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The Commission on Ministry (“COM”) has three special events coming up: two local church pastor installations and an Ecclesiastical Council to approve a new candidate for ministry.
Installation of Rev. Laura Robinson at Peace Church in Clemson
Sunday, April 30 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm EDT
The Commission on Ministry and Peace Church invite you to the installation of Rev. Laura Robinson as pastor of Peace Church in Clemson on April 30, 2023 at 5pm at Peace Church. You are invited to join onsite or online (you can join online here). If you are going to participate onsite, please RSVP to pastor@thepeacechurch.org . Ministers are invited to wear red stoles for the installation.
Laura Robinson comes from Seattle, WA and was born and raised in the United Church of Christ. She has a M.Div from Candler School of Theology and was ordained in 2018. She’s served churches in Des Moines, IA and White Salmon, WA, and began her current pastorate at Peace Church in Clemson, SC in August 2021. She also serves as the Coordinating Director of Frontline Faith (the UCC’s online learning platform) for Convergence. She’s passionate about nurturing an embodied faith that leads toward collective healing and liberation for all of creation. Laura is a queer, cis-woman living in Greenville, SC with her partner Noah, their housemate Oliver, and a dynamic dog and cat duo, Georgie and Odin. She dreams of growing at least some of her own food, making friends with the trees in her neighborhood, and writing her own book someday.
Installation of Rev. Joylynn Graham at Pleasant Hill Community Church
Sunday, May 7 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm CDT
The Commission on Ministry of the Southeast Conference and Pleasant Hill Community Church invites you to the installation of Rev. Joylynn Graham at 2 pm Central on May 7th at Pleasant Hill Community Church. All clergy are invited to wear robes and red stoles for the service.
Rev Joylynn Graham is originally from Missouri but lived for many years in Colorado, where she revived her degree in technology and worked in IT. She graduated from Eden Theological Seminary in 2014 and was called by Plymouth UCC in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, where she served for eight years. After the pandemic, Rev. Graham wanted to be closer to her grandchildren who live in Knoxville, and that is how she found her way to Pleasant Hill.
Rev. Graham’s hobbies include painting, hiking, and gardening, and she has two black labs named Jonah and Elijah, who keep her forever moving and active.
Ecclesiastical Council for Candace Rowell
Monday, May 15 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EDT
The Southeast Conference Commission on Ministry invites you to the Ecclesiastical Council of Candace Rowell on May 15, 2023 at 7:00 pm Eastern on Zoom. You can register to attend here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwscuyhqDoiG9B8RrhlkYglEgAhuxcFX_AB
Candace Rowell was born and raised in Southeast Georgia. She and her family moved to Atlanta in 2015 and have been attending Virginia Highland Church since 2016. Candace has a background in public health with a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and has worked in community health development globally since 2010. Candace graduated with a Master’s in Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur in 2021 and has been working in hospital chaplaincy since. In Summer 2023, Candace will join the Virginia Highland Church staff as part-time Pastor of Faith Formation and will be working as a part-time staff chaplain at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
Candace is dedicated to creating diverse and inclusive micro and macro spaces of belonging and community. As a hospital chaplain and as a church minister, Candace embraces an embodied spirituality of questions and exploration. Her areas of emphasis include trauma-informed care, spiritual trauma care, crisis care, mindfulness and embodiment, proclamation, justice and advocacy, and community building.
Family: Candace’s wife Nora is an amazing leader and public health practitioner who, through her work at Banyan Communications, helps create and deliver accessible public health messaging. In 2020 Candace and Nora adopted their son Keith who is currently 10 years old, loves sports, music, and helping. Candace and Nora remain open to growing their family through adoption.
