If you visit the website for the Presbytery of West Virginia, you will find the following description: “We are located completely within the boundary of Appalachia. Our 140+ congregations are tucked among the forested mountains, nestled in the river valleys, found in coal mining camps and villages, located near the growing recreation centers and established within the towns and cities in forty-one counties of the state. About two-thirds of our congregations are identified as small churches with fewer than one hundred members.”
While no one congregation is a Covenant Network congregation, there is, nevertheless, a group that has grown to several dozen who come together weekly and call themselves “Faithful Friends.” What began about five years ago as a Bible study of four men has evolved into a group that includes members from neighboring Ohio and Kentucky churches, too. While meeting in support of GLBT persons and their families, Faithful Friends aim to support any marginalized people, especially the GLBT community, the poor and those from institutions who need restorative justice from the Church. By meeting weekly in a rotation with seven churches, Faithful Friends provides its participants with Bible study on themes of justice and grace for all; personal and pastoral support; and an open experience for ministers and lay persons alike who come together to realize how their individual churches are strengthened by their witness.
Covenant Network conferences at Montreat, Minneapolis and last year’s conference in Cleveland have proven to be an important inspiration for members of Faithful Friends, individually and as a group. In the run-up to amendment voting in 2009, the Presbytery of West Virginia held discussions throughout the presbytery and Faithful Friends were there at all but one of the meetings. The Presbytery of West Virginia affirmed 08B by a strong majority. (In fact, Presbytery of West Virginia was a “turnaround” vote!)
Faithful Friends share the Call to Covenant Community with each other and in those congregations in the forested mountains, valleys, coal towns and cities of Appalachia…..
“The Good News of the Gospel is that all those who are near and those who were far off are invited: all are members of the household and citizens of the realm of God”
Contacts for Faithful Friends are Rev. Mike Ducheneau and Rev. Robin Blakeman; or find more information here.