Listening to a group of middle- to high school-aged girls talking in the potluck line, Jeanene Medley, a member of Potomac Conference's Capital Memorial church in Washington, D.C., heard a small voice ask, “Who is taking these girls under their wing?” It was in this moment that Medley felt called to develop a mentorship program built on the pillars of faith, empowerment, love and sisterhood.
Will Johns, Pastor of Potomac Conference's Beltsville church's Tech Road Campus in Silver Spring, Md., shared the following message, encouraging us to care for our souls during this tough time.
I have been thinking about this question: What is the best way to respond to what we are currently facing? I think the answer to that question for me is soul care.
Let me explain what I mean.
Story by Tiffany Doss
Most podcast listeners dread the moment they hit the wall, bingeing and replaying all their favorite subscribed shows. Potomac is excited to remedy that situation by introducing a new podcast called Potomac People.
Potomac People launched earlier this year and aims to highlight various individuals within the conference through interview-style and storytelling programming. The show compiles some of the most interesting back- stories new to most listeners.
Feature by Edwin Manuel Garcia
Therezinha Barbalho grew up in Brazil and wanted to be a pastor more than anything. But after graduating from the Adventist seminary, she faced difficulty finding pastoral employment beyond being a Bible worker, due to the region’s attitudes toward women in ministry.
She realized her dream career wasn’t going to happen, so she went back to school and became a lawyer.
Years later when Barbalho and her husband sought better medical care than Brazil could offer for their daughter who has autism, she sent her pastoral résumé to conferences in the United States. She was offered a job as a Bible worker at New Jersey Conference’s Luso-Brazilian church in Newark in 2004, then promptly became the associate pastor.
Story by Janel Ware
The Shenandoah Valley Academy (SVA) Alumni Association Board is developing a database of alumni and parent professionals interested in sharing their education and career journeys with students: “It’s wonderful that many alumni specially desire to inform, inspire and encourage today’s students by returning to share their career experiences. We’ve been thrilled with the response and hope for more!” says Kelli (Fluharty) Hanon (’88), alumni president.