Minstry Council

Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Ministry Council Diagram & Overview

Director of Ministries - Edith M. Gholson

    The Ministry Council of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was established by the 177th General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (2007). The council is made up of fifteen members (three members from each Synod with no more than either nine clergy or lay members and no more than nine members of either gender). Seven advisory members include the Stated Clerk, Moderator(s), immediate Past Moderator, and three youth (ages sixteen to nineteen when elected).

    In 2008, the Ministry Council assumed the responsibilities of the General Assembly Council. Soon, the Cumberland Presbyterian Publication Board, the Board of Christian Education, the Board of Missions, and the Commission on the Ministry will merge into the Ministry Council as the Communications, Discipleship, Missions, and Pastoral Development Ministry Teams. Edith M. Gholson, the newly hired Director of Ministries began work September 1, 2008, with the Ministry Council and, along with four Team Leaders, will lead the work of the Ministry Teams.

    The Chairperson of the Ministry Council is Gwen Roddye, an elder from the Beaver Creek Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. The First Vice Chairperson is Jill Carr, an elder from the White Oak Pond Church in Lebanon, Missouri, and the Second Vice Chairperson is Wayne Wood, a member of Arkansas Presbytery who recently retired as pastor of the Calico Rock Church. The Council Secretary is elder Elizabeth Horsley from the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Denton, Texas.