April 5, 2023
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson and the Virginia Annual Conference Common Table announced plans for a reorganization in the conference Connectional Ministries Office in a previous April 5, 2023 communication sharing changes to the Director of Connectional Ministries (DCM) position.
It was also announced that the Rev. Seungsoo “RJ” Jun, Associate Director of Serving Ministries, will be appointed to the local church effective July 1, 2023.
“The journey to serve Connectional Ministries started with a tug from God to support the effort of strengthening the connection,” Jun said. “After the past two years and a half, I experienced another tug from God, preparing my heart for a new journey. Bishop Sue and the Cabinet graciously accepted my request to be on the appointment list, and I am excited to see how God will work in this new chapter of ministry.
“Last week, the Common Table of the Virginia Conference approved a plan for restructuring the Connectional Ministries staff. I was involved in this restructuring process from the beginning, and I fully support the new direction of the Conference. It is also encouraging that there will now be three full-time staff being involved in Serving Ministries, now called the Office of Missional Engagement. With the added staff member, we are confident that the Office of Missional Engagement will continue to support the effort of our local churches to be a blessing to the world.”
In the reorganization, the current offices of Learning, Influencing, and Serving will become the offices of Missional Engagement, under the leadership of the Director of Missional Engagement (to be hired) and the Office of Discipleship and Congregational Vitality under the leadership of Mr. Dwayne Stinson, Director of Connectional Ministries for Discipleship and Congregational Vitality. Mr. Stinson and Rev. Dr. Jonathan Page, Director of Connectional Ministries for Innovation and Creativity, will share the role of Director of Connectional Ministries. Dr. Page will ensure that innovation is part of all areas of the ministry Connectional Ministries supports.
The new, open positions in the Connectional Ministries Office will better meet the needs of the Virginia Conference in mission and ministry and have intended start dates of May 2023. The positions are:
-Director of Missional Engagement (View job posting) (Apply for job)
-Assistant Director of Missional Engagement (View job posting) (Apply for job)
-Assistant Director of Discipleship and Congregational Vitality (View job posting) (Apply for job)
Another open position in the conference, reporting to the Bishop and Assistant to the Bishop, is:
-Director of Advocacy (title TBD) (View job posting) (Apply for job)
Bishop Sue is pleased that through current conference staff collaboration and dreaming this reorganization of the Office of Connectional Ministries will take the conference a step closer toward innovation and strategy.
“We celebrate our current dedicated conference staff members and will welcome these new additions to our team as we work with joy and hope toward the future of The United Methodist Church,” Bishop Sue said.
Questions about the jobs may be sent to [email protected].