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Church Profile Form

Story Memorial Presbyterian
174 Shady Lane
Marion, North Carolina 28752

Member of the Highlands Presbytery
Pulpit Committee Contact Person: Gene Seals, RE, PNC Chair, P.O. Box 2692, Morgantown, NC  28680
828-460-7511, [email protected]
Type of Community: small town, rural
Type of Church: Church with Solo Pastor ___X____
Church Size: under 100 members
Average Attendance: 38 adults over 65, 23 adults under 65, 1 teen, 7 children
Total Income: $151,762 (Year 2022)
Church Expenses: $162,407 Year 2022)
Ministers Compensation Package: $65,000-70,000
Programs and Outreach: Mission Conference yearly on hold since COVID, Ladies Circles deferred since COVID, Mens’ Breakfast about monthly

Pastor Criteria Desired: Willing to consider someone fresh from seminary or ideally with 1-5 years of ministry experience.  Married preferable.

Top Pastoral Priorities (6):
1. Worship Leadership: Pastor and Session work to develop a rich worship life, educating the congregation for
meaningful participation.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.

Top Strengths Desired (6):
Preaching
Teaching
Worship Leadership
Youth Work
Ministry to Seniors
Pastoral Visitation

Information about the town of Marion may be found on the city’ website: https://marionnc.org.

Office of the Stated Clerk
1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, GA 30043
Phone 678-825-1000 Email: [email protected]
(Let us know if you would like to be added to our Ministry Opportunity List: www.pcaac.org/get-involved/pastoral-job-positions)

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 to the left.

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  and 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, along with the denomination as a whole, we vigorously reject their racism and affirm the PCA’s 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.”

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, ee 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.

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.