Church Leadership

Session Highlights, click here.

Staff

Jim Hodge came to St. Giles in August of 1998 and has quickly earned the love and respect of this congregation. Jim came to us with over 25 years of ministerial experience. Most recently, he served as Senior Pastor for 15 years at First Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland.

Jim places a high priority on leading members to find meaningful avenues of Christian service and witness. He believes that this is a journey we take together, learning from one another and being supported and encouraged by one another as Christ’s Spirit is allowed to live in our spirits.

Susannah DeBenedetto, Director of Christian Education	Susannah will have primary responsibility for resourcing programs with children, youth, and young adults at St. Giles. Susannah is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and holds a Master of Divinity degree from Eden Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky (a Presbyterian College). She has served UCC and Disciples of Christ congregations in the St. Louis area, a Presbyterian church in Moline Acres, Missouri, and a UCC church in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The DCE search committee found Susannah's qualities readily apparent, and was impressed with her experience and skill in the very areas in which we are seeking staff support.
Joan Joslyn, Church Secretary	Joan came to St. Giles in December, 1998 after serving as church secretary at Westminster Pres. Church in Raleigh for eight years. Joan enjoys gardening, a variety of crafts, and spending time with her dog & 3 cats.
Carol Hodge, Choir Director	Carol has a BS in music Education and Masters Church Music, and has 25 years of experience working with Pres. Church choirs. She is a member of PAM (Pres. Association of Musicians) and feels that her ‘job’ as music director is a ministry and tries to be an inspiration to the people with whom she is working by showing them that music with commitment can be an exciting part of worship.
Gerald Longoria, Contemporary Worship Artistic Coordinator	We welcome Gerald A. Longoria to our staff as Contemporary Worship Artistic Coordinator. Gerald and his family are a wonderful addition to our Saint Giles family, and his leadership of our E.P.I.C. Praise Team has been exciting and Spirit-filled. Gerald and his wife, Carol, have two sons, Justin and Bryson, and two daughters, Jessica and Elisa.
Joanna Baitinger, Organist	Joanna received her Bachelor of Arts in music, and has been playing church organ music since she was 16. She has been at St. Giles since 1985. Joanna works full time in the accounting field, but finds additional time to share her organ and piano expertise with the choirs and congregation at St. Giles.

Top

St. Giles Presbyterian Church

2010-2011 Session

Clerk’s Ministry Team

Clerk of Session: Herb Wakeford

Long-Range Planning & Monitoring Ministry Team: Larry Watson

Education & Nurture Ministry Team

Chair: Leslie Pressel

Adult Education Ministry: Cyndi Bunn

Children’s Ministry: Rita Hart

Youth Ministry: Dan Grassi

Worship Ministry: Cindy Hemminger

Congregational Life Ministry Team

Chair: Rex Taylor

Membership Ministry: Ouida Myers

Congregational Care Teams: Jean Smith

Young Adult/Family Ministry: Marie Minani

Senior Adult Ministry: Johanita Lourens

Fellowship Ministry: Rex Taylor

Fellowship Ministry: Susie Heath

Facilities & Administration Ministry Team

Chair: Andy Overstreet

Administration & Staff: Earl MacCormac

Finance: Andy Overstreet

Property: Steve Allison

Property: Matt Morgan

Mission & Interpretation Ministry Team

Chair: Bob Lindsay

After School Tutoring Ministry: Joe Moody

Mission Outreach: Sara Slade

Stewardship: Scott Vollmer

Youth Representative: Kier Hellgeth

Session Highlights

Top

The Session is the governing body of the local congregation in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Our Session is organized into five Ministry Teams. The Session as a whole seeks to discern God’s will for Saint Giles, and to imagine creative ways to give life to that vision. These days, the Session is spending particular energy on the task of envisioning Saint Giles’ future, and would be grateful for input from you. Members of the Session are always anxious for you to share your visions and dreams for Saint Giles with them, and to engage you in setting a course for our future. Here are some highlights from our June meeting:

We welcomed our newly installed Elders, and were led in a time of devotion and prayer by Elder Pressel, using wisdom from the late William Sloan Coffin, with whom she was personally acquainted.

Session recessed and re-constituted itself as the Board of Directors of the Corporation of Saint Giles, for the purpose of electing officers, and acting on an authorization for the treasurer.

Jean Smith, Cyndi Bunn, Herb Wakeford and Dave Gospodarek were elected to the positions of President, Vice-president, Secretary and Treasurer of the corporation respectively.

The Board passed a resolution authorizing the officers to buy/sell securities registered in the name of the corporation.

Session elected Herb Wakeford to serve as Clerk, in accordance with Book of Order G-9.0203b, and Larry Watson to continue as assistant Clerk.

Dave Gospodarek was elected to serve as church Treasurer, in accordance with Book of Order G-10.0401.

The Board adjourned, and the group re-constituted themselves as the Session.

Ministry Team reports:

• Elder Hart reported on Kids4Mission, and the outstanding work they are doing under Rev. DeBenedetto’s leadership, and the help of parents and teachers.

• Elder Myers reported on some new hospitality procedures for the Membership Ministry Team.

• Elder Slade related the need for prayer partners for our W.V. Mission team in August. Contact her to volunteer.

• Elder Slade reported that we will be collecting food for Urban Ministries’ food pantry on July 18^th, with grocery bags and lists distributed on the 4^th and 11^th.

• After School Ministry Team submitted a written report of proposed changes for 2010-2011, and a positive end to the current year’s program.

• Worship Ministry Team distributed a new communion schedule of servers for 2010-2011.

• A schedule of offering counters was passed around for sign-up.

• Requests for excused absences were granted.

• Communications were reviewed.

• Herb Wakeford and John Hawes were designated voting commissioners to the July 20^th meeting of Presbytery in Rocky Mount.

• A request for a certificate of transfer was received and granted to John Peter and Esther Mukendi and family to Raleigh International Evangelical Church of the Nazarene.

Session received the pastor’s report.

Session approved the celebration of Communion for August 6 in West Virginia by the mission team.

Session voted to transfer unexpended funds to the refugee fund and to the after school tutoring program.

New elders were brought up to speed on the activities of the Transitions Task Force.

Elder Smith announced the year of Jubilee for Saint Giles (50^th anniversary) will begin in May, 2014, and suggested we begin thinking of ways to engage in a year-long celebration.

The meeting adjourned with prayer at about 8:40 pm.