wfn.org | Vocational "mega-site" is up and running

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #7157 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

14-May-2002
02175

Vocational "mega-site" is up and running

It's a one-stop online shop for job information and resources

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - New pages on the Presbyterian Church (USA) Web site are making it easier - and faster - for pastors and seminary students to find career-related information and resources they need.

Users who log on to the Ministry and Vocations Web page, which became operational on April 29, can get information about PC(USA)-related seminaries and financial aid; tips on preparing for ministry; and word of job opportunities (through the denomination's computerized pastor job-matching and referral system).

There also are links to a glossary of terms related to ministry and downloadable handbooks on a variety of topics, from how a pastor seeks a call to how a congregation seeks a pastor.

"We see it as pulling together in one place, through the Web, a whole variety of ways that the Presbyterian Church supports church professionals," said the Rev. Marcia Clark Myers, associate director of the denomination's Churchwide Personnel Services office, which cooperated with Internet and Media Services staffers in creating the Web page. "It's really a mega-site with five mini-subsections."

The sub-sections to which Myers referred organize much of the information on the Ministry and Vocations page, in five categories: Preparing for Ministry; Ministers and Committees on Ministry; Church Leadership Connection; Christian Educators; and Commissioned Lay Pastors. 

The content was generated by a number of sources, including the Office of Theological Education; the Committee on Ministry; the Church Leadership Connection; and the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE). 

There are links to other Web sites, including those of the PC(USA)'s National Volunteer Office; Mission Services Recruitment; the Board of Pensions (BOP); and professional organizations such as the Association of Presbyterian Interim Ministers and the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel.

"So, depending on who the person is," Myers said, "they can connect with a professional organization that supports them."

She said the Ministry and Vocations site, accessible from the www.pcusa.org home page, is a vast improvement over the former Web offering from Churchwide Personnel Services.

"The former Web page had some helpful information, but was not nearly as well-organized and not nearly as complete as the new-look URL," Myers said. "We have been working over the past year to pull resources together."

Myers said a resources section enables users to order materials online from  Presbyterian Distribution Service and in some cases to download selections.

The site also enables Churchwide Personnel Services to quickly update printed materials to keep them current.

"All you're doing is updating a Web page," said Dianna Ott, Web managing editor of Internet and Media Services, part of the Office of Communication. "You're faster. You're more efficient. You're spending less money. It's just a good use of the Web, and their office clearly saw how effective the Web could be."

The Ministry and Vocations address is http://www.pcusa.org/navigation/ministryvocations.htm.
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