions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa. JC currently serves as Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He arrived at First Presbyterian in 2017 following a schism in that congregation, and guided the church through a difficult transition, rebuilding the governance and staff of the church and helping the congregation to articulate its mission statement and priorities. Subsequently, First Presbyterian was able to triple worship attendance and institute a revitalized contemporary worship service in addition to its traditional service. Prior to his call to First Presbyterian, JC served as Vice President for Christian Leadership Formation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. He conceived, developed, and launched the first seminary based, internationally certified training program for leadership coaches in the U.S., and created targeted leadership programs to train and support entrepreneurial pastors and women pastors. For 10 years before his call to Auburn, JC served at Madison Avenue Presbyterian in New York City, working one year as a Pastoral Assistant for Development, Stewardship, and Evangelism, then nine years as Associate Pastor for Evangelism and Stewardship. In that role, he oversaw a demographic shift that brought in many younger members to the congregation and doubled annual giving participation and stewardship levels. JC’s hobbies include barbecuing (he began experimenting with smoked meat during the pandemic), guitar, and many genres of music. His son will be a sophomore at Georgetown in the fall, and JC looks forward to being a bit closer to the university.

After many remote interviews, the Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) engaged a recruiting consultant who presented a slate of potential candidates. All have passed Committee on Ministry Presbyter Reference Checks. We have interviewed all of the candidates and are proceeding with in person interviews. Please continue to keep the PNC in your prayers as we work diligently on the important process of selecting a Head of Staff candidate to present to the congregation for its approval.

The Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) has conducted many screening interviews, and that process has yielded several candidates whose gifts would be assets to Woods Church. We are continuing to evaluate candidates and are working towards a goal of narrowing the pool in order to proceed to our next step of in-person interviews with a select group of pastors. Please continue to keep the PNC in your prayers as we work diligently on the important process of selecting a Head of Staff candidate to present to the congregation for its approval.

As we move into fall, the PNC has been diligently working. Once our Ministry Discernment Profile (MDP) was approved and went live on the Church Leadership Connection website in July, the PNC began reviewing candidates—some of whom came through matches on the CLC site, and some of whom were self-referred. In addition to reading Personal Discernment Profiles (or PDPs), we have listened to over a hundred sermons accessed via YouTube and Facebook in our quest for a called Head of Staff. We also have contacted the many Presbyteries throughout the nation to let the Head Presbyters know of our open position so that they, too, can refer interested candidates. Additionally, we expanded the scope of our search by advertising in two periodicals: Christian Century and Presbyterian Outlook . Each of these periodicals has both a physical and an online edition. Recently, the PNC has conducted initial screening interviews with several candidates. Moving forward, the PNC expects to continue to screen candidates, evaluate sermons and written materials, and discern a called Head of Staff who will be able to fulfill the multi-faceted role of leading Woods Church into the future.